~*****~

"Hey now, you think you'll be done this year, Mister and Missus Fix it?" I hear Roshi ask. I grip on my tools tighten irritably.

"IF YOU WANNA GET DOWN HERE AND DO IT YOURSELF, I SUGGEST YOU KEEP QUIET!" I shriek at Roshi.

Yamcha groans. "Hey, I'm right here, you know--" He grimaces.

"Shut up and hold this." I snap at him. "We're all lucky to be alive with these kind of damages."

"Yeah, you saved our lives, Eighteen!" Chi-Chi hums. "Thank you!"

"Can I help?" I hear Marble ask.

I give her a warm smile. "Can you get some water for us? Don't worry too much, baby. If you wanna train, go right ahead."

Marble smiles after what feels like an eternity of her frowns, and leaps away from the ship. "It's good she's finally smiling." Yamcha mentions. "This must've been hard for her."

I hum in response, but that's the most of what I can say. "Oh, here, right there--" I snap at him. "Hold this wrench--" I grasp at the exposed wires and start reattaching them to where they need to be. "Make sure you don't let the wrench go, otherwise, it'll shock us both."

After what feels like an eternity with my fingers getting stabbed by every exposed piece of copper, I finally have them reattached and the hatch back in place. "Awesome, I'll go try the engine," Yamcha says, and slips out from underneath. I crawl out the other side and pat my hands against my jeans. The jet roars to life.

"Wow! Great work, guys!" Chi-Chi exclaimed as we piled on.

"You should thank her-- I think I got demoted to flash light duty." Yamcha laughs. "Now let's find those dragon balls!"

~*****~

Marble held up one of the dragon balls with a curious glint in her eye. "Six down, one to go." Yamcha hummed. "At least the dragon ball hunting is going well."

"That's right. And uh, you think we could pull over? I need a break." Roshi murmured.

I grimaced at him before plucking a ball from the bag and gazing at it. "Are you sure these are going to work?" Videl asks.

"Oh, they work. You don't have to worry about that, Videl." Chi-Chi reassures her.

"That's good, but hey-- shouldn't we be looking for Mars and Goten, you guys? Isn't that a little more important than finding the Dragon Balls?" Videl asks.

Chi-Chi hummed and glanced back at me. "What do you think, Mara?"

I purse my lips as Marble gazes up. "We have no clue where they are, Chi-Chi, at least with the Dragon Balls, we know we're accomplishing something." I explain. "B-Besides, I have something I need to wish for..." I murmur delicately.

"Well, we're getting pretty close, at least," Bulma mentioned as she held up the radar. "If we keep heading in this direction, we should be there in another fifteen minutes, or so."

"Be honest, Mara, can you at least tell me if the boys are okay? You're the only one here who can feel them." Chi-Chi asks desperately.

I gaze at her and offer her a smile. "I couldn't tell you, honestly, but I'd know if they'd left... you know." I trail off. "No, the boys are okay, at least. Mars and Goten are rambunctious, sure, but they're smart enough not to get into serious trouble. Besides, I'd get a sick feeling if that happened, and you'd all know, I promise. I've never had the greatest stomach, you know."

Chi-Chi has a shaky smile before she turns back to the front. I don't tell her my feelings about Vegeta-- I think it would crush Marble if she heard. "It's kind of hard to believe that you can wish people back from the dead with these things." Videl mentions.

"Well, look at me! I'm was as dead as you can get, and I was wished back to life!" Yamcha mentions.

"Don't worry, Videl, most people come back normal." Bulma mentions in a teasing manner.

"Hey!" Yamcha cried. "What's that supposed to mean!"

"Oh shut up," Bulma chuckled. "And slow down, the Dragon Ball must be on that small island over there. The dragon radar says its at sea level-- so that's got to be it!"

"Okay, here we go!" Yamcha cheered. The ship takes a dive and I haul Marble into my lap as it spins, ducks, and turns until we're slamming into the beach.

"WHO LET YOU DRIVE?!" I shout as I shakily get up from the ground.

"Don't blame me, that was a tricky landing!" Yamcha cried.

"GOKU CAN DRIVE BETTER THAN YOU CAN!"

"Hey, the plane's settled, you can get up now." Eighteen says in a calm tone.

I peer over the seat and grimace in disgust. Roshi's basically in her lap, and both Eighteen and Marron are confused. "Hey, thank you so much! My head almost hit the wall! I think you may have saved my life! I was thrown viscously-- just like this--" He immediately plants his head between her breasts and starts rubbing wildly.

I set Marble down and reach over the seat, and grasp both of his ears before throwing him across the ship. He hits the wall with a loud thud, and is pegged in the forehead with my shoe.  "DON'T BE A CREEP! THERE ARE LITTLE GIRLS ON THIS SHIP!" I shout at him before kicking off of the seat and slamming my knee into his gut. Roshi slumps to the ground, his nose bleeding, but he's still cackling in a gross way. I huff irritably and grab Marble's hand to lead her off the ship.

"I didn't know you could fight, mommy," Marble mentions. "Will you train with me later? Daddy goes too easy on me."

"I don't think you should teach Marble dirty fighting," Bulma laughs. "She'd be unbeatable, but I can't imagine her dad would like that."

I wave my hand dismissively. "I don't fight anymore, and I certainly don't train."

Marble hums again. "But daddy gets scared when you get mad, so I think that means you can beat him."

"That's a-- different type of scared. Don't think about it too much, we've got to find that last ball." I retort. Marble nods firmly and trots after me.

~*****~

I manage to find the ball in a nest, but it's just out of reach. I grimace and leap over the edge. I'm shaky in the air. I hadn't flown anywhere in seven years, and I certainly don't have the energy for it anymore. "Hey, guys! I found it!" I shout as I slowly grasp onto the edge of the nest and reach inwards. Just as I grab it, a shadow falls over me. I glance upwards and flinch back on my butt, the dragon ball nearly slipping from my hands. "Guys?! NEED SOME HELP, PLEASE!" I shout as the large, pink dragon grasps my torso and hauls me upwards. "Guys!?" I shout again as I'm engulfed into the dragon's mouth. "Oh, gross--" I shriek in distaste as I slip through it's throat. The stomach acid burns at my skin just a bit, but it's not as corrosive as human stomach acid, so I had some time to find a way out before it digested me-- or worse. "I did not come here to end up in a pile of--" The side of the stomach is hit, and hit hard. The stomach jostles and a rush of stomach acid nearly shoves me back up the throat. I pound against the side of the stomach. "Do that again!" I shout as if they could hear me.

There's a few weaker punches against the side, but it's not enough to make it vomit. Water rushes into the stomach, causing me to cough and choke on it before I finally get ejected from it's stomach, although, through a disgusting stench that has my eye's watering. I land in the water and debate whether or not to drown myself.

I resurface and glower at everyone around me. "If anyone mentions what happened today-- I'll make sure you're eating table scraps for the rest of your life." I threaten before lobbing the dragon ball at Roshi's head.

Once on land, and into some dry clothes, we have all the dragon balls laid out on the ground. "That was one for the record book." Yamcha mentions. "Good goin', Master Roshi!"

"Yamcha." I scold lowly. I clear my throat delicately before continuing. "Now, I know we usually give you grief, but I guess being a dirty old man kinda did save me from being digested." I say. "Now go see a doctor, it definitely should not smell like that." I explain irritably.

Roshi hunches forward as we begin to laugh.

~*****~

Back in West City, we set the Dragon Balls on the lawn of Capsule Corp to summon the dragon, but my teeth are permanently locked together for some reason. "Mara, why don't you just summon the dragon already!" Yamcha whined. I hum in response and clear my throat, trying to figure out a proper way to word my wish. "Do you remember the spell? The words to release him?"

"Do you take me for an idiot?" I snap at him. "Of course I remember the words-- I've even memorized them in Namekian. I'm not gonna pull a Frieza."

"Mara," Roshi called. "I think Frieza failed cause he wore too many clothes!"

I grunt irritably until I hear a pained grunt. "Don't be a weirdo!" Marble snaps at the older man.

"Will you get on with it!" Bulma snapped loudly.

"OH, WILL EVERYONE JUST CAN IT!" I shout back. I huff out irritably before turning my gaze back onto the Dragon Balls. "Eternal Dragon! By your name, I summon you forth! Shenron!"

The sky darkens above us, and lightning begins to boom around us as the Dragon bursts from his prison. In his glory, he gazes down at us with a discerning gaze. "I'm dreaming-- This can't be real, can it?" Videl murmurs.

"You who have disturbed me from my slumber-- speak and name your first wish." Shenron orders. "You try my patience! Speak!" He snaps again when I don't answer immediately.

"I'm still not sure how to phrase it..." I murmur irritably.

"I thought you had it figured out!" Yamcha hisses. "How about, bring everyone who died today back to life! Except for all the really, really bad ones! Will that do, Mara?" Yamcha teases.

I rolled my eyes a little before smirking. "Yeah, more or less." I hum impishly.

"It has been set in motion," Shenron hums. "Now, name your second wish." I palm at my heart a little, trying to figure out a different wish. "You must speak your second wish, now!"

"DID HE SAY SECOND WISH! OH, NO I'M TOO LATE!" A familiar voice cuts in, causing me to start choking on my own air.

"Goku?" We all chirp in surprise.

"Goku, where on Earth have you been?" Chi-Chi asks. She gasps before she starts to growl. "And where's Gohan! And Goten!"

Goku spreads his arms. "Chi-Chi, there's no time to explain. Please, trust me." Goku presses his finger to his temple. "Dende, can you hear me? I arrived too late! The dragon has already fulfilled their first wish, and now he wants to know what their second one is! What should I do?" He's silent for a moment. "All right, I can do that. Oh, and you guys, I almost forgot. I'm bringing you all back with me, once I'm finished with my business here. So get ready." He tugs his finger away from his head before approaching Shenron. "Shenron! You don't have to grant anymore wishes today, thank you! We'll call you again sometime!"

"As you wish. Farewell." Shenron growls before disappearing back into the Dragon Balls. The balls then shoot off across the earth once again.

"You wanna tell me what's gotten in you, Goku?" Yamcha asks bitterly. "We still had a perfectly good wish we coulda used to help!"

Goku just grunts irritably before explaining. "So, there you go. Now, if you will all come back to the Lookout with me so we can start making preparations."

"That's fine. I'll just have to start tracking down Dragon Balls in four months," Bulma says. "Which shouldn't be any problem."

"That's the spirit!" Goku laughed. "Now everyone, as long as your connected to me, we can all travel by instant transmission." Marble immediately leaps up to take Goku's hand with a wide smile. I grasp onto her other one and glance at Goku. "Please remaining in an upright position while fastened to the person next to you!"

"Mom, dad, what are you waiting for?" Bulma asks her parents. "Hold onto my hand quickly, or you'll be left behind!"

Bunny and Dr. Brief just share a smile. "Your mother and I just can't bring ourselves to leave the little ones. We'll wait here for your return." Dr. Brief explains.

"Will you two stop being so naïve and open your eyes?" Bulma whines. "Is it really worth risking both your lives just to stay here and feed and clean your stinking precious pets?!"

"Remember, even if we meet a whole horrible, tragic, gruesome, grotesque end at the hands of Majin Buu, you can always bring us back with the Dragon Balls!" Bunny reminds her daughter. "Don't try to argue, we made up our minds."

"But, mom!" Bulma whines. "Goku! Say something!"

"Bulma, you and Mara are pretty good at finding Dragon Balls when you really need to, so don't worry!" Goku reassures her.

"Boy, don't you have a way with words." I mention dryly. Goku just laughs impishly.

"Videl, you don't want to transport with us?" Chi-Chi asks.

"No, no, no! I'm doing!" She chirps wildly.

"We're ready for liftoff!" Goku laughs as Videl takes Bulma's hand.