Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Recollections ❯ Chapter 1

Recollections

Last time on DragonballZ. . .Vegeta and Hercule plead with all the earth's inhabitants to lend Goku their energy for the strongest Spirit Bomb ever. With the evil Kid Buu finally defeated, and their lives restored, earth's heroes return to their families and friends to a happy homecoming at Dende's Lookout. Now, a year later, the friends get together for a celebration of peaceful times.

~~~~~~~~~~

"It's about time, Goku!" Bulma chastised her friend. "I know you were off helping someone, but you almost missed my party! People were ready to leave!"

"Sorry, Bulma. I tried to hurry. Really, I did!" he said, sitting down at the table.

Everyone gathered around him to hear about the dinosaur eggs he had been watching all day while he ate plate after plate of the leftover food Chi Chi brought him. They laughed along with him as he told about all the crazy things that happened as he helped the parents keep the eggs safe. Looking around at all the smiling faces of friends and family around him, Goku noticed one was missing.

"Hey, Vegeta. What are you doing way over there?" he asked the Saiyan leaning against the wall on the other side of the room. "Come over here with us."

Vegeta smiled. He was equally pleased and surprised at the way the rest of them added their encouragement to Goku's invitation to join their tight group. Even after Vegeta had been willing to sell his soul to Babidi to defeat him, Goku still considered him a friend and the others followed suit.

"Goku," Krillen whispered as Vegeta sat down at the table, "you wouldn't believe what Chi Chi wanted to do earlier when you hadn't shown up yet."

"Oh yeah?" Goku whispered back, keeping an eye on his wife as she made her way back to the kitchen for more food. He could just imagine how angry she had been at him when he disappeared while she was dressing for the party. "What was that?"

"She asked Bulma if they could trade mates - you for Vegeta!" Krillen told him and laughed at Goku's shocked look.

"You're kidding!" he exclaimed, eyes wide and mouth agape. Goku looked over at Vegeta for confirmation, but only got a smug smile in return. "And you let them talk about you like that?" he asked Vegeta.

"Well, obviously she recognizes a good thing when she sees it," Vegeta said with a cocky grin. "It shows good taste."

The entire room erupted in laughter. Goku nearly fell off his chair, but Gohan caught him at the last second and set him back upright. Trunks and Goten laughed along with the others even though they didn't entirely understand the joke.

"What's so funny in here?" Bulma asked as she and Chi Chi returned with the last of the leftovers. "What did we miss?"

"Oh, nothing," Goku said. An image of coming home to Bulma flashed through his mind, making him blush. But when Chi Chi laid her hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile, he saw an equally powerful image of her with Vegeta.

No, he thought to himself. This is the woman he wanted to be with for the rest of his life, and he would have to be more considerate of her feelings if he was going to keep her.

Most of the guests started to leave. Piccolo and Dende headed back for the Lookout. Tien and Chaotzu left with Master Roshi and Oolong, agreeing to stay at the island for a while to visit. Yamcha and Puar left in his new car, hoping to show it off in town a bit before going home. Buu and Bee went outside to play while they waited for Hercule and Videl.

"So how are the wedding plans coming along, Videl," Number 18 asked.

"Not bad," Videl replied with a sigh. "If only dad understood that I don't want it turned into a giant media event!"

"But my baby is getting married!" Hercule protested. "I want the entire world to know how happy that makes me!"

"I know how you feel," Goku said. "But small weddings are nice, too." He reached up and gave Chi Chi's hand a loving pat.

"Any kind of wedding is nice," Krillen added. "The only thing that matters is the 'I do' part. The rest is just for show."

"Krillen, just because we didn't have a big wedding doesn't mean other people don't want one," his wife said. "If I had a family, I would have wanted the beautiful dress and all the flowers and music, too."

"At least you didn't have to go through what I did before we got married!" Goku laughed.

Chi Chi joined in the laughter, her anger at Goku's late arrival all but forgotten. They told Videl and Hercule all about the trouble they had because she had to have her mother's wedding dress, but there was fire all around her father's castle. Gohan had heard the story before, but Goten sat at his father's side, listening intently to his parents' misadventures.

"Wow, dad!" he said in awe. "And after all that you still wanted to marry her?"

Goten ducked as Chi Chi attempted to hit him on the head with a serving spoon. He and Trunks crawled under the table and escaped outside to play.

"Well that was certainly a wedding to remember!" Videl exclaimed, clinging to Gohan's arm. "I hope we don't have trouble like that!"

"Nonsense!" Hercule bellowed. "Nothing would dare go wrong for my daughter's wedding!"

"So tell me, Vegeta," Goku said, leaning his elbows on the table and propping his chin in his hands. "With the Androids, Cell, being dead, and Majin Buu. . .I never did hear what your wedding was like."

Vegeta made a pretense of staring out the window at the sunset, avoiding eye contact with both Goku and Bulma. "Who says we had a wedding?"

"What do you mean?" Goku exclaimed, half standing and leaning over the table toward Vegeta. "Are you trying to tell me you've been with Bulma this long and you're still not married?! Even with Trunks?! That's crazy! What about your honor? What about Bulma's honor?"

"Calm down, Goku," Bulma interrupted as Chi Chi gently pulled him back down to his chair. "Just because there wasn't a wedding doesn't mean we're not married."

"Hunh?"

"She means they didn't have a regular wedding like we did," Chi Chi explained as she started to clear away the empty dishes from the table. "They just went to the courthouse and signed a marriage certificate."

Goku pondered the words for a full minute. "You can do that?"

"Sure," Bulma said, giving Chi Chi a hand. "People do it all the time."

"Why couldn't we have done that?!" he called out to his wife, who was already in the kitchen.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that!" she called back before they heard the sound of water running in the sink.

"Man, Vegeta, you have all the luck," Goku pouted. "I wish I had known that back then."

"Well we didn't really have a reason for a big wedding," Bulma explained, sitting next to Vegeta and resting her hand on his knee. "Everyone was training for the Androids, my parents were the only family we had, and with Vegeta's history. . ." she gave a sidelong glance over at Videl and her father, ". . .let's just say we didn't really want any media coverage."

The rest of them understood what Bulma meant. Vegeta's first experience with the press had been when he was set on purging the planet of all human life. There was always a risk someone would recognize him from those early pictures and make trouble for him and his new family.

"You know," Videl said, "there's nothing stopping you from having a real wedding. Now that everything has settled down, we can all be there and you can renew your vows."

Bulma glanced over at Vegeta, but he just shook his head. "We're already married. We don't have to do it again."

"But think of how much fun it would be!" Goku laughed. "Getting all dressed up and parading around in front of about a hundred people. Not to mention all the photographers."

Vegeta snorted. "Maybe we should have a Saiyan wedding."

"A Saiyan wedding?" Bulma asked. "You never told me about Saiyan weddings. What are they like?"

"A Saiyan man searches for a woman he believes will be the best to bear his sons. When he finds her, the couple goes up to the top of a cliff with their families. Her father pushes her off the cliff to fall to the rocks below. If she calls for the man, she has accepted him as her husband. If the man flies down to save her, he has accepted her as his wife."

"What if she doesn't call for him?" Bulma asked, going slightly pale at the thought. "Or if he doesn't catch her?"

"If she dies, it proves she was not a worthy mate in the first place. If she flies off, she is fair game for another man. But if she calls someone else's name, they must fight for her."

"Wow!" Gohan exclaimed. "That sounds like a lot more fun than a church wedding. What about doing that, Videl?"

She gave Gohan a glare. "What if I just fly away?" she taunted.

Gohan gulped as everyone laughed. Videl finally cracked a smile and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Well, I am not going to have my father pushing me off any cliffs!" Bulma said, then sighed. "But the thought of a real wedding does sound kind of nice. I would love to see Vegeta in a tuxedo."

They all laughed again as Vegeta's face grew red. "I will never. . .!"

~~~~~~~~~~

". . .understand how I got talked into this!"

"Oh, come on, Vegeta," Goku said, trying his best to get his tie straight in the mirror. "It won't be that bad. Just say what they tell you to say so we can all eat!"

Vegeta pulled at his shirt collar and grimaced at his reflection. He felt like his tie was strangling him and couldn't wait until it was all over so he could take off the jacket and vest. The small room they had been told to wait in wasn't helping his claustrophobic feeling either.

"How do humans stand to wear so many layers of clothing?" he complained.

"Who knows?" Goku replied, finally giving up on the tie. "These shoes are killing me and I can't figure this thing out!"

Vegeta sighed at his incompetence and fixed it with one tug, tightening it more than it really needed to be. Goku's eyes bulged until he was able to loosen it enough to breathe.

"My! Don't you two look handsome!" Chi Chi said from the doorway. She wore a filmy pink dress with a wreath of flowers in her hair and a bouquet in her hand. Goku whistled at her and she blushed the same color as the dress. "They're ready for you."

They followed her down the hallway of the small church. She gave them their final instructions and hurried back to where Bulma and her father were waiting to walk down the aisle.

"I'm leaving!" Vegeta said, heading for the nearest window.

"What? No! You can't go!" Goku said, running after him. "What about Bulma?"

He caught hold of Vegeta's sleeve to stop him, but the stitching gave way and he ended up pulling it completely off. They both stared down at the cloth in Goku's hand.

"Uh oh," Goku said, his eyes wide with panic. "Bulma's going to kill you! Chi Chi's going to kill me!" He grabbed Vegeta's arm and tried shoving it back into the sleeve.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Maybe we can fix it before anyone finds out," Goku said. He got it up to Vegeta's shoulder, but it kept slipping down to his elbow. After his third try, Vegeta just growled and pulled it off his arm, flinging it out the open window.

"Just give up! I'm not doing this anyway!"

"But you have to, Vegeta! Bulma would never forgive you if you left her at the altar!"

"We're already married!" Vegeta argued.

"But she'd be so embarrassed!" Goku said. "And just think what she'd do once she found you!"

Vegeta imagined Bulma in a flowing white wedding dress, chasing after him with an iron frying pan. Even though he had taken far worse beatings by far stronger opponents, he knew her blows would be extremely painful because they would be deserved.

"Fine," Vegeta said. "I'll stay."

"So what should we do now?" Goku said, motioning to Vegeta's missing jacket sleeve. "You can't go in looking like that."

Vegeta rolled his eyes at Goku. "You always make things more difficult than they really are."

He crossed his arms and flexed his muscles. His biceps bulged, more than the shirt or jacket sleeves could handle, and they ripped to shreds. A couple quick tugs to the rags, and his arms were left bare with his, now, sleeveless tuxedo.

"Wow! That looks great! Let my try!" Soon strips of Goku's suit joined Vegeta's on the floor of the church hallway. He laughed as he swung his arms in big circles. "Now that's much better!"

"Um. . ." They turned around to see the priest looking from them to the cloth on the floor and back again. "If you'd come with me, we're ready to begin."

"Oh, sure!" Goku smiled and pushed Vegeta forward to follow the priest into the church.

Vegeta completely ignored the guests in the church, keeping his eyes fixed on the closed door in the back. Goku, on the other hand, smiled and waved to his family and friends.

"I want suits like theirs!" Gohan whispered hopefully to Videl.

"I don't think so!" Videl replied, shaking her head.

"Leave it to Goku and Vegeta to make even a tuxedo look comfortable!" Krillen said to his wife.

Chi Chi, on the other hand, wasn't quite as forgiving. Her scathing look after she walked down the aisle told Goku he was in for an earful as soon as the ceremony was done.

Trunks came in next, carrying his mother's ring on a satin pillow. His jaw dropped when he saw the two men's clothes. When he got closer he whispered to his father, "Nobody told me I could take my sleeves off!"

"Later," Vegeta mumbled.

The back doors were swung open to reveal Dr. Briefs with Bulma on his arm. Vegeta couldn't help but smile at the beautiful sight she made. Even though they were already married, she had decided to stick with the traditional white wedding dress. As she walked slowly down the aisle, smiling straight at Vegeta, he almost started to laugh.

Her dress was nearly a photo negative image of his suit. The bottom was long and tight, with slits up the sides to make it easier to walk. The top was form fitting with a plunging neckline and...sleeveless!

When Bulma saw Vegeta's bare arms, she smiled even wider. A full tuxedo would have been handsome on him. Seeing his well-built muscles with the rest of the suit was breathtaking! She was just a little disappointed she hadn't thought of it first.

The actual ceremony was as short as they could possibly make it. Vegeta was adamant that there was to be no extra singing or readings that would extend the time he would have to stand in front of people in a suit. Bulma agreed.

Before long, the priest pronounced them man and wife and gave Vegeta permission to kiss his bride. He leaned over to give Bulma a quick peck, but she threw her arms around his neck and drew him into a passionate kiss. The entire church erupted in laughter and applause.

When it was time to walk down the aisle together, Bulma raised her hand to get everyone's attention.

"Hold on, everybody!" she called out. When the guests settled down, she continued. "As long as everyone is already here, why don't we have another wedding?"

Applause echoed through the church and everyone looked over at Gohan and Videl, assuming they were the ones getting married. They just shook their heads and pointed to the front of the church.

"What's going on?" Goku asked as Vegeta pushed him forward toward the priest.

"Just returning the favor," Vegeta said just loud enough for Goku to hear.

"You were dead for a long time, Goku," Bulma explained. "Chi Chi could have remarried after that many years."

"What?!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide as he looked down at his wife. The thought of being replaced had never occurred to him, even though he had left his wife alone quite often since their wedding.

"Lucky for you she didn't," Bulma continued. "We're not even sure if your original marriage certificate is still valid! So, just to make sure, we all thought it would be a good idea for you to renew your vows."

"All?" Chi Chi asked.

"It was Gohan's idea," Bulma whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~

And so. . .Vegeta and Bulma, as well as Goku and Chi Chi, renewed their vows. Of course, an enormous meal followed. A feast fit for the Saiyans and all their guests. It was just the beginning of many years of peaceful, happy times for our Z Fighters; now able to devote their free time to their families. What will our heroes do without any evil beings threatening their world? Find out next time on Dragonball Z!