Grape Soda and Magnets

by ChronicallyinFlaming

A collection of over a hundred Krillin/18 prompts, ranging from AU to proposals to holidays to babysitting. V/B, G/CC featured.

14. 326 thru 350

Author's Note:

In which Krillin has a love life outside of Juuhachigou (to everyone's amazement), our two heroes go to the Other World, Juuhachigou deals with domestic life, and sees a therapist.

As always, thanks for reading.

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326. I Can't Help Myself; I Love You and Nobody Else

Krillin wanted her to handle it like he had a disease. Literally beyond his control. Out of his hands.

Shrugging, "Yeah, I love you."

All of her control went into not running away. She'd just been sitting there, enjoying his silence, when he'd popped that one out. All she'd asked was what he was doing, sitting on a rock on this miserable island. Completely nonsensical. Out of context. At the very least. "You can't just say things like that!

"Just because you're pathetic, and never had a girlfriend before—or any girl like you—not that I like you…"

"I too have had a girlfriend."

"You did?"

"Maybe even a couple?" Krillin teasing her was a terrible sight. "Okay. Maybe not. But I did have a girlfriend. And I have kissed a girl or two over the years."

"You're lying. I have no information on that."

"Why would Gero include that?"

"He was a disgusting man."

"True. Still, I don't think my love life would help you guys take over a planet." Krillin thought on that, his grin widening. "On the other hand…"

She was supposed to be a machine, and machines didn't blush or feel frustration or want to kill one of the fighters for making her feel that way. Wanting to kill Krillin was perfectly acceptable, but because he was weak. And annoying. And that smug grin justified so much rage in her. "Shut up. That was your own fault."

"It just worked out pretty well. That's all I'm saying. Even if you weren't playing some cruel game of chess with my feelings." Krillin dramatically pressed a hand over his heart, head down to almost hide his grin.

"I can murder you. None of your friends are here. They wouldn't even know."

"You can probably murder me in several different ways. All painful. You could just say that you don't like me in the least, and I'll go drown myself in that ocean over there. That doesn't change how I feel. I've cared for you ever since you kissed me. Then I definitely fell in love with you when trying to decide whether or not to use that remote."

Juuhachigou hid a smirk behind confusion. Indifference: that was the key. "When did I kiss you?"

"—what?"

"I don't remember that."

"You don't remember kissing me?" His face turned pained. "Seriously. You go around just kissing short bald guys a lot? And I thought I was special."

"I think you're delusional."

"No, I definitely did not imagine you kissing me. That happened." Krillin crossed his arms, now sad. "It did."

"Stop trying to flirt with me."

"Me? Me flirt with you?" His mouth hung open comically. "You're the flirty one. Kissing me. Laughing at me on that island. For what, I still don't know."

"I do remember that. You look just like you do now." Juuhachigou cracked a smile.

His look was suspicious. "I think you do remember Miss Juuhachigou, that you kissed me. Right here."

"Now I'm 'Miss' Juuhachigou?"

"Seriously. Right here. And you're definitely the flirty one."

She kept that smile. "How long exactly were you standing there, wondering whether or not to shut me down?"

"Huh? Oh. Maybe…a few minutes."

"All over a kiss that didn't happen."

"It did! You're so mean."

The cyborg laughed. "That's what's mean about me?"

"You're lucky you're so cute when you laugh."

"Or what?" She put a hand on his chest, pushing just a little. Enough for him to wince and squirm. Juuhachigou nearly used a small amount of ki to better warn him, and so she could ignore the warm skin beneath his shirt.

"Or I might not like you so much."

Juuhachigou grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him in close enough to better see a scar on his temple. Close enough to whisper into his cheek that she'd kissed, "You have to know I don't love you."

327. Squid

"Octopus head."

"Enough with the seafood comparison. I really don't think I look like an octopus. Really. I just don't see it."

328. If You Want Me, I'm Yours. And Even If You Don't Want Me.

She literally ran away from him, Juuhachigou did. His last view of her was of a black vest, new and lined with wool, and the snow encrusted boots. Then the accordion door was slamming shut, and he could almost sense Juuhachigou's relief to be away, even as he almost heard her depositing change so the driver wouldn't throw her off. Not like last time, where she'd attempted to ride off away from him in a normal fashion, and had instead gotten kicked out of the cab by the irate driver, and had crashed right into Krillin's arms. Poor Juuhachigou, even though he adored her a little more for trying to live like a regular human, she was like a giant stuck amongst dwarves.

Krillin pressed his cheek to the bus, and because of his inhuman strength, as it took off, the metal siding did nothing more than slid noisily against his skin.

329. I Think When Our Clothes Were On, We Had A Different Image of What This Was Supposed To Be

He believed this was what could be called a one-night-stand. It had that awkward quality, as they both searched the ceiling for something. The walls were as pink in this room as downstairs, and the white ceiling was unblemished except for the glow-in-the-dark stars and posters he'd hung up when he was a teenager. The room he'd lived in for over ten years. For nearly twenty. She was the first to reach for their clothes in that heap.

"You cold?"

Juuhachigou flinched like he'd tried to hit her. "No. I'm leaving."

"Wait. Can we talk?"

"I don't think we have anything more to say to each other." She was trying to fix her hair after shoving it through the neck of a t-shirt.

"That's my shirt."

"Well. You ripped mine."

True, and the last thing he should really be worried about. He owed her that shirt, really. Who was he now to deny her a t-shirt? After all she'd done for him…And it was cute to watch her hop around trying to put her pants and boots on.

330. I Have An Unnatural love for …

Juuhachigou entered the therapist's office as soon as the last patient had left. Literally going through the door before they could close it. When the cyborg slammed the door shut, it made her nostrils flare and go white from the stress of what she was going to have to say.

"Why, hello, there, Juuhachigou."

"Yes. Hello." Saying 'doctor' had been nigh impossible. Which was barely something they'd touched on in their last session.

"How was your weekend?"

She could barely bring herself to sit down at the small leather seat before the lightly decorated desk. "Not well. That's why I'm here."

"Yes, I got your message. I made a special appointment for today. So, why don't you tell me what the problem is?"

At first, Juuhachigou had been completely unsure of whether or not to get a male therapist or not. Her problems, at least some of them, were male in nature, as in, they involved a male. A man telling her how to fix this problem might have helped. In the end though, she'd settled for a female doctor with credentials out the ass and lining the walls, and a discreet office in a place her brother would never tread. A woman might be more comfortable, after all, and able to give her useful advice. After all, she had her brother to talk to, and if he was any indication on any sort of male therapists, she needed a woman. Maybe a couple.

Getting here though was a pain since she had to take two subways, and then double back, all in a hat and heavy coat and sunglasses. How the therapist had kept that bland expression on her face all the while she waited for Juuhachigou to take the disguise off. The doctor must have thought she was dealing with a paranoid schizophrenic.

"I know. I know. But I have a crazy paranoid brother.

"He's the paranoid one. Not me. I've caught him following me around, before. When. When I went someplace. To see someone.

"Although, he didn't see me. That's why I'm here. "

"Ehem. Maybe I should introduce myself."

"Er. Yeah."

"Please, sit down."

She'd gone easy with the cyborg thing, since that would have gotten her medicated, if not gotten her involuntarily committed to a psych hospital. And really, the anti-anxiety pills were bad enough. Only a few times had she ever taken them, not trusting even those in some blandly terrified way. But it had been impossible to otherwise deal with seeing him at the gas station.

Watching him refilled the tank to his car, humming a little under his breathe while he ran a card through the machine. Rubbing the back of his stubbly hair (was he growing it out for her? Her? Or someone else? And why did she care, how could she, god, stop) while she threw herself behind cars and ran and flew away. Getting home, ignoring her brother sitting before the TV in his underwear, and running to her room and downing a few pills, dry.

It had taken a full day before she was able to leave her room, and find her brother asleep, before the TV, and still in his underwear.

But that wasn't why she was here, today.

"I finally talked to him."

The therapist had spent years in training, at a top rated medical school, and was very expensive, understanding, and knew how to cut to issues immediately without seemingly pushing you. Her clients ranged from all types, and she'd even worked in a prison with serial killers for her thesis. More than any actor in any movie, she deserved awards for her skills at faking emotions. And even so, her eyebrows still raised involuntarily at this news.

"Yeah. That's why I'm here."

Juuhachigou had wanted to throw herself at all human help. White-knuckling it by herself wasn't helping, her brother worse than nothing, and if a lobotomy would help, then bring on the scalpel. So she'd gone to an all-night coffee house and asked for a phone book. The place had been so empty they'd even allowed her to smoke, and she'd been going there for so long they let her use the phone, for local calls. She'd tapped ashes into the cold cup of coffee, and had gone searching for a human therapist that might help make her feel somewhat normal.

Obviously, she wasn't normal and never would be. So maybe that was the wrong word. She needed to reevaluate that word. What she wanted, so to feel content, at peace with herself and her decisions, to not wake up in the middle of the night from night terrors or in the mornings with a nonexistent grip tightening around her throat that squeezed the life out of her and made her know already that the day ahead of her would be one of the worse.

So far, it did seem to be helping. To just blurt out all the things crawling around her head with a stranger, who would nod and offer little things like, 'that's completely sane, Achi.'

'Everyone has thoughts like that.'

And since the woman had worked with mass murderers when she'd been in grad school, who would know better about what was and what wasn't acceptable.

'That's not bizarre at all. We all feel that way, sometimes. The trick is not just to feel it in moderation, but to not act out on it. That's the important thing.'

This woman right in front of her was the only person who knew how she felt about him, and Juuhachigou didn't even want to kill her for that knowledge. That was a real breakthrough. Learning to trust. She was learning, slowly, to trust.

"I just remembered what you said. About not building him up in my mind, that he's a human being with thoughts and emotions as valid as my own."

"Exactly. You're both human beings, capable of the same needs and feelings and wants."

"..."

"You disagree?"

"I wouldn't describe myself as very human."

"Why not?"

I have metal parts in my head and a voice telling me to get his revengerevengerevenge and to kill Goku and how to fight the strongest beings on this planet. I am programmed. "I don't have the same thoughts and feelings as humans."

"Having feelings and thoughts is human, Achi."

"What if you don't feel what others feel, or think?"

"How can you know what others think and feel?"

"I know it's not what goes through my mind. Especially not what goes through his. The only person who could understand is my brother."

"Your brother, who has been through the same thing as you have?"

"Yes. But he acts like nothing is wrong. It's hard to describe. But he's building our house and never locks himself in his room to hide. He's the one that can go out in public."

"Some people are able to situations different. They have, you might say, different hardware. It's not your fault if you experience things differently from your brother."

Her mouth had gone frozen as the words 'hardware.' It took effort to blink. "Yes, I know that. I just wish I could act like he does. Even if he is a moron."

"Is it just you and your brother, at this house he's building?"

"Yes. Um. We had a...cousin. Who lived with us awhile. But that was awhile ago."

"Where does he live now? This cousin?"

"He died. About a year ago."

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's been a while. I didn't know him that well. He was very quiet. But my brother and I don't have any parents. I, I told you, I don't like this whole subject. I don't want to talk about 'father' issues."

"That's okay. We can talk about whatever you want."

"Well, this guy. I finally talked to him."

"Yes, and how did go?"

"It...could have gone better."

"Such as?"

I punched him in the eye. It was definitely easier to take him down a few notches, seeing him rolling around on the ground yelling. He was just about crying. All he'd said to me was hi, and smiled.

331. Numbered

They still had one more day, until the Cell Games. Tomorrow, he would get up, and maybe travel to spend the night back at Kami's Lookout. To meditate, to train. To speak with Dende again about their time on Namek. Maybe Trunks, the older one, would be there with a strained smile peeking through his worriment. Dressed as his father, See Piccolo's black eyes and green jaw tense some more.

Or at the Son's.

And then the day after, the-

Krillin crumbled to the floor, head bowed almost in prayer. A short man in a dark orange gi, in a room that had been his since he was still half a boy. He was supposed to be a grown man, not some weeping little boy. A fighter that helped to defend the entire Earth. He'd been to space and faced things that most people couldn't even imagine. For three years, Krillin had woken up with the knowledge that an apocalypse might be coming. After dying twice, the threat of death should have meant little.

The words curdled in his throat, unable to be spoken. His mind managed out, not for me. I'm not all that upset because I might die.

So why was he crying?

332. All the Pretty Things We Could Be

"I suppose you can stay here." The stupidest words she'd ever uttered.

Krillin had grinned up at her, a bag slung over one shoulder. Then, shyly, had reached out to shake her hand. "Thanks, Miss Juuhachigou."

He looked so miserably short next to her. Probably needed help reaching the top drawers unless he floated up to grab them. Juuhachigou could shake that small hand without grimacing; he was nothing. Weak. Goofy. With no energy exerted at all, she could have him on his knees, crying and begging for her to end his life.

"I promise, I won't be a pain at all. It's really lucky I ran into you. I couldn't stay at Yamcha's…his girlfriend's over there a lot and I don't want to bother them. Not that I want to bother you, either.

"And Bulma has to deal with Vegeta at her house. And they're—well, I don't want to go into details. Chi-Chi's got the new baby to deal with.

"Of course, maybe you have your own stuff to deal with too. Like a husband. Kids?"

"Shut up. Keep your bullshit to a minimum."

Damnit, what was her brother going to say about all this?

But when she led Krillin into the kitchen, her twin Juunanagou just gave her a look at them both in a way that made the two feel guilty for absolutely nothing. "I don't want to see anything. That's all I ask."

333."Please tell me she's still not terrorizing the planet."

She'd been so focused on watching Cell and Vegeta fight—watching Vegeta beating Cell—that she'd nearly not seen them as they flickered into view. Short and tall. Orange. So much dark orange. A pair of large black eyes, set shorter than the other man's, both staring at her. Krillin was the less scared one, somehow.

That stupid haircut.

Every voice in her head told her to fight, to switch into defensive position, to fight back. To fulfill Gero's plans at revenge. As Juunanagou had wanted.

"This is Juuhachigou! Um. Hi." Stupidly, Krillin was raising his hands. To wave. "And I guess you know Goku."

"What—what are you doing here?" Her voice came out almost as pathetic as his wave had been.

"To save you? Maybe." Voice cracking, like he was even younger than her. "Goku can transport you away. From Cell. We have to leave though; Cell's going to be here any minute."

"You. What are you talking about?"

"Juuhachigou. We have no time. I'll explain later."

"You're going to save me from Cell? I thought you want to destroy us?"

"No. No, of course not. Maybe Vegeta and Trunks—but not really. I don't."

"Is that right? Why is that?"

"You're nice! Deep down. Or, rather, you can be nice. If you just ignored Gero's programming, which you seem able to do since you, or I mean, your boyfriend killed him."

"My what?"

"Boyfriend. That guy."

"Him? You mean Juunanagou? He's my twin."

"Oh."

This might be worse than Cell. This awkward silence that ate them both up. They stared at each other, trying to find something to say. Were you trying to do something with me? Hoping I'd, what, hold your hand? Go out with you? Pathetic shrimp. What the hell was wrong with him? Idiot. With a head like an octopus.

"So. We should maybe leave now. Guys?

"Guys?"

334. Every Time I Look At You, I Go Blind

Despite how painful it was to get a Solar Flare in the eyes, at least he hadn't stumbled into Juuhachigou and made an even bigger fool of himself.

335. You Wanna Marry But I'm Always a Mess

It was after Buu, while they watched Marron run from the waves with the Turtle straggling behind with a seaweed wig on his head, that Krillin finally slipped a small velvet box to her. Literally pulled it from his pocket and pushed it to her with the tips of his fingers. She looked down at it, and then to the other man sitting beside her on the white porch steps.

"Oh. You bought me earrings. Is this a bribe?"

"It's not earrings, Juuhachigou."

"Then what is it? It better not be another trick gift. If a snake comes out of this, I will shove this so far up —"

"No. Just open it."

"This is a ring."

"A-yup."

She smiled as their daughter ran yelling back towards the waves, pretending to throw a destructo disk towards the ocean. "Did you buy this with the money we got from Hercule Satan?"

"Yes I did. Do you accept?"

"The ring? Sure."

"Aw. Alright." He pounded a fist into his other open hand. "Now we can get married."

"What?"

"Marron can be the flower girl and the ring bearer. It'll be adorable. Except for the buffet table, that will be a massacre."

"We're getting married? Why?"

"It might be nice. C'mon. Then I can call you my wife for real. Wear wedding rings."

"You want to marry me?"

"Why not? We're already shacked up and have a kid together."

"…and you're the more romantic one?"

336. Strange What Desire Will Make Foolish People Do

He was obviously trying to flatter her, with all this. Taking her out shopping, complimenting her, spending hours helping her try on clothes even if his only response to her question over how she looked was a dopey look and a 'you look great. Perfect.' No one had ever done anything like this with her, as far as she could remember. Her brother couldn't even stand waiting a few minutes for her to get dressed in the mornings before whining and whinging over how bored he was.

But Krillin even carried her boxes for her.

Of course, he ruined this all by teasing her with playing 'Wicked Game' and claiming it to be 'their song,' on the jukebox, complete with singing along to it, until she shoved his head hard enough against the contraption to get his quarter back.

337. Here She Comes, Better Watch Your Step, She's Gonna Break Your Heart In Two

"I don't even care if this means I'm jealous! I don't care what that implies!"

They'd finally broken her down. All of them. Gnawing at her, pushing and prodding, you sure you're cool with Krillin dating another girl, oh, what's that, another girl, yeah, this is his second girlfriend, that other girl, um, well maybe she might show up and you two can meet formally?

Krillin himself had kept his hands open for her, eager to be seen as charming. And single.

What was she like, that other girl, his old girlfriend? Hot. With a big chest and an amazing ass, we have pictures, yeah, tan and with the long blue-hair, look at those boobs.

While Juuhachigou cringed and tried not to think new self-conscious thoughts. Doubts really. She hadn't even shuddered much or punched the perverts completely through the wall when all of their gazes had trailed down to her own chest.

"I don't care anymore."

She could make Krillin have a heart attack with just wearing a short skirt, but that hadn't stopped him from listening to his dumbass friends and going out to look for another woman. And finding one. Sure, she wasn't exactly uh, normal, that girl. With the pale green skin, and no way was that orange hair natural. That she was always pawing at it. With her stupid name.

"You helped start this! Now help me—"

It had been that Trunks fellow, she was sure. She could see the evilness in those blue eyes. His mother's eyes, and just as devious as her. If only he'd taken more after Vegeta…even if that made him a loud-mouthed jackass with dumb hair, he wouldn't have cared who Krillin ended up dating. She wanted to call Capsule Corp and just scream obscenities at that purple-haired weirdo. Or just go there and glare at him until he ran from the room, more afraid of her than even Krillin had been when they'd first met. He was lucky he no longer had that sword, that was all Juuhachigou had to say.

"Help me…"

They'd met while fighting each other. Since the gang that alien girl had been traveling with had set their sights on Earth, Krillin had been there on the front line. But she'd been betrayed, by her boss, and he'd helped save her. That was Krillin, always a saint to the downtrodden. He'd taken her to Dende, to save her, and somehow, she hadn't cared about his baldness or lack of a nose or stupid grin and nasally voice, and had instead only noticed the span of his shoulders, his expressive dark eyes, and how his joy was a sickening thing that spread like a disease and that he could forgive anything, Krillin.

Krillin, and just say her name, Zangya, had soon gone out. Begun dating. As far as the cyborg could tell, she'd just fluttered her eyelashes at him, and then asked him out. And he'd agreed, because Krillin was sad that way. Even though she was a murderer that had destroyed entire planets, she was cute, and did not turn away from his yearning sad gaze.

Those creepy blue eyes read her up in one glance. As she'd sat there on Juunanagou's bright green beanbag chair she'd brought from her own home, to both annoy her twin and to avoid having to sit on a couch that was sat on to watch porn. Sitting there, eating a blue Popsicle, and feeling exactly six years-old. A dumb six year-old in baggy, black shorts meant for a teenage boy and a faded grey t-shirt of some band, watching a bad reality show while she had a music player and headphones in her ear. 'This is Juuhachigou. Nah, she doesn't live here. We're friends.'

Maybe a dumb fifteen year-old, as the other woman sized her up at that moment. Wearing adult clothes that were maybe too bright and obnoxious, but made her look mature.

Mature. Standing there, sputtering when not silent, Juuhachigou willed her eyes not to look at her chest.

…Damn Trunks a thousand slow deaths. What the hell had she even done to deserve this?

Then he'd gone skipping away with her. Holding hands, even while she laughed and rolled her eyes, fine, fine Krillin, if it makes you happy. Dinners were excruciating. There was kissing and laughing, and barely even noticing of her. She and the Pig would have complete conversations, mildly uncomfortable at first, then the old man had joined in, and somehow they'd gotten into a philosophical debate on the meaning of aesthetics and whether or not she was messing her ears up wearing those headphones. Right then should have been Krillin stepping into busybody her and henpeck and say with a blush and a refusal to look in her direction, that sometime beauty was just for beauty and shouldn't be questioned. Instead, he'd just fed Zangya carrots off his own fork. Then they'd nuzzled, to the disgust of everyone else at the table.

She, that Zangya woman, was living at Kami's Lookout, in-between hanging out here at all hours and annoying everyone else. Didn't she have a life outside of Krillin? Or did she in fact really breathe in as he exhaled and vice versa?

Long nights on the beach, doing what she didn't dare think about much. When she insulted him, it was with an easy smile. Krillin looked distressingly happy, and with not enough tan lines for her comfort. Really, where did that tan end, past the pants line, was he naked in the sun, lying on the sand-? No, enough.

Yet she still couldn't manage to tell even these slack-jawed perverts what her plans were. "You know."

"Yeah. We thought so." Oolong nodded sagely, then turned back to his stamp collection.

"I'm sorry, dear." Was there pity behind those stupid sunglasses that he wore even indoors? "It might be too late. They seem to like one another."

"Does he know that she's insane!? That's she's a monster! Not even human!"

"Yeah, but that's what we said about you."

"Shut up. I heard it only after I said it." Juuhachigou rubbed her forehead, trying not to look out onto the beach through the bay window. The sun was falling, and soon the two lovebirds would slip outside with unneeded sunscreen. Oh, god, what were they doing with that sunscreen?

Oolong grabbed his tweezers to shift a stamp right side up. "I didn't know Krillin had it in him."

The turtle hermit rubbed at his beard, a gesture that no longer annoyed Juuhachigou as much. "I guess he wasn't lying when he said he made out with Launch at that Christmas party."

"Who?" There was nothing she could do for her distraught tone in her voice.

That kiss had been just to tease him, hah, you think I'm pretty. But did he? And who had been teasing whom? What if she'd misread him all along, and he really had been nice with no intention whatsoever of trying to get into her pants, not truly. Not anymore.

"Hey. We're on your side. I think. She did chip in for groceries…"

"She's going to hurt him. Somehow ruin his life. What if she gets pregnant? Can they even have a kid? Because he wants to start a family, you know. They probably can't even get married."

Master Roshi took his sunglasses off for the first time in her company, and rubbed beneath his eyes.

She—Juuhachigou-hadn't been trying to date Krillin, but maybe that was the problem.

338. But if I Think Things Through Long And Hard Enough, I'll Somehow Get to You

Juuhachigou decided not to brood on it. So what if she'd been pushed out the front door (if playfully) with nothing more than leftovers. That was no reason to be depressed because that pathetic shrimp with his stupid growth of struggling dumb hair had rejected her. Unknowing, surely. Sure. If he'd had a true hint of what she'd wanted, he would have dragged her upstairs rather than hand her Tubaware full of cake and cold pasta salad. Too much subtlety for a man like Krillin to understand.

This she clung to, as she tugged open the plastic lid and tried the cake.

"Idiot."

---

Krillin woke up in the dead of night, hand reaching for his mouth, feeling the rough unshaven growth of hair he'd decided to grow as a spur of the moment decision. How he could do that, but overanalyze everything else…except, except. He'd spent less time deciding to grow out his hair on even his face than what Juuhachigou might have meant. His hand traveled upward to yank at the short strands, in frustration.

"Dende. I think she was coming onto me."

339. It Was An Easy Dare

Krillin stared down at the belt tied around his thigh, and thought about his career choice. Being a kickass spy agent sounded so cool. Who would turn down the chance?

And now he was going to bleed out right here, in this dark alley surrounded by dead apartment buildings, while cold sweat ran down his face, and the old echo of Vegeta's laughter in his ears as he told Krillin that no way was he not going to die out there. Probably slowly. And painfully. Now get his ass through that heating vent right now, or he'd die slowly and painfully right here because Vegeta was sick of looking at his face.

Before that, further back, he and Yamcha and Goku who had a trouble filling out the paperwork, all in nice suits. Easy smiles as they informed the blue-haired federal agent with her annoyingly raised eyebrow that they could handle anything out there. That they hadn't been at all afraid of the black and white forms filled out, over and over again, informing them that the government was no longer held liable for injuries/death, as the agent gave a red-lipped smile at Yamcha and informed them all that if they spoke of any government secrets, she would personally see that their balls were removed and shoved down their throats. Given the mention of 'no longer official citizens of their government', stripped of the entitlement of rights, the punishment sounded very literal. Straightening her black pencil skirt, still quirking a smile, as Yamcha and Krillin swallowed and tried not to make eye contact, and Goku broke his pen to stain the suit Chi-Chi had fostered on him. 'Awww.'

At least he would not suffer that fate. Or face what his best friend had coming home with his only good outfit ruined.

All because he'd turned his head to look at the jean-clad women with startlingly pale eyes, stared at her with the sudden realization that he was definitely alone at the drop spot, that she was not a member of Frieza's knee-breaker-bag-of-cement gang that had nearly killed Vegeta, (one of their trainers) and this was definitely the Red Ribbon spy that was not supposed to be here. Then missed the dark-haired boy coming out of the shadows with a white smile that matched the gleam of his knife.

The cargo pants with their pockets that both Bulma, the federal agent, and Vegeta, had mocked him for were growing darker and heaver; never before had he emptied a shoe of blood. The belt he'd taken, hiding disappointment at the lack of utility pockets on it, didn't seem to be doing enough. Shouldn't have been out here, alone.

They'd find him here, maybe Vegeta and Piccolo smoking cigars and quieting saying that they'd known all along he was too soft for this job, Bulma flirting with a distraught Yamcha and screaming at Vegeta for being insensitive, while Goku wept and tore at his hair and vowed vengeance. Of course, he wasn't the hero, he was just a supporting character that was meant to die, the witty best friend a martyr to the cause. Held no longer as a waste of skin, but a waste of chance.

The graffiti the last thing he'd see…cruel to have them depicting parts that had been threatened for removal if he fucked this up. The sweat chilling his body reminded him of cold mornings on the training field, nearly breaking his ankles every day on the tire segment, unable to climb the wall until someone shoved him upward, the bruises and scabs, the callouses, the strained camaraderie that he'd wanted more than Krillin had believed.

"Oh, for—you're still here?"

The voice, girlish and pissed, made Krillin jump and turn around. Blink in the dim light, allow hope, hands sticky with blood around the belt. "Bulma?"

"Who? Is that your girlfriend? So is this the part where you share a dying wish to be united with your one true love?"

"Are you here to finish me off?"

"I really hope that wasn't a proposition. Because bald short men aren't my thing."

Every time Krillin swallowed, his head seemed to feel a little lighter. "But men bleeding in alleys are?"

He received that knife smile again. On her, it looked just as terrifying, if a little more attractive. Every step was somewhere between a girlish bounce and a woman's saunter. "How about this: I help you, free of charge? Just this once, though."

"I won't spy for you!"

"I didn't say that. I'll give you this First Aid kit, and even call your friends for you. On the phone." She held out his cell phone, grabbed as he'd fallen, reaching for his bleeding leg.

340. Don't you know it's you that I adore, though I make the boys fall like dominoes

After Maron, Krillin was evenly more acutely aware of his shortcomings when it came to women. There were many, many men with a lot more to offer pretty girls that he was/wanted to date. From the difference in money to height, he had to say he was not very high up on the attraction food chain.

So when Juuhachigou told the poor bastard with his annoyingly perfect nose and sculpted hair to 'screw off before she broke his arm,' Krillin tried not to be completely bowled over. Almost literally, stumbling over his feet and really not helping his fluttering self-esteem. Those blue eyes focused on him, taking his bristly hair and bright t-shirt and moving down the short distance to his feet. He was forced to act normal, going on about nothing, feeling taller than normal.

If she didn't like that guy, then what-

And then later sneering at the flustered young man who'd sold them their movie ticket. Even Bulma flirted, especially if it might mean a free drink. Bulma, the women he'd had a crush on for years. The woman that had never looked at him beyond some annoying little brother, one that had never grown up, even.

"You know." If there was one thing Krillin was good at, it was shooting himself in the foot. "That guy probably wanted your number?"

"What?"

"Your phone number."

"…why?"

"To date you."

Juuhachigou was making a disgusted face. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, he was pretty good-looking.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

"No. And you're single."

"I don't want some boy."

"Oh. You want a man." Krillin woke up every morning well aware of his flaws, but had rarely felt so keenly aware of his inadequate dimensions, the large eyes that no one had ever gotten lost in, that he was not wearing a borrowed leather jacket from Yamcha, but instead wearing a dumb t-shirt. Conscious of his unattractiveness, and how young he could appear. Gohan was getting taller than him, much taller.

She looked immediately uncomfortable. "No, stop it. I definitely don't want some kid."

"That makes sense. A mature man, with a good job."

"I—shut up. I'm not seeing anyone."

"Never said you were, Juuhachigou. Just that, well, if you were in the future…if you decided to date someone, they would probably be the tall, dark, handsome type." Krillin couldn't not smile over that. It hurt, to think of her with another man, but only felt right. Juuhachigou was a clever, fabulous, startlingly beautiful woman who had made him throw himself at a monster even after she was no longer technically alive. She could drive even a better man than him to desperation.

"Maybe." She was biting her thumb nail, a dizzying sight that he had to focus on. "Maybe the dark type."

"Oh? Is there a guy you like?" Oh damn, of course, duh, she was young, and plenty available, even with the android thing. She'd have no problem dragging around a dozen guys on leaches. Have her pick of the litter.

"I don't know. Don't ask me things like that." A glowering look beneath a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "I'm not exactly the type to go on dates."

"Why not?"

"Humans are all weak cowards anyway. For the most part."

"You can meet someone nice. Charming. I don't know. 'Dark'?"

"I'm not interested in some moron that fills out a t-shirt but can't finish a sentence."

"'course not."

She should be with someone younger and richer and handsomer. Like Trunks. Future Trunks, not the baby version. Yeah, he was pretty good-looking, especially considering he had half of Vegeta's DNA. Sad blue eyes. And he'd gone with Krillin and Master Roshi and Oolong to see those girls at that beauty contest, so he did like women. Plus he was strong, and women liked that in a guy. And he was tall. With nice hair.

Of course, they'd have to overcome the fact that she'd nearly killed him repeatedly in the future (along with just about everyone else on the planet). But that might add a bit of romance. Future Trunks was a kind guy. Maybe he could grow to like her, even if he currently looked at her with enough hatred and disgust to make even Juuhachigou (who didn't care about what Vegeta said) uncomfortable. So what if he sometimes would ask if Krillin needed someone to destroy that android, wasn't he sick of her company, why was he protecting her so much?

Still, Future Trunks was tall and had a nice nose, and she should at least go for a guy like that.

Krillin had fallen in love with her thinking she was dating Juunanagou, so he couldn't fully say he had ever believed he stood a chance. Even if she had been single…definitely not.

He'd nearly tuned out of Juuhachigou's brief rant that had turned on herself, full of self-hatred that tore his heart in half.

"…You'd have to be a masochist to like me."

"That's not true! I like you." But not that way, no, yes, alright, but I won't ever act out on that.

"Well. You do rush onto the battlefield despite not being strong enough to ever help."

"I guess. But still. I'm not a masochist. And you don't have to be a masochist to like you, Juuhachigou."

She raised an eyebrow. Really?

"Don't talk about yourself like that. Please." Lamely, Krillin patted her hand. How could she say that about herself, this bright amazing woman with gorgeous eyes and the ability to inspire men to throw themselves off bridges for her? Even her insults were to be cherished. "Any guy would be lucky to be with you."

There was a tic beneath her eye. "Really?"

"Of course."

A brilliant blush spreading across her nose. Something desperate in those growing blue eyes. "Maybe this is just from spending too much time with your Master watching TV, but, Krillin, are you feeling lucky?"

341. Pretend That You Love Me

Krillin might be desperate, and a fool, and half in-love with this girl already, but was well aware that she had no real interest in him. He was just a stepping stone to whatever she wanted. A new purse maybe, or another ice cream cone or a guy with a yacht. So what if she smiled so sweetly at him.

He'd saved her from those guys on the beach just out of a sense of honor. There definitely hadn't been any ulterior motive, no matter how cute she looked in that bathing suit. A woman screaming on the beach for help, with no one around but those leering guys—it would be a less nice guy than Krillin's blood boil. 'I think you guys need an attitude readjustment.' Not a great line, but it made him feel better for saying it. They hadn't stood a chance, and for a moment the bald man actually felt heroic and brave again. He could defeat some evil out there, and save someone.

And she'd, she'd been so sad, with those cloudy gray eyes, the color of an overcast sky. Then blinking the long eyelashes while he stood there in his swimming trunks that allowed him to feel sand flying up them when the wind came by. Maybe she'd been crying because of the sand…"You saved me."

"Oh. I guess." She looked familiar, this girl. "Are you alright?"

There was definitely eyelash fluttering, but he still didn't fully know the cause. "I am now. What's your name?"

"Krillin."

"I'm Maron."

Pretty name. But then, he was already lost. It was a dumb, dopey feeling. Just by looking at her, seeing her smile at him. A little similar to how he felt about his oldest female friend, but less hopeless.

"You're cute."

"Uh. Thank you?" Cute like a puppy, a harmless asexual non-attractive puppy?

It still might be better than thinking about him like an annoying little brother like Bulma did. Dismissing him with those passionate blue eyes that showed mostly a vague friendliness, or frustration for one of his many flaws, oh, Krillin you dork.

He couldn't compare with any of the guys the blue-haired woman would drool over, even if only the posters or guys in the mall that she'd flirt with only to find them boring or dumb or both. Especially not with Yamcha, who was so tall and handsome and older and smooth and knew how to talk to girls now. While Krillin stumbled around stuttering and desperate. Even if he wouldn't feel like betraying his friend's trust by moving in on his woman, and if Bulma didn't like Yamcha anymore, she would still want someone dangerous and exciting.

Krillin spent most nights not at the club or hanging out with some celebrity like Yamcha could do, but playing cards with Oolong or Scrabble with Master Roshi or sparring with Goku or just having tea and curling up with a good book. For all the adventures in space and dying twice, he couldn't say his day-to-day life was all that thrilling.

Maron even looked a little like Bulma. But Bulma had never touched him, let alone commented on his muscles. Which he'd never thought anyone would really find attractive. Let alone touching his head and saying how adorable he was with that shaved head. "Wo-ow. You're so strong."

"So, you wanna get something to eat?" he gibbered. That swimsuit was so small and tight.

"Sure."

He wasn't so dumb as to think she felt exactly the same.

Maron smiled at him, reaching out to touch his hand.

But maybe she could love him. Weirder things had happened after all.

342. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Gohan had been waiting two months, three terms papers, six trigonometry quizzes and a chemistry test for this. Despite his Mother's warnings, it really was warm on the tropic island. No need for the sweater and jacket she'd fostered on him and Goten. "Hey, everyone!"

"Gohan! Hey, buddy." Krillin gave him a hug on cue, then pulled back with a grimace. "Now just about everyone's definitely taller than me."

Juuhachigou appeared to be trying to hide behind a handmade scarf.

His Mom did a double-take, there to rarely being a girl on the island that wasn't Bulma or herself. "Who are you? What are you doing—

Then her voice became sympathetic. "Did something happen to your boat? Are you stuck here? We could give you a ride back to the mainland."

Their usual joke gifts were being worn already, including their new guest. She looked completely embarrassed while the other guys didn't even seem to notice anymore how ridiculous they looked. It was nice to see her, that she was getting along with everyone, and it explained why Krillin had been so happy lately.

"Hi there Juuhachigou."

"So." Chi-Chi said slowly. "You're one of them."

The blonde woman went even paler. "One of what? What exactly am I? Like them?"

343. Are You Giving Me A Dirty Look In the Rearview

She'd been fairly certain she'd never see that stupid van again. Left it right there at the Son's house. With the doors still open and the keys left in the ignition. Someone would take it, Juuhachigou had thought. Of course someone will take a free car.

Right now, she just needed to blink and hope reality shifted itself again.

She stood there on that road, a young woman in blues and greys, slim and only of average height, with her eyes closed.

And for once, the universe listened to her, because when she opened her eyes again, Krillin was sitting up and smiling at her. For once, or maybe not for the second time, he was the one to properly start the conversation. "Hi there."

The murmuring voice annoyed herself. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you a present." Then the short man leaned forward to open the door.

344. Treat Her Like A Lady

They woke up with his mouth still plastered to her ear. "Uh?" Then the two were rolling away from each other, trying to separate limbs. Fix their hair, and remember how to form words. Pushing down her sheets that Krillin would clean when he'd come over, seeing nothing wrong with doing her laundry.

"Where are my clothes?"

As usual in the summer, he only yanked on his underwear and stumbled downstairs to make coffee. Pulling her awake as well, despite how much she preferred to sleep-in. Only when he wasn't here, an increasingly rare event, was she able to pull a pillow over her head and block out the light. With Krillin, she didn't need an alarm clock, and could already hear him in the kitchen messing with plates and coffee filters.

"Toast okay? Eggs?"

And he wouldn't take no for an answer. Would go to her and practically sit on her and bug her over her dietary choices, didn't she know how important breakfast was? Her own annoying monogamy nightmare that would grab her wrists and tease her over not yet being dressed. That sometimes still had corkscrew in his hair and morning breath. Not even a shower would displace him, since Krillin saw nothing wrong with hopping inside and asking for Juuhachigou to pass the conditioner. 'Want me to wash your back?'

When it stopped being as sexual as the first time, and more comforting instead, she knew she was stuck.

Then he would hustle her out and dry her off, all professional.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"What, and leave my girlfriend to catch a cold? That's not very gentlemanly."

Her voice always dropping to become husky, whenever they'd play one of these games. "Neither is where your hand is right now."

345. Surprise!

She took another left, and saw a door with lights on. Juunanagou tended to treat classroom lights as a vampire might, and wouldn't bother her if there were other people around—only hiss and raise his bandana to better cover his face as he fled into the darkness. Juuhachigou slipped down the aisles of desks, going to the back of the class. Excuses popped into her head, I'm only sitting in, sorry I must have the wrong class, yes, that's my name, I didn't hear you the first time.

It was bad enough that her brother wanted to play the college student, but worse was that she thought it might be fun too. Right now it was something she regretted. College might have brought out the worse in them, since their cruel if not permanent jokes that any roommates might share had gotten out of control.

Juuhachigou could nearly see her twin running the halls with the marker still staining his face even at this dusk hour. Wanting revenge. Thank whatever powers that she had unlimited energy to dodge his blows.

Then she realized that the man standing at the doorway had been taking double takes before slowly creeping towards her and taking the seat next to her. If there was one place he'd thought to never find her, it was in a…creative writing course? Clearly.

Damnit, if only it had been a history class about an uninteresting period with a professor that was waiting only to retire. Then he would have gone on and on while she sat peacefully and plotted her way out of the building.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could really ask the same."

She wanted to run, or at least change seats. Yes, this man is harassing me. Stalking me. Call Campus security. Now.

Only Krillin would look so upset, that she just didn't want to deal with it. He might somehow tell her brother where she was.

"I'm only here to avoid Juunanagou."

"Huh? He's here too?"

"Sort of." At least she would sometimes attend classes. Real classes. Juunanagou only went with her to movie criticism lectures and then they would get into overwrought arguments about Lynch and what qualified something for an anti-Marxist statement. Always in coffee shops, which pleased them both as they smoked clove cigarettes and laughed at themselves, but really, do you think Zizek was right about what he said about Alien?

"You two are going to school?" From his grin, he clearly thought this was just adorable.

"What are you doing here? Harassing coeds?"

"Wha-of course not. I really do want to learn how to write. Bulma offered to pay for my tuition." He shrugged, looking unsettling in his sweater and jeans. "Have you taken a writing class before?"

"No. I can't say I have. Why are you even trying to learn to write?"

"I was just curious. I'm retired now. From fighting."

Less than a year ago, she was being prepared, being prepped, to defeat this man. Now she had to borrow paper and a pen from him to take notes. To listen to the professor, and to leave little notes on his paper and his hand about what she thought of this class, while Krillin would shyly smile and mutter his own comments to her. "'Most embarrassing moment.' Hah. Which one."

346. I Like The Way You Comb Your Hair

Somehow, despite having just been awakened shortly ago, she had more experience with men than he had with women. Somehow. Because Krillin didn't seem to understand that he shouldn't borrow her shampoo or jump behind her to pet her head and say that he really wanted to try her conditioner where had she hidden that stuff anyway, and if she thought he should spike his hair or part it or what?

Eventually, she controlled her blush and removed his hand from her hair. "Why are you asking me?"

"You have the best hair in the house. Easily."

367. Never Was Much Of A Romantic

When Juuhachigou fell in love with Krillin and then later realized what this emotion that made her want to rip his arms off, and then hug him and make him feel better, it was crippling. To understand there was a person that she wanted, that she needed in such a way, it paralyzed her into giving him long hugs when no one was around, to glare at other woman when they were in public and one of them was looking at him too long, and to find excuses to spend time with him, unable to say exactly how she felt while spooning him as he felt asleep.

Were there really any words necessary for such an act?

What if she didn't need to say anything, and could instead just hold his hand to let him know how she felt? That how she felt was just this tenderness as she felt that heartbeat beneath her ear as she used him as a pillow. That she would wake him up by combing his hair with her fingers and kissing his cheek. She'd even made him breakfast, slipping quickly into his lap when the turtle hermit was out of the room, and informing him that his coffee now had to come with a kiss.

Sickening, if it didn't feel so wonderful to use him as a pillow and have Krillin informing her about how beautiful she was, how amazing it was to have her so close, could he borrow her hair conditioner, because her hair felt so wonderful, hey, I'm not messing it up, that's just your imagination, it still looks gorgeous even, how is that possible.

Krillin had to know exactly how she felt. So Juuhachigou could just crawl into his bed as he lay there with a book, bemused by whatever expression was on her face, and say exactly how she felt about him.

"Can we make out now?"

348. Belle of the Ball

When her brother said he found a great place to live in, Juuhachigou heaved a sigh and wondered what dump it would be in next time. Perhaps, literally. It wouldn't be the first time.

She could still remember looking at him, in shock and confusion. "Live here? Juunanagou." She, gently, as though not to rattle whatever was broken in the first place in his head, shook him by the shoulder. "Juunanagou, this is a dump."

"So? We've got camping supplies."

He pointed to a pile of discarded toasters and ovens and Televisions. "Our brethren!" And Juuhachigou was forced to chase him around a pile of abandoned blow-up dolls and porno tapes. Playfulness and laughter eventually died out, and eventually she tossed him into a pile of random refuse and diapers. He agreed to search for something more 'inside the city.'

This time, Juunanagou led her to an abandoned manor surrounded by forgotten fields far not too far from West City, like he'd said. Her surprise was pleasant, for perhaps the first time in the history of her life. The roof could have used some work, and of course a paint job was needed to replace the peeling red and off-white paint barely hanging onto the building. But it was better than the dump, by leaps and bounds.

Inside, it was dirty and full of crumbling plaster and falling-down waterlogged wallpaper. Most of the rooms were empty but for a select few. One was full of rotting magazines that came to the ceiling in tottering stacks, the other containing solely a musty loveseat. Mattresses, stacked an untidy pile, some still in their plastic wrapping were found.

Of course, when they found a huge ballroom that could have fit a hundred guests easily. Again, the faded cream and blood was found inside.

"Wow. Look at all this."

"Clearly, we're going to have to throw a party."

"Well, looks like our guests are already here."

"Yes, let me get my grease hors de oeuvres."

"Don't forget the spring pasta."

"The oil pan pizza."

"Good one."

"I guess it's good that we can joke about all this." And then they both sighed.

"Well, I guess this place won't clean itself."

But it would have to. Both she and Juunanagou couldn't bring themselves to actually clean the place up. It was too depressing, and would have admitted they were actually living here rather than biding their time.

Her brother often rode a stolen motorcycle through the marble floors, and rather than scold him, she just yelled at him and told him it was her turn. Together, they tossed crystal wine and brandy glasses into TVs to hear the bulbs inside bursting with a satisfactory crash and tinkle of glass. Rotting wood was pulled down, and used as play swords, the more nails sticking out the better. Then they threw illegal fireworks bought at a stand at each other. Everything was too moldy to burn.

When her brother found a nest of rodents living in the crumbling bathroom with its falling in roof, he waited until she was in the freezing tub trying to bathe using the recent rainwater collected and water bottles from the grocery store to reveal them. Her shriek made more of the drywall fall inward.

Old speakers were found and set up, and eventually a stereo was discovered so they could at least listen to the radio. Stained mattresses were burned in the ruin of the private library, and her brother conducted a huge labyrinth of a maze for his beloved rats out of the piles of magazines.

After a week, there was a knock at the door. Juuhachigou looked up from the bits and the shell of a television she'd been trying to fix. She didn't care much for the idiot box, but it was better than watching her idiot brother trying to name the sixty or so disease-carrying rodents in the walls. How he could tell the difference between them, if he even could tell the difference, was a mystery still. When he'd run out of normal names, he started naming them after the fighters, and that was enough for her. Watching other people, stupid people she was not related to and didn't live with, would be a relief.

But when she went to the entrance hall, she found the door already opened.

Leaves blew in. She turned on heel to find her brother in the library. "Juunanagou, why did you leave the front door open? Isn't this place wrecked enough?"

He stared at her. "I thought you opened it."

"…well, that's not at all alarming."

Juunanagou stared at the rat in his hands thoughtfully. "Maybe Juurokugou here opened it?"

"…did you name other rats after—"

"Yes." Her brother stroked the rat for a long moment. "I ran out of other names."

"I hear something," she realized. "In the living room."

A figure stood there, short and with shorn black hair. Familiar, in some way. They all screamed at each other, and ran in opposite directions. It was only after she and her brother (still holding that rat) had ran into the kitchen and shut the crumbling door did she realize that she knew that round face, if not the dark hair.

"What the fuck?"

She realized immediately how pathetic it was to be scared of him. Both and her brother. She almost said something, only to realize that her twin had disappeared somewhere. Probably off, telling his rodent minions that the time has come men, to fight as an army, this is what they'd trained for. Her imagination had gotten out of control.

"Juuhachigou?" The person called behind an old couch. "Juunanagou?"

Krillin? "Krillin? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?!"

"We're staying here."

"Oh. Well. My friend Yamcha lives around here, or he has a house around here, and he helped clean up around the neighborhood. Then we got this call that someone was staying here, some kids having a party…well, Yamcha was busy, so I came to check up on things. You really scared your neighbors, I hate to tell you."

"Oh." Juuhachigou shrugged.

He was laughing. "It's like you two have a clubhouse."

"Well, if you're going to make fun of it, you can help clean it up." She threw a waterlogged phone book at him, half of which actually reached him.

"Eh. Alright. Where's your twin?"

"I prefer not to know."

"…you realize a rat just ran by, right?"

"Yes. I think it was Juurokugou."

"…you know Juurokugou's dead right?"

Her voice was colder than the water she had to bathe in. Too long she'd been immersed in this insanity; it had attached itself to her, and now she had to explain it to an outsider. "My brother named them."

"Okay. That's okay. Nothing weird-"

"Shut up. I can't make him stop doing it."

"So. What's first, boss?"

"Find me a TV."

Krillin nodded importantly. "I can do that. Unless you mean inside here. That might be harder."

"No. I looked."

"Where are you sleeping?"

"Not with you."

"I didn't mean like that!" He waved his hands around.

She sat there on the stairs, watching him panic. "Or maybe you can be my entertainment."

"Hey. Should I be insulted?"

"Juunanagou has his pets, and so should I."

"Cruel boss." Krillin gathered magazines, shooing away rats that had grown bold.

"And you're not getting paid, or any health insurance."

349. Where Are You?

(Author's Note: I always wondered what happened in Other World to Juuhachigou and Marron. Everyone else was shown but them, and it made me wonder if there was an actual Heaven Nursery and why Juuhachigou wasn't elsewhere preparing to fight Buu alongside Krillin)

She had never died before. Not even when Cell had engulfed her and her brother. She had been spat out—saved. This time, her on-coming brush with oblivion came when she was holding her daughter, knowing that her husband was dead or dying, and that any moment so could Marron, no matter what she did—

What had happened came rushing back as she took in the yellow clouds, floating there, bored, furious. Once you got over the surprise of dying, there wasn't a lot up here to hold your attention. No, instead you could just wait and suffer and let your mind wander and ask questions like, 'where is my daughter, where is Marron, did she die too, where is Krillin, where are the others?'

It did not help her swallow her rage and fear. Was there anything more terrifying than a mother losing her child? Was this her punishment? Krillin had no memory of his time in the Other World, and they'd never really discussed what might happen should she die. Considering how safe everything had been for the past seven year, and with her not aging like a human being, it hadn't, it hadn't been her biggest concern.

What if she was lost somehow? What if there was some Kai, Grand Supreme Elder or some other ridiculous title, judging her. Or had finished judging her, and this was her punishment. Never see her family again, or her reluctantly

"There you are." The man was wearing ridiculous tiger stripe pants that didn't go well with his blue skin in the least. He held up his clipboard like a doctor would a patient's file. "Now you are an interesting case. Hm. Doctor Gero, huh?

"Well, now you just have to go through your penance, and that's that."

"That's—" Her eyes widened. "And then what? I can join my daughter? Join Krillin?"

"You have a choice. You were once a fighter. You can go onto that big gym in the sky, or you can go to the nursery to be with your daughter."

"I have to decide on one or the other?" Forever? What if Goku lost his fight, what if this was it and there would be no returning to Earth.

"At least until this mess is figured out. You Earth fighters nowadays don't seem to spend much time here on Otherworld anymore." A little giggle.

Krillin would understand. He would. Of course you went to go with Marron. He'd do the same, but while weeping bitterly and shamelessly. She wouldn't cry in front of some stranger. Especially one that smiled with such amusement as they watched her. "I won't be able to see Krillin again?"

"Oh. I don't know about that." If his hair had been longer, the creature would have been twirling it around a finger. "Maybe something could be arranged?"

"Such as?"

"You'll see." A shrug. "Everyone has their own personal penance."

"Not Krillin." She was sure that the fighter had been waved on ahead to whatever heaven there was. A fighter's version, maybe. But he'd gotten deferential treatment, regardless. "He has nothing to repent."

"Nothing?"

"Oh, maybe something he thinks he should feel bad for. But he's the most frustratingly nice person on Earth. Really, if you have a chart somewhere, he's up near the top." For all she knew there really did exist such a thing. Like something from Santa Clause Krillin would tell Marron about during the holidays. 'Rain deer?' Then they would sing Christmas carols until everyone else in the house was either singing along, or going out of their mind insane.

"Where are we now?"

"Limbo," the creature said. "Now, let's get this penance over with, huh, Missus Juuhachigou."

The dark cliffs and valleys filled with sharp stones, snowy mountains set further back, they were right there before Juuhachigou and the horned demon-helper. The smell of fresh air, the best she'd breathed in outside of salt air that trickled in from the open windows at Kame House in the morning with the smell of breakfast downstairs and hearing the TV and Marron and Master Roshi having a serious discussion on what show to watch as Krillin laughed for her. All there, swirling before them like on TV show without the screen, spreading out until they were there, standing at the side of the road that she sometimes saw in her dreams. Of course no one there in this memory or vision could see them.

The horned demon cupped his hands and shivered dramatically.

Hadn't she seen this sort of thing before, on commercials? Juuhachigou's Greatest Hits. Literally. This was Limbo? For her, anyway?

She laughed, still, at the sight of Vegeta clutching his arm. "I'm supposed to feel bad about this? I was only defending myself."

"But you got such joy from it. Ouch."

"Have you met the man?"

"And that poor gentleman there?"

"He was in my way. Again, they started it. He came at me with a sword." She made a show of crossing her arms and looking away. "They were rude, and didn't even bother starting a real conversation."

It was over faster than she could recall. And it still made her feel some pride at seeing them like that. The best the planet had to offer, at her feet.

Except for…

Back when he was bald, and terrified of her. Rather than the dark, shaggy-haired man that would poke her nose when she was angry and inform her seriously that she was too cute when she made that face. Sorry. I bet as a kid you looked like a female Denise the Menace. It's adorable.

Pleading with her, intense, she'd forgotten how scared he was exactly at that moment. She could have at least punched him a little, or kicked him down there to join his friends. He was completely unprepared for her.

"He was brave. In his strange way."

"Awwww." Sharp teeth like Piccolo's revealed themselves. "Your little gentleman. For someone who was supposedly going to kill everyone on the planet, you have a thing for nice guys."

"Shut up. I was teasing him. For being so weak. Or for being smart enough to not fight us. I don't remember which."

"Look. You even spared the rest of them."

"Yes, I was a saint even then," she mocked. "Get on with the point."

Her back at Kame House, them back at Kame House, standing on the hard dirt and loose sand. The island still tiny and the house still pink, her in that outfit that she had liked quite a bit, even if now it reminded her of Cell. Piccolo snarling at them, with Juunanagou smirking and Juurokugou smiling. Krillin was stumbling out, wide-eyed and-mouthed, looking at her with nothing much going through that shiny head. How flattering, how funny that had been, and Juuhachigou watched herself fly away in a flutter of blonde hair and curled legs. There had been nothing very complicated in her life at that moment; she was there just to kill the fighters if they interfered with her plan to kill Goku.

What had she thought of him, Krillin, then? Of course she hadn't thought, that right there is the man I will one day marry and have a child with. But there had been something, some future tense word that had passed her mind. Maybe something along the lines of 'I'll kill him last. Maybe.' But she'd definitely had a plan for him. She would go to some island, and watch her brother beat then kill that Namek, and then go back to Kame Island, and what? Screw him into the side of that dumb pink house? Probably not.

She did miss those pearls…At least he had never seen her in that hideous cowboy outfit, at least she'd run into him after that.

On that nothing island, the trees green and the small hills she'd hidden besides a pale brown. Krillin, looking at her, pointing that remote with its button the color of old blood. Face sweaty, eyes seeing her while she could only look straight ahead at Cell. Hopeless, the both of them. Like lambs to the slaughter. She watched him, lost his memories, eyes turning from chards of ebony to their usual soft black velvet.

I'm getting badly poetic.

Still, still though. I can nearly reach out and touch him. Have I ever properly thanked him for what he did?

Touching his cheek, Krillin looked upon her while the seven-year-older version of Juuhachigou watched him. Watched the agony bloom on his good-natured face, fighting his inner demons, the metaphorical angel and devil on his shoulder battling it out, although even now she couldn't tell which was which when it came to Krillin. And this was when he had thought she'd been involved with someone else, and that she would never love him back. Trembling, stepping forward to drop that remote and startle her. "It's you."

"You didn't even try to hurt him."

"I didn't try to hurt him the first time. Not really."

There at Kami's Hideout. The Lookout Tower. Flowers and butterflies she'd seen Marron playing with under her own watchful eye, all gone before the bruised fighters. It was strange, being back here as well, considering she'd just died in that domed building up there. Juuhachigou watched herself awaken.

Then, there, her life had suddenly grown complications. It was no longer a matter of flying around with her brother, doing whatever they wanted. The world laid at their feet, begging for mercy. Krillin was looking at her, already devoted to her, even as his friends tried to talk reason to him. His harmless punch to Gohan's head made her smile, even as she watched her younger self insult Krillin and fly away. Only to eventually return and confront him again if only to clear up the confusion that she and Juunanagou hadn't been twins. Only, of course, it hadn't been just that. Even sticking around had been something other than just curiosity. Or more than curiosity for the dragon.

The jeans she'd liked, that vest, all unwearable after having worn it while being spat up in it.

Krillin had just been some dorky shrimp that was fun to tease, until she was up there and understanding the full span of his feelings. That he hadn't been just playing in his own way, something that seemed so obvious in retrospect. Crushing that remote hadn't been the act of a man with just some simple attraction. He was a man in love with a woman, and willing to do whatever he could for her.

Her thoughtful expression, his amazed.

They'd been so stupid then. There was no way she could have brought herself to hang around that group, not just yet, but they'd stumbled around each other in a way that she found annoying. It had been too soon to outright say that she knew he loved her in some strange way, and that she really didn't think he was a complete bone head and that maybe that little kiss could one day be something more than a dumb trick. But she guessed Krillin had understood her anyway.

…until Yamcha was telling a desperate-for-a-sign Krillin that she definitely liked him, that he definitely had a chance.

Oh, Krillin. No wonder it took so long for us to get our act together. We should have talked the day later, rather than waiting for so long to finally hammer out what we felt. Rather than wasting that time apart. No, Krillin, I'm definitely not angry with you, just confused.

They could have spared each other some unnecessary heartache and awkwardness if they'd laid their cards on the table sooner.

"You know, after that, you were no longer on the track to Hell." All said with a cheerful smile. "You didn't even throw any more police cars into mountains."

Juuhachigou rolled her eyes. This guy sounded like Krillin on one of his spells. "Yeah, the magical power of love brought us together. Never mind that in another timeline, I killed him."

The smile wouldn't be deterred. "There are many timelines."

"What else is there? Do I have to say I'm sorry I harbored murderous intent for Goku? I guess I am sorry. But not very much."

"Now why is that Missus Juuhachigou?"

The cyborg turned to give a sour glance at the old woman who'd decided to finally make an appearance. Baba. Roshi's sister. Less perverted. A better cheater at cards. "Because…"

She sighed. She was dead, and this was just between them. The sooner this was over with, the sooner she could be with her daughter. "Because I got to meet Krillin. Yeah, yeah. I supposed I should regret beating those two up, if only because Vegeta still whines about it, but if it meant that I ended up with Krillin, I don't care."

Baba scratched beneath her hat. "I guess that's about the best we're going to get."

"That's it?"

"You saw what you did wrong. You're not that bad, Juuhachigou." The blue-skinned humanoid waved a hand at her.

"Thanks."

"Even at your worst, murder never interested you. You even feel bad about some of that destruction. Meeting Krillin helped, a little."

"So what was the point of that then? Fine, I wish I hadn't blown up so much stuff; it was dumb. I don't think meeting Krillin made me a better person, not then. It's not like I felt guilty, messing with those bikers. Or didn't plan on fighting the rest of the Z fighters."

"But not Krillin?"

"Maybe. He didn't seem interested in fighting." She rolled her eyes at Baba's smile, just like her perverted brother's. "Or that—not until later. Or. Shut up."

"I have to go sort those Saiyans out now, dear." The blonde cyborg had her shoulder patted by the floating old lady. "Have fun."

The world shifted back to the mountain valley, the road still and always cracked. This time, there was no one there but her and the demon.

"With what? Can I leave Limbo now?"

"Now, now just getting some ducks in order. Huh. What's this little note?" He lifted a post-it-note that had suddenly appeared on his clipboard. "'Special request?'"

"For what?"

-and then a familiarly heavy blur threw itself at her. They nearly tumbled to the dirty ground. Thankfully they weren't on that yellow and blue road purposely shaped like a snake, elsewise they would have fallen down to who-knew. "Juu!"

"Oh my. Please, not here. I'm afraid there's no time…"

The married couple ignored him as best they could. Like they were rabbits…

Krillin was beaming at her, with his hair a mess as usual. "Juu! You're okay…or not. But you're here. Like the view?"

"Hey, there, honeybunny." Throwing back his stupid nickname that he'd bother her with. Was he even real, or was this some more penance? She hadn't done anything that bad, like they'd said, to deserve seeing something so painful. Was he annoying her, that crack about the view, or was Krillin (real or not) holding some sentimental value to where they'd first met?

"Hey!" His hands went to his hips. "I thought I was the octopus head."

Oh, but I do love you, I do. I don't even care if you're real or not. Maybe it would be easier if you weren't, in some way.

But god, I do hope you're really here. How am I supposed to act fine with Marron if I don't know what happened to you? Are you really training? What if you got lost, somehow?

"I missed you. What the hell were you doing throwing yourself at Buu?"

"I thought I could help. Guess not, huh?" Krillin was turning serious, even as he reached for her hands. "And Marron's…he got her too, huh?"

"Just about all of us now. I'm not certain who survived. Or if you're even real, or some messed up vision."

Krillin kissed her hand, absently. Looking like was about to propose, which was strange, given their already married state (and she'd been the one to purpose). "I'm real. Really, really here. Your annoying teddy bear that you used to almost strangle in your sleep."

"Krillin." She wasn't sure if she was trying to chastise him or not. It was still annoying to blush, dead or not.

"But I don't think we're going in the same direction. Not now. Once the others save the day…"

"You always have to be the hero." Once she might have sneered at him for that.

"I have to help my friends. Even if I can't, exactly. You thinking of coming along?"

He knew all about their choice. And what her decision was going to be, stronger than him though she may be. That they might be separated for some time.

"If it's only temporary. I guess I can let you go help save the universe."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," the blue-skinned man threw in behind them.

"But you better come back in one piece, Krillin. No throwing yourself at Buu again!"

"Hey, I learned my lesson." The smile was brief. "Take care of Marron. Really. I'll see you again. Don't cry."

"I'm not crying. You're the one that cries."

"Fine. I'm crying. I'm going to miss you, temporary or not."

"Just go help the others." She pinched one ear, lightly. "I'm going to check on Marron. Make sure she'd okay. Tell her how brave her father is."

"I'm going to see you again." He let her hands go, eyes losing all cheerfulness. Then he was grabbing her around the waist, and pulling her down to his level. Delicately touching her hair while she shoved her hair into that black shag to get a better grip on him. He kissed the same way too, melting her knees enough to help reduce the height difference.

"Really, you two! I have to take Missus Juuhachigou back to the weighing station and have her checked into the right location. And you have to go onto King Kai, or he'll have my hide."

She opened her eyes, reluctantly. Let go and moved away even more with even more reluctance. "Fine. I'm going. Just one thing, Krillin. Why are we back here, at this spot? Do you really have such nice memories of the first time we met?"

His grin was definitely Krillin's. He gave one last quick kiss, before pulling back. "Babe, this is your version of Limbo; this is your vision of where you wanted to meet me again."

350. You May Have Been Made For Love...But I'm Just Made.

Krillin died after Majon Buu had gotten sick of talking, throwing himself at the monster. He died not knowing that his family and friends soon followed.

This wasn't the first time he had died, nor even the second time.

He floated through nothingness for an eternity, then two. Harmlessly.

Eventually, he found himself in front of a desk, a desk to beat all others in the universe, with a giant ogre that made the Ox King look tiny. Red-faced and with a bushy mustache. At his giant side, a familiar figure hovered, angry and arguing. From the cringing expression on the red face, she was winning.

"Baba?"

The tiny witch turned. "Hello there, young man."

"So…is this…heaven? The afterlife?"

"I'm afraid so. Expecting more harps."

"And some floating angels. Hey, where's everyone else?"

"They're on their way. Or have already gone through. Time is different here, for everyone."

"Did my family, did Marron and Juuhachigou—"

"Yes. In this relative time, they're here."

His shoulders sagged inward. "Can I see them?"

"Not quite yet." Roshi's sister and the demonic looking creature exchanged looks.

"There's still some paperwork to finish up. You're going to head up with the rest of the fighters."

"Alright. But I have to see Marron and Juuhachigou. I have to talk to them."

"Yes. You will. Especially if those Saiyans figure out what to do, and wish you all back to Earth."

"I'd like to talk to them now, please." He turned his increasingly-desperate look onto the extremely large ogre. Somehow, he looked more empathetic than Baba, who would come by Kame House to cheat at cards and give Marron a pile of candy.

The ogre tucked at his collar. "I'm afraid not. Now, can we please hurry this up?"

"Oh, alright. Come with me, Krillin."

Juuhachigou often told him he was too sweet and forgiving, that he should defend himself more, but he must have picked up on some of her steel will through the years. He stood his ground. Behind him, cloudy blue souls were grumbling and shifting about. "Not until I see my family. Or know that they're alright."

"They're fine. Being sorted. Your wife is joining your daughter in the nursery, however, rather than with the rest of the fighters."

"Oh. Alright."

"We can't just take them out," the red-faced demon explained. "She chose."

"So why can't I choose to go with them?"

"Because you're a fighter. The universe may need you."

"Oh, c'mon, my friends are all stronger than I am. I'm sure they can handle it better than me."

"That may be true." Baba wasn't smiling. "But we may need more help."

"'May.'" For that, he might not see his wife and daughter for some time. Maybe never.

"You'll go through a short penance, and then join your friend Yamcha with the rest of the fighters."

"Penance? But I'm a good guy, remember?" Krillin grinned, a little uneasily. "I haven't done anything too bad."

"No, but I'm afraid even a saint would have to go through this. And you could never get on that cloud my brother gave to Goku."

"Alright. Fine. Let's see it." He sighed, sure of what was to follow: all his dumb mistakes and errors. Should have dodged, should have been quicker, should have known that move was coming…

"I'll see you soon, King Yemma. Now, if you would be a dear and follow me."

They went past doors and buildings, up flights of stairs, with Baba humming and Krillin gritting his teeth at every step.

"Soon, soon."

"What? What are we even doing?"

Then they were stepping out onto some platform, huge, bigger enough to fit several of King Yemma's desks onto easily. "Just a few minutes. It's been such a busy day. The Limbo where you'll spend your penance can't be too bad."

"Still spending time with demons, Baba?"

"I could ask the same of you."

"Yeah. Roshi's doing just fine, you know."

She cackled. "You were always his pupil with the best sense of humor."

He was still wearing his loose brown pans and red shirt, and it would feel a little strange fighting for the sake of the universe in something other than his gi. Juuhachigou might have laughed at that thought. Where was she, exactly? Was she telling their daughter that everything was okay? Was that nursery at least nice? "That was the one thing I had on over Goku, I guess."

"When you meet King Kai, that will come in handy."

Baba pulled out a watch hanging from a chain, gleaming gold nice in whatever sun there was in the Other World.

"Hey. Isn't that the watch Juuhachigou had—"

"Right about now should do it."

And then they were no longer at the platform.

Some moment passed, moments perhaps, he couldn't tell since he wasn't holding that watch that had hung so prettily off his wife's hips when she hadn't yet been his wife. Krillin could see different futures before his eyes, snapshots where he knew exactly what was happening in each one. One where he'd never gone to Roshi's and stayed at the temple, one where he lost against Freiza at the wrong moment, one where he had followed Bulma's advice to use the dragonballs to stop Gero, one where he and Juuhachigou had never meant, their paths diverging off, rejoining briefly, then separating.

One where because of them stopping Gero, she'd never been completed and had died in that lab, one where they'd stopped him before he'd gotten a hold of Juuhachigou and Juunanagou and they continued on their life that he could almost see, almost see his wife before she was his wife, what she would have been instead of a cyborg and a fighter and mother, almost see what she'd been Before. Smokey, foggy, over those visions, like some of Roshi's cigars had been lit and held underneath to hide things.

Her eyes had been blue, regardless of whatever Gero's machinery had otherwise done.

One where they met and he'd died again and again, under her hand or her brother's or both of them together.

One where he'd used the remote and did and then didn't kill her.

One where they never had kids, one where they had more. Blue and dark eyes staring beneath blonde and black hair, her small smile regardless of all else. Splintering further out.

Always her, always focused on her.

That ever since he'd met her, there had only been her.

Not quite mistakes. But his hesitations and questioning over the years, weighing things, wondering. Now here they were.

Oh, oh thank god, I didn't mess up too badly, thank god I made the right decisions.

Rewinding backward from him reading a pair of twins, to them on a beach with her roughly shoving a wedding band on his finger (which had happened), going back further and further, creeping up the branches.

There were few trees up there at Kami's Lookout. Pale stone with the dark blue sky reflecting off it, flowers, scattered palm trees. When she'd awoken, he understood the world could once again exist. Juuhachigou looked beautiful, even when she was furious. His stupid face as Gohan and all the others looked at him and Juuhachigou. Stumbling about, trying to say how he felt, trying to hide his feelings from her. Slumped shoulders and his dumb shiny head. Really, you mean it?

That island, green and brown and surrounded by its many twins, the worst fit of fear and hesitation he'd never felt before or since. Oh, no, you can try whatever Baba, but I'm glad I didn't use that button. I've had seven years to think about it, and whatever else, no matter how selfish it sounds, I'm glad I crushed it. Just look at my daughter and try to convince me otherwise.

He could nearly feel her in his arms, hugging. 'Daddy.' She'd learned that word by the sixth one, after 'Mama,' 'Turtle,' 'TV', 'Food,' 'Krillin.' Always yelled, his name or title, since by that age she'd already had him tied around her little finger. Before she fully understood, he had just been that toy she played with that tossed her gently into the air (to her Mama's panic), and changed her diaper and fed her and put her to sleep with lullabies. Just some dark-haired figure, to her mind perhaps, that brought comfort and stood much taller than her still.

For her, and for her mother, he could never regret that decision. No matter what cost.

"Is this it?" He asked clearly, looking at Juuhachigou. At his lady love hiding from Cell, her disgust at Juurokugou's fondness for animals (even as she saved a squirrel), at that pale frightened expression when he'd stepped before her. No need to watch himself wrestle with what he was going to do; he'd thought and dreamed about it enough.

Their confrontation had been so awkward, hardly deserving of the word. She'd been more afraid than him, he knew now clearly. Blushing in front of her, that look of surprise and realization that he still didn't completely understand. Had she read his intentions then, rather than finding out about

Baba's voice crept into his ear. "This was your version of courting, eh?"

Krillin smiled. "Oh, she wasn't much better. It's the thought that counts, you know."

Back now at Kame House where they would spend their entire marriage, mouth curled into a smile while he gaped at her. Laughter. There to beat up Piccolo and kill Goku, if they could. Juu, I think I loved you even then, even when you were just trying to hurt my friends. Never confused, always sure of what her plan was, there had never been much ignorance and blindness in their relationship, for all its stumbling around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Kame House, his favorite place in the world. Home.

"Too bad I couldn't see her in that cowboy outfit her brother described."

Baba thought on that, then snapped her fingers. It was brief, but enough to see the padded shoulders and fringed vest and her unhappy, doubtful expression as she looked at a mirror.

"Aw! Haha, I can die happy now. Go ahead and take me straight to Hell even. But you know, she still looks amazing in that skirt."

"Alright. Close your jaw."

"Is that all?" Krillin was still smiling.

"One last thing…you can't go down to the nursery to see your family, but I can bring you to Juuhachigou's own Limbo where she served out her penance. Just briefly."

"Is she okay? She hasn't done anything wrong, really. That was Gero that hurt them and made them want to hurt others. Which she never really did. I don't even think Vegeta—no, Vegeta still probably holds a grudge."

"She still had some things to come in grip with. Just like you did."

"What was that?"

"I can't tell you what her problems are. She's your wife, you're going to have to bother her about that later. But you should know what your own are."

"I was afraid. Of being afraid, I guess. But now I'd like to see Juuhachigou."

"Well, I guess you are such a nice guy…I guess you can meet up at her own version of Limbo." Baba scribbled something on a yellow Post-It-Note that disappeared into thin air.

Then he was at a spot he still sometimes would see in his dreams. Feel the cold that stopped bothering him so much once those tubes had opened, and what they'd thought was going to be their death stepped out with light eyes and smiles. They'd looked like teenagers, just kids really that the fighters would have protected while the real monsters showed themselves.

How she looked at him, so amused. Showing a carelessness she no longer possessed. This woman who had beaten up his friends with a smile, only to freak out over Marron's bottle being too warm or too cold.

Seven years he'd known her for, and she still made him tingle and melt into a puddle just at the sound of her voice. Standing there: perfection. "For what?"

He hadn't gone so fast fighting Buu. She was here, warm and soft, and here. "Juu!"

Another demon, blue this time, was saying something about there being no time and sounded like Bunny, Bulma's mother.

She was okay, and he hugged her a little closer. "Juu! You're okay. Or not. But you're here."

He smiled. "Like the view?"

Juuhachigou didn't seem to even notice her usual discomfort when being touched in front of someone else. She still seemed a little stunned, and who knew what she'd had to go through. "Hey there, honeybunny."

"Hey," he pouted. "I thought I was the octopus head."

Something softened. "I missed you. What the hell were you doing throwing yourself at Buu?"

"I thought I could help. Guess not, huh?" Her hands were soft and whole against his. "And Marron's…he got her too, huh?"

He'd known, of course, but had still hoped there had been a mixup. A little baby, she couldn't have, she must have gotten away…

"Just about all of us. I'm not certain who survived. Or if you're real, or some messed up vision."

What had they subjected her to up here? How could he even convince himself that he was real, or that she was real? It hadn't even occurred to him that she might be some vision. She felt real, enough. "I'm real. Really, really here. Your annoying teddy bear that you used to almost strangle in your sleep?"

It wouldn't have been a bad way to go.

"Krillin." Definitely Juuhachigou. Nothing else could blush in that adorable way.

"But I don't think we're going in the same direction. Not now. Once the others save the day…"

"You always have to be the hero." There was fear in those eyes. Distraught in a way that broke Krillin's heart.

I repent.

"I have to help my friends. Even if I can't, exactly. You thinking of coming along?"

But she couldn't leave the baby alone, possibly. Or with strangers.

But he could? Gods help him, he was still a fighter above all else. It was worse, to live this way. To not be like those other people who got to go to heaven with their friends and family, together.

Juuhachigou was trying for a brave smile. "If it's only temporary. I guess I can let you go save the universe."

That demon was muttering something unhelpful behind them.

"But you better come back in one piece, Krillin. No throwing yourself at Buu again!"

"Hey. I learned my lesson. Take care of Marron. Really, I'll see you again. Don't cry."

"I'm not crying. You're the one that cries."

His throat had narrowed down to the size of a straw made out of flannel. "Fine. I'm crying. I'm going to miss you, temporary or not."

"Just go help the others." Her hand went to his face, to his ear. The brief pain was both welcome, and frightening. Going to fight when I can still experience pain. "I'm going to check on Marron. Make sure she's okay. Tell her how brave her father is."

Tell her how brave her mother is. My god, am I going to do this? But hadn't the lesson of his penance been not to question himself?

"I'm going to see you again," Krillin swore. Even if he beat Buu single-handedly, it wouldn't feel as good as Juuhachigou back into his arms. Touching her hair made him want to cry even more, and her delicate fingers running through his own hurt.

"Really, you two! I have to take Missus Juuhachigou back to the weighing station and have her checked into the right location. And you have to go onto King Kai, or he'll have my hide."

They let go of each other. Even cell on his body seemed to scream out to hold her again, to go on with her, damn the universe as he'd once damned Earth for her. But now, they had a daughter, and she needed a home to go back to. I will fight Buu again, I will try. "Fine. I'm going. Just one thing, Krillin. Why are we back here, at this spot? Do you really have such nice memories of the first time we met?"

Once everything works out, maybe I'll even tell her about that cowboy outfit. Everything will work out okay. All my other decisions worked out just fine. And it was her fault that they were by this side of the mountain, feeling the cold, according to Baba. "Babe, this is your version of Limbo; this is your vision of where you wanted to meet me again."