"Hi, Uncle Goku!" Marron greeted cheerfully, stepping out of the car and attempting to stretch surreptitiously after hours of driving. It was always fun to see Goku, but she and Uncle Seventeen had hardly spoken to each other since leaving Yamcha's, so hearing another person's voice after several days was more than welcome.

"Marron!" Goku greeted just as enthusiastically, setting down the axe he was carrying. It hit the ground with a dull thud and sank into the ground a good six inches. "It's good to see you! How's your dad?"

"He's good. He told me I'd run into you."

"That's right, you're looking for the dragon balls, aren't you?" Goku leaned on his axe and grinned playfully. "It's true that I have the four star ball…"

"Great!" Marron did not pick up on the glint in Goku's eye. "We've got three already. We've been driving for three days, but the next one isn't too far away, I think. Then that'll be five and―"

"Whoa, there," Goku chuckled. "What makes you think I'm just going to give it to you?"

His tone was playful, the kind he used when he was about to launch a Tickle Attack on her or one of the other kids, so it took a moment before his meaning soaked into her brain. Her face fell. She knew what the four star ball meant to her Uncle Goku, but she had assumed he was perfectly willing to let it be used for wishing. Now she felt the sting of having made a terrible faux pas, and she bit her lip, wondering how she was going to back her way out of looking like a jerk. She glanced at Seventeen, wondering if he was going to jump in and help her, but he was still sitting in the convertible they'd arrived in, posture casual, one arm resting on the car door. Before she looked away, though, she noted his eyes, which were trained unblinkingly on Goku. She turned back to him.

"Um…"

"Aw, don't look so sad," he cajoled. "I don't mind letting you have it. But you're going to have to earn it."

His tone was still playful, and Marron let herself relax, since apparently no mortal offense had been taken―which was silly, now that she thought about it. This was Uncle Goku: nothing phased him, especially not a little thing like manners. She smiled brightly.

"What can we do for you?"

She wasn't sure how helpful she would be, but it was only fair to offer: the four star dragon ball was his grandfather's heirloom. There was no good reason for him to just give it up when this was just for fun. He was being such a good sport about her coming over here and demanding his property, doing him a favor wouldn't even be a burden―

"I want you to fight me."

Marron froze, still smiling. Slowly her face contorted into an open-mouthed expression of horror.

"But―you mean I―but I can't―"

Goku laughed again.

"Not you, silly. Your uncle."

She turned swiftly to see Seventeen's reaction. He smirked, and got out of the car.

"I had a feeling you'd say that," he said, taking off his jacket and tossing it inside the vehicle. "What kind of a fight are we talking, here?"

"Oh, nothing too serious," Goku said casually, cracking his neck back and forth. "Just a little spar."

Marron was fascinated to note that while their words were perfectly casual, the two of them had not broken eye contact for a second, their mutual gaze intense and full of some sort of meaning she couldn't guess at.

"Any rules?" her uncle asked, stepping in front of Goku, arms loose at his sides.

"Don't hurt Marron?" Goku suggested, and at that her uncle ended the staring contest to glance at his niece.

"Hmm," he said. "Goku, how far is your house from here?"

Marron trudged up the path to the Son house, muttering darkly to herself. The worst part was not so much being sent away like a little kid, but the feeling that her uncle really had just been coddling her all along, that when things truly mattered she was not only useless, she was actively in his way. The cherry on top of her misery sundae was the clarity of hindsight: Goku wanting to fight her uncle should not have come as the unpleasant surprise it had. As if to punctuate this thought, she heard a loud boom from behind her, causing all the birds in the vicinity to fly away. She gave a heavy sigh, and continued walking.

At the front gate of the Son house she was met by Goten, who grabbed her hand and whispered, "Run!" before taking off and dragging her behind him.

"Goten!" his mother's voice called angrily from the open doorway. "You get back here right now, young man! Oh, hi, Marron, you're welcome to stay for dinner if you want. Goten, I mean it!"

But the rest of her tirade was lost, as they got further and further into the woods. Finally when Marron was pretty sure she was going to collapse, Goten stopped and leaned against a tree, laughing.

"Man, that sure was good timing," he said to her, and she leaned on her knees and tried to get her breath back. "What brings you all the way out here, Marron?"

"Looking… dragon balls…" was all she managed to gasp out.

"Oh, cool! Listen, I'd love to help you get it, but it's back at the house, and, uh… heh heh…" He put his hand on the back of his head and grinned. "It's not safe for me there right now."

"What… did you do?" Marron asked, enough breath back for full sentences.

"Let's just say, Trunks isn't the only one who's grounded now. Oh, speaking of which―"

Goten turned his gaze up to the sky, and sure enough, seconds later, Trunks landed next to his best friend. They high-fived.

"Did you do it?" Trunks asked excitedly. Goten giggled like a little boy and nodded. Trunks grinned. "You are so toast, man!"

"What?" Marron looked between the two of them, wishing, not for the first time, that she could understand what on earth the two of them were talking about.

"Nothing," they said at the same time, and Marron pouted.

"Hey, is your dad fighting someone?" Trunks asked Goten, both of them ignoring her.

"I don't sense anyone else," he answered, and they stared at the sky like two cats staring at ghosts.

"He's fighting my Uncle Seventeen," Marron announced, hands on hips, triumphant at finally knowing something they didn't. They turned to each other, shared a look, and then shrugged, completely unimpressed. That made her frown, though she knew she shouldn't be surprised. They had always been like that: two halves of the same whole. Twins from different parents. But it had never made her feel left out before. She sighed and kicked a pinecone.

"Hey, Marron," Trunks said, cocking his head to the side and studying her. She stared back, and was suddenly struck, seeing him standing next to his gawky friend and without his family nearby, with just how very beautiful he was. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks at his intense gaze, so much like Vegeta's but blindingly blue, and hoped he couldn't tell she was blushing. "What exactly happened between you and my dad, anyway?"

She looked away, feeling almost stung. Being reminded of that right after her revelation concerning Trunks' attractiveness was like having a bucket of cold water poured right into her stomach.

"Don't ask me that," she muttered, shuffling in place, wondering if she could find her way back to the house on her own or not.

"Wait, what?" Goten looked between Marron and Trunks, bewildered. "What happened? Huh?"

Trunks was still looking at her with that piercing gaze, and she discovered that attractiveness could be just as intimidating as it was alluring.

"It's obvious something happened," Trunks went on. Marron felt a little like a butterfly pinned to a card. She shrugged helplessly, unable to lie, unwilling to tell the truth. Though she knew intellectually that the matter wasn't her fault, wasn't anyone's fault, it still felt like something shameful. Goten was staring at both of them as though they were speaking a language he couldn't understand, and the thought of relating the story with an audience was even more unbearable.

"Ask him if you're so curious," Marron told Trunks sourly. Vegeta may not have intended to make her life difficult, but she was perfectly willing to throw him under the bus even so. Trunks opened his mouth, clearly intent on pressing her again, but he was interrupted before he could speak.

"Goten!" a young voice called from above them. "Goooooteeeeeen!"

"Aw, it's Pan!" Goten kicked at the dirt and pouted. "She always sends Pan after me; it's not fair!"

Trunks laughed mockingly, breaking his spell over Marron.

"Nobody said you had to take orders from a little girl, now did they?"

"You're one to talk! I see you with Bra, she's got you wrapped around her little finger. And you like Pan just as much as I do, so there."

The little girl in question floated unsteadily down from above the canopy and landed in front of them.

"Found you!" she burbled, latching on to Goten's leg. "Up! Up!"

Goten lifted his niece to his shoulder, rolling his eyes. "Panny, you shouldn't go so high. It's dangerous."

"Is fun!" she protested.

"She can fly?" Marron exclaimed. Trunks nodded.

"Goku's been working with her. She can let off ki blasts and everything."

Marron stared at the little girl, getting scolded by her fourteen year old uncle, and it was like the birthday party all over again. She tried to swallow down the familiar mix of inadequacy and loneliness that welled up in her throat, and found it easier this time.

"Goten, come on!" Pan was tugging at her uncle's shirt, trying to get him to take her back to the house. "Come on, come on!"

"I can't go back there, Panny, she'll kill me!"

Pan's mouth formed a small round 'o' as she heard this.

"Goten get died?" she asked, her little face scrunched up with worry. Goten looked pained, but Trunks stepped in, laughing.

"Don't worry, Panny, Goten won't get died while I'm here."

"Yeah!" Goten agreed. "Nothing can defeat the two of us!"

The two teenagers blew simultaneous raspberries on the little girl's cheeks, prompting uproarious giggles from all three of them. Marron sighed and turned to go back to the house.

"Hey, Marron, wait," Trunks called, jogging up to her. "Allow me to escort you, my lady." He offered her his bent elbow, and then she definitely blushed, bright, raspberry red.

Chi Chi was waiting for them at the house with arms folded, standing in the doorway like an angry guardian of the hearth. Goten clutched Pan to him like a shield, and Trunks tightened his arm around Marron's hand in much the same way. Chi Chi gave her a nod.

"It's good to see you, Marron," she said. "Why don't you go on inside and have some of the snacks I've set out? Just don't spoil your dinner."

"There's snacks?" Goten asked hopefully, and Chi Chi rounded on him, eyes flashing.

"Not for you, young man!" she yelled, and Marron took the opportunity to slip out of Trunks' grip and around Chi Chi into the house. She could hear her aunt's voice carrying all the way to the dining room, and she sat at the table, chin in hands, staring out the window, barely noticing the heaping trays of goodies before her. Aunt Chi Chi was nice, but she yelled a lot. This was going to take a while. The view out the window was pleasant, blue sky bordered by green trees, and Marron let her mind wander, almost drowsing, until someone caught her attention by clearing his throat.

She looked up and saw Gohan standing a polite distance away, a friendly smile on his face. Despite her current gray mood, Marron couldn't help but smile back. Aside from Seventeen, who was an actual blood relative, Gohan was her favorite uncle. Yamcha was fun (when she wasn't mad at him), and Goku was almost like one of the kids, but Gohan always made sure to pay attention to her and never treated her like a dumb little kid, even back when she was a dumb little kid. That reminded her...

"Uncle, do you think I'm mature?"

Gohan did not laugh, but the expression on his face told her he was thinking hard about her question, which was disappointing in its own way. She had been hoping the answer would be obvious, not something requiring intense thought. Gohan sat down a few seats away from her, propping one ankle up on his knee, and gazed thoughtfully at her for a few moments.

"Well, I definitely wouldn't say you're immature," he said, putting his head to the side slightly. "You can take care of yourself, you're considerate to others, and you're very intelligent."

Marron wanted to preen, but she sensed a 'but' coming on.

"On the other hand, they say that worrying about your own maturity is actually a sign of immaturity."

It was an uncomfortable thing to hear, but instead of being hurt or offended, as she had expected to be, Marron suddenly remembered that she had never heard a single actual grown up talk about their own maturity. She looked down at the wood grain of the table, frowning thoughtfully.

"On the other other hand," Gohan added, chuckling, "worrying about your own maturity is perfectly normal for someone your age."

"Did you worry about it when you were my age?" Marron asked. Gohan's good humor softened into something a little more somber.

"I wouldn't use me as a touchstone for what's normal," he said. "I had a pretty unusual upbringing."

Marron huffed.

"Everyone keeps saying stuff like that, but as far as I can tell, I'm the one who's weird."

Gohan raised an eyebrow, his face showing concern tinged with amusement. Marron gave him a sour look.

"I know, I know."

"You're not weird, Marron," Gohan told her gently.

"I don't care if I'm weird or not," Marron said, and it was mostly true. "I just want to know if I'm mature."

"That's a tough question to answer with any certainty, for anyone. But for what it's worth," Gohan told her, "I think you're exactly where you should be."

Marron figured that the best she was going to get, and she smiled her thanks at Gohan, who smiled back.

Chi Chi's yelling, which hadn't really let up during the whole conversation, suddenly rose in pitch again as the front door opened with a bang. They heard Goku's laughing voice answering his wife's scolding, and Marron got up and went to the hall. Seventeen and Goku stood in the front doorway, both of them covered in bruises and scratches, their clothes sweat-stained and torn. They were clearly trying to enter, but they had been waylaid by Chi Chi.

"I can't believe you think I'm going to let you in here looking like that!" Chi Chi was saying. "Go take a bath, and don't go running around without a towel the way you usually do, we have guests." Goku tried to protest that he was too hungry to wait for a bath, but in the face of Chi Chi's continued wrath he edged gradually back out the door. On the other hand, Marron saw her uncle take a step further inside the house, clearly under the impression that a change of clothes was not something he also needed.

"Uncle!" Marron scolded, hands on her hips. "You can't come in here looking like that!"

Seventeen regarded her with mild shock, for she had barely spoken two words to him since Yamcha's place. She stood firm.

"Go change, and wash your face and hands," she ordered.

Uncle regarded niece for a moment, as though sizing her up. Then he smiled wryly and nodded.

"Yes, ma'am," he said to Marron, and went back out the door. Chi Chi turned to her, beaming.

"That's the way, Marron," she said approvingly. "You can't let these fighters walk all over you."

Marron was shocked.

"But, Aunt Chi Chi, you're a fighter, too."

Chi Chi laughed.

"Oh, I used to be," she agreed. "But I'm not anymore. Nowadays I'm strictly a wife and mother. Be glad you're not related to any Saiyans, Marron. Your uncle may have been a delinquent in the past, but at least he doesn't dye his hair blond at the drop of a hat."

"Mom, we've told you, it's not hair dye," Gohan said longsufferingly from behind Marron in the hall.

"I don't care how you do it, the result is the same!" Chi Chi ranted, and continued to wax lyric on the subject while making her way down the hall. Gohan turned to Marron and gave her a companionable eye roll once his mother's back was turned. Marron stifled a giggle.

Seventeen returned a few minutes later with his hair damp and slicked back, wearing fresh clothes. He stood in front of Marron in the front yard and spread his hands, indicating his appearance, and then quirked an eyebrow at her, questioning. She pretended to think hard, and then gave him a sharp nod. They grinned at each other, and the ice between them thawed and disappeared.

"Hey, Uncle Seventeen?" Marron said tentatively as they drove through the mountains. They had stayed the night at Goku's, relishing Chi Chi's cooking and playing rummy and hanafuda with everyone until late at night. Trunks had stayed until bedtime, and Marron had not noticed Gohan (who had been by to pick Pan up but who had stayed for dinner and games) smiling to himself whenever she snuck glances at Trunks.

"Yeah?" he answered, not taking his eyes off the road. The car jolted as it hit a patch of uneven ground, and Marron tugged at her seatbelt, making sure it was secure. "Sorry about that. What were you saying?"

"Um…" Marron pressed the tips of her index fingers together, unconsciously imitating her father. "Have you ever been in love?"

The car jolted again as Seventeen hit the brakes. He sat, just breathing for a moment, and then put the car in gear and started moving again, a little slower this time.

"What brought this on?" he asked nonchalantly, not looking at her, and she wondered what she had done wrong.

"Nothing," she assured him. "I was just curious."

"Hmm," he said, not believing her. "No, can't say I have."

"Not even before you were…" She let it hang in the air, embarrassed that she had come so close to asking about his former life.

He sighed. "No, not even then, lightning bug. Seriously, why do you ask?"

"No reason," she protested, but he turned and gave her a canny stare.

"Come on, you can talk to your Uncle Seventeen, can't you?" he cajoled. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

She squirmed, but in the end she said,

"Promise?"

"Promise," he confirmed.

"Um…"

"Who is it?" he sighed, and she jumped.

"Um… Trunks."

He let out a long breath.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he muttered. "But he's way too old for you, bug."

"What?" she shrieked. "Uncle, it's not like I'm in love with him! I just… think he's cute."

"If you like purple hair," he muttered again.

"It's pretty!" Marron defended, and Seventeen threw back his head and laughed.

"Take it from me, bug, don't ever tell him that."

Marron hmphed, and settled into her seat. Having grown up in Kame House, she was well aware that adults found certain members of the opposite sex attractive, and, if pressed, she could probably tell a handsome man from an ugly one. But she had never experienced it as more than merely an abstract concept, and she found the idea that she might actually be attracted to someone both exciting and terrifying. Her uncle laughing when all she'd wanted was some advice might have made her annoyed and hurt all over again the day before, but Gohan's words were still ringing in her ears, so instead she tried to remember if any actual grown ups she knew had ever been laughed at and what they had done in response.

The only one she could come up with was Yamcha, and he didn't seem like a useful example in this case. She sighed and looked out the window, remembering Trunks smiling at her, Trunks whispering to her about what was in his hand so they could team up on Goten, Trunks flipping his hair out of his eyes.

Seventeen side-eyed his niece, completely aware of what was going on in her head, and turned on the radio. This prompted her to snap out of it and berate him for his musical tastes; a much better state of affairs, at least from from his point of view.