CHAPTER TWO
 
 ¡ÈKaasan?  Kaasan, you home?¡É

        ¡ÈYes, dear,¡É 18 said, coming into the front room.  ¡ÈWho¡Çs this?¡É she asked.

        ¡ÈKaasan, this is Mr. Brock.  He¡Çs my math teacher.¡É

        ¡ÈOh, dear, are her grades that?¡É 18 was cut off as Mr. Brock threw himself at her and hugged her, sweeping her off her feet. ¡ÈExcuse me!¡É she said sharply.

        ¡ÈOh, it¡Çs really you.  I can¡Çt believe it!¡É

        Marron could see her mother¡Çs patience wearing thin. ¡ÈMr. Brock,¡É she started.

        Mr. Brock put her mother down and looked at her. ¡ÈYou look the same,¡É he marveled.

        ¡ÈThe same as what?¡É 18 asked, exasperated.

        ¡ÈI¡Çm sorry.  Let me introduce myself. My name is Kenji Brock.¡É

        ¡ÈPleased to meet you,¡É 18 said civilly.

        ¡ÈMeet me?¡É Mr. Brock laughed. ¡ÈWhat do you mean, meet me?  You know me.  You might not recognize me?it¡Çs been eighteen years?but this is not a meeting.¡É 18 stared at him. ¡ÈWhat are you saying?¡É she whispered.

        ¡ÈI¡Çm saying that?¡É

        ¡ÈWait!¡É Marron exclaimed. She touched Mr. Brock¡Çs arm and concentrated.  He was telling the truth. ¡ÈI think I know what you¡Çre saying¡Äshouldn¡Çt 17 be here?¡É

        ¡ÈYes!¡É 18 said immediately. ¡ÈKrillin!¡É she called.

        Mr. Brock looked confused. ¡ÈWhat? Who¡Çs 17?¡É

        ¡ÈKaasan, I can go get him,¡É Marron answered. ¡ÈYou explain a bit to Mr. Brock.¡É

        ¡ÈFine.  Good.  Go do that.  Quickly.¡É

        Marron raced outside and grabbed her motorbike.  She wished she could fly.  It would be a lot quicker than this stupid machine. She bit her lip as his house came in view. ¡È17!¡É she yelled as she raced towards his house. ¡È17!¡É

        ¡ÈWhat?¡É he asked irritably._I¡Çm not intimidated.  I¡Çm not._ ¡ÈYou need to come over.  Now.  It¡Çs important.¡É

        ¡ÈWhat?  What is it?¡É

        ¡ÈI?it¡Çs something you shouldn¡Çt hear from me.¡É

        ¡ÈWhat is it, Marron?¡É

        ¡ÈNo.  I can¡Çt tell you.  Please, come.¡É

        He glared darkly at her, but nodded. ¡ÈAll right, I¡Çll come.¡É

        ¡ÈThank you.  Go ahead.  Get there in a hurry.  I¡Çll be on my way.¡É

        He gave her another dark look, then flew away.      Marron got on her motorbike and hurried for the island.
 

***

        Mr. Brock had waited on explanations until she got back.  Marron felt kind of bad, but shrugged it off.  She hadn¡Çt asked them to wait, nor had she wanted them to.

        ¡ÈGlad you¡Çre back,¡É he said briskly.  He offered her a seat.

        ¡ÈThanks,¡É she said uneasily.

        ¡ÈAnyway, as I said, I was 7 when you guys disappeared.  You were 21, by the way, so that makes you 39 now.  We didn¡Çt know had happened to you.  But,¡É he grinned ruefully, ¡ÈI grew up with you, believe you me.  Our parents never stopped looking and wondering.  I knew what I was supposed to do when I was old enough to try and find you.¡É

        18 grinned and squeezed Krillin¡Çs hand. ¡ÈIsn¡Çt this exciting?¡É she whispered.

        ¡ÈThis is great for you,¡É he replied.

        ¡ÈI did want to look for you, I really did.  But I have a life of my own.¡É He sounded apologetic. ¡ÈSo I pursued a teaching degree and only occasionally checked leads out.¡É

        ¡ÈKenji, you shouldn¡Çt have to ignore your life for us,¡É 18 told him.

        ¡ÈMaybe, but I feel bad.  Anyway, Kaasan and Tousan died a couple of years back.  I wish I had found you before then,¡É he said wistfully. ¡ÈBut never mind that. What did happen?¡É 17 and 18 looked at each other. ¡ÈI told you we didn¡Çt
remember our past,¡É 18 said softly. ¡ÈThat isn¡Çt the whole, complete truth.  We remember a little bit.  A Dr. Gero kidnapped us.¡É

        Kenji¡Çs face registered utter shock. ¡ÈHow¡Äterrible,¡É he finally got out.

        ¡ÈYes.  It is.  We have no memories of anything.  That¡Çs why it¡Çs so exciting for us to find you.¡É 18 looked over at her brother. ¡ÈIsn¡Çt it.¡É

        ¡ÈYes.¡É

        18 sighed.  Her brother was a man of few words. ¡ÈKenji, I just have one really really really big  question.¡É

        ¡ÈWhat¡Çs that?¡É

        ¡ÈPlease, please, what are our names?  Our real names.¡É

        Kenji smiled at them. ¡ÈYou,¡É he pointed to 18, ¡Èare Azami, and you,¡É he pointed to 17, ¡Èare Taro.¡É

        18 gasped. ¡ÈAzami,¡É she mouthed, then smiled. ¡ÈAzami. My name is Azami!  Krillin, I have a name, and it¡Çs Azami!  And my brother, his name is Taro!¡É She grabbed 17¡Çs hands and they hugged. ¡ÈWe have names!¡É she exclaimed.  ¡ÈWe have a past!¡É
        Marron watched her mother and uncle in awe.  It wasn¡Çt often that they showed emotion with norestraint.  She smiled at the thought that her mother might become more open. _To training, even, maybe?_ she thought hopefully.
        She came out of her reverie when she realized Krillin was tapping her arm. ¡ÈYes?¡É

        ¡ÈI think we should make ourselves scarce,¡É he said softly.  He jerked his head towards the three. ¡ÈI think they¡Çll want a little private time.¡É

        Marron nodded and followed him into the kitchen. ¡ÈTousan, can I go out for a bit?¡É

        Krillin looked at her. ¡ÈWhere are you going to go?¡É

        She gave him her most innocent expression. ¡ÈOh, I just want to think about what happened.  Just think, Tousan, if I hadn¡Çt said I really did have to go to math, I wouldn¡Çt have run into Mr. Br?Jisan Kenji.¡É

        ¡ÈOh, all right.¡É Krillin surrendered with good grace. ¡ÈJust be home by six.¡É

        ¡ÈThank you, Tousan!¡É Marron hopped on the motorbike and headed for Capsule Corp.  After all, Trunks deserved an explanation of why she ditched him.
 

***
 

        Trunks stared at her, open-mouthed. ¡ÈYou¡Çre serious.¡É

        They were in his room, sitting on his bed.  Trunks was the only one home, as Bra¡Çd had some sort of award ceremony she¡Çd wanted Bulma and Vegeta to go to.

        ¡ÈDead serious,¡É she answered. ¡ÈIs that just crazy?  I mean, imagine I¡Çd taken Tousan up on his offer and not gone to first hour!  We might have never met him! Trunks grinned. ¡ÈThat is weird,¡É he agreed. ¡ÈSo, is that all you came by to say?¡É

        ¡ÈWell¡Äyes.  I just thought you should know why Mr. Br--Jisan Kenji ¡Ækidnapped¡Ç me.¡É

        ¡ÈI did wonder a little,¡É Trunks admitted. ¡ÈI mean, you might not be that great at math, but you wouldn¡Çt let your grades slip so badly.¡É

        ¡ÈWell, since that¡Çs all¡Ä¡É Marron stood up.

        Trunks grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. ¡ÈStay awhile,¡É he said. ¡ÈWe still have to work on that schedule, don¡Çt we?  What time do you have to be home?¡É

        ¡ÈSix.¡É

        He looked at his bedside clock. ¡ÈWell, it¡Çs only four now.  How many nights a week do you think you could slip away without the folks getting suspicious?¡É

        ¡ÈRight now, I think I could get away with murder and they wouldn¡Çt notice.  Oh, wait, I¡Çm grounded.  Once things settle down and I¡Çm ungrounded, I probably won¡Çt be able to get out more than three days.¡É

        ¡ÈOkay.¡É Trunks reached in his desk and pulled out a schedule. ¡ÈThis is the work schedule from Capsule Corp.,¡É he said sheepishly, ¡Èbut it¡Çll serve our purpose.  I usually work every day from six to whenever on weekdays, but I can work with you any time before then.¡É
        ¡ÈWell, how about I come here right after school?¡É Marron suggested. ¡ÈThree-fifteen to about five-thirty okay?  Or too much?  Or not enough?¡É

        ¡ÈNo, that¡Çs good.  On, say, Tuesdays and Thursdays?¡É

        ¡ÈAll right.  And on Saturdays, when do work then?¡É

        He shrugged. ¡ÈWhenever I feel like it.  Could you come at, say, seven every other Saturday?¡É

        She gave him an incredulous look. ¡ÈOn a Saturday night?¡É

        ¡ÈWhat¡Çs wrong with that?¡É

        She stared at him. ¡ÈOkay, I don¡Çt know about you, but I do have a life, you know.¡É

        ¡ÈOh.  Right.  Well, what time, then?¡É

        ¡ÈWhat about four to six every other Saturday?¡É

        ¡ÈThat¡Çs good for me.¡É

        She smiled sweetly. ¡ÈI¡Çm glad that was resolved with so little difficulty.¡É

        ¡ÈYeah, right.  Okay.  Since we can¡Çt train every day, you¡Çll have to do a lot on your own.  Like I said earlier, exercise.  Run, jump?¡É

        ¡ÈAll that good stuff,¡É she finished for him. ¡ÈYeah.¡É

        His mouth quirked upwards. ¡ÈIf you¡Çll do all this, we should have you flying in no time.¡É

        ¡ÈI¡Çd like that.¡É She leaned over to look at the schedule. ¡ÈCan I keep this?¡É

        ¡ÈHow about this?¡É Trunks leaned across her and got another schedule out, copied the first, and gave it to her. ¡ÈThere.  Now we both have a copy.¡É

        ¡ÈThank you.¡É

        ¡ÈWhy do you want one?  Can¡Çt you remember when we train?¡É

        ¡ÈCan¡Çt you?¡É she countered. ¡ÈI¡Çll write the exercises I have to do on it, too.  Maybe it will motivate me more.  Or something like that.¡É

        ¡ÈIsn¡Çt flying motivation enough?¡É

        She laughed. ¡ÈFor the first couple of weeks, sure.  But I¡Çm sure that will wear off after a week or so of not flying.¡É

        ¡ÈAh.  Well, then, let¡Çs take care of that.¡É

        Before she knew what he was doing, he had her in his arms and was flying out the window. ¡ÈTrunks, what are you doing?¡É she shrieked in shock. He shifted her so he was holding her below him, so she was completely dependent on his arm strength to stay aloft.

        ¡ÈD--don¡Çt you dare drop me,¡É she gasped.

        Trunks grinned and teasingly relaxed his grip. She shrieked again and instinctively reached up to twine her arms around his neck.

        ¡ÈDon¡Çt worry, Marron-chan.  I wouldn¡Çt drop you.  Did you really think I would?¡É

        ¡ÈN-no, but still¡Ä¡É

        He laughed at her but sobered almost instantly. ¡ÈI won¡Çt let you drop,¡É he repeated.

        She twisted around to look in his eyes. ¡ÈI know, Trunks.¡É She let her arms drop from around his neck and stretched them out. ¡ÈThis almost feels like I¡Çm flying,¡É she whispered.

        ¡ÈI thought you might like this.  I¡Çll make a deal with you.  Every Thursday after training, I¡Çll take you flying like this until you¡Çre flying on your own.¡É She twisted around so fast he almost did drop her but she didn¡Çt appear to notice. ¡ÈYou mean it?¡É she cried.

        ¡ÈWhy wouldn¡Çt I?¡É he asked.

        ¡ÈThis is so incredibly nice of you!  I can¡Çt believe it.¡É She hugged him awkwardly. ¡ÈThank you so much!¡É

        He slid his arms down her back, still holding her, but hugging her back. ¡ÈMarron-chan, it¡Çs no trouble at all,¡É he whispered into her ear.

        ¡ÈNo trouble?  Somehow I doubt that.  But thank you anyway.¡É

        He looked down at her, smiling, hugging him, looking so incredibly happy; he lowered his head. ¡ÈI¡Çm sorry,¡É
he said.

        ¡ÈSor??¡É Marron started to repeat, but then Trunks bent his head and kissed her and she was so shocked she couldn¡Çt react and then a whole bunch of emotions came to the surface and all she knew was that she was _so glad_ and all she could do was kiss him back. Trunks chuckled as he broke the kiss.  Marron¡Çs eyes fluttered open and she stared at him.

¡ÈWhat¡Çs so funny?¡É she asked.

        ¡ÈThis.¡É

        She raised an eyebrow.

        ¡ÈIf you had asked me the first time I saw you if I ever thought I might someday kiss you, you wouldn¡Çt have gotten a response because I would have been laughing so hard.¡É

        She hit him lightly. ¡ÈThe first time you saw me, you were six years old and I was a squalling baby, for crying out loud.  It¡Çs been seventeen years, you know.¡É

        He traced her jaw with a finger. ¡ÈSeventeen years,¡É he repeated. ¡ÈYou sure grew up nicely.¡É

        She looked surprised. ¡ÈWhy, thank you, Trunks-kun.¡É

        ¡ÈIt¡Çs the truth.¡É

        ¡ÈFlatterer.¡É

        ¡ÈTrue-tongued,¡É he corrected.

        She started laughing. ¡ÈJust one question for you.¡É

        ¡ÈShoot.¡É
 

        ¡ÈWhat do we tell our parents?¡É


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