Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ To Begin Again ❯ A Groom's Pressing Task ( Chapter 10 )

To Begin Again, Part 10: A Groom's Pressing Task

Disclaimer: DBZ is owned by Akira Toriyama. And is a registered trademark with the following companies} FUNImation, Bird Studio/Shueisha and TOEI Animation. There, see! I can write a formal disclaimer, although it's not a fun as the others. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

� 160; ; � 160; ; *Finding the Right Medium*

The search for the right material to make the arbor took Piccolo three days. He first thought of using granite and making it look like an Ancient Grecian temple. Since their nuptial trip would be to Greece, Piccolo thought it would fit the theme. He decided to ax that idea after finding how awkward, cumbersome and heavy the temple would end up being.

He also thought of carving the bower from wood. That posed the problem of finding a large enough piece of lumber. The only trees he could find that would suit what he wanted to make were protected by environmental laws. In the state of California it was greatly frowned upon to cut down a Redwood. The wood was also very red and wouldn't fit the wedding decor.

Then came the visit to the tailor's. He hadn't realized just how close it was getting to the wedding date. Piccolo wanted to find something that no one else had ever thought of using to make an arbor. He then set out to find what he needed after that Thursday.

On his third day of flying around the planet, Piccolo had come across a giant white boulder in the middle of this corn field. He looked it over from top to bottom. The proportions were large enough to fit his calculations needed for the arbor. Piccolo required the boulder badly. Seeing that it was obviously upon someone's property, Piccolo had to get the owner's permission to take it.

Luckily for him, the farmer that owned the land soon rode by on his tractor. Both men talked about the boulder for a while. The farmer had told Piccolo that it was made of quartz and a nuisance when it came time for planting and harvesting his crops. The old and grey bearded man further complained about how much it would cost him to have it removed.

"With what I got, there ain't no way I can pay for it to get towed off." The farmer had so wisely stated.

Piccolo offered the man to remove the boulder for no charge as long as he could keep it. The old man felt that was the best offer he'd ever get concerning the large quartz boulder. They shook hands upon the deal.

The farmer had asked Piccolo on how he'd remove the large rock. Piccolo told the man he would dispose of the rock himself. The farmer just sat back in his tractor's chair and watched Piccolo levitate the boulder from his property. The poor old man couldn't believe his eyes. He'd never in all his years seen someone lift any object with the use of their mind.

Piccolo had used the skills he acquired from all his years of meditation. Calming his mind and finding his chi's center, Piccolo stood back away from the boulder and started to concentrate all his mental energy upon the stone. Slowly at first the rock shook. Then it began to rise steadily into the air.

As the boulder rose, so did Piccolo. When Piccolo had felt he was at a sufficient height, he sent his goodbyes to the stunned farmer with a wave of one green hand. He left the old man of the soil blinking as he flew off with the large white stone floating next to him. The farmer reasoned that he needed to get out of the sun for the day. Only the sight of uncovered earth was the only proof that what happened that day was real.

Carefully he flew to his old cave in the mountains. The cave would be the best spot to keep the boulder from possibly getting cracked or broken. With the large quartz stone in his possession, Piccolo let a smile emit from his continence. All he needed to do now was start the long process of carving the arbor from the large hard rock.

He began to draw a construction plan of the arbor upon the cavern's wall. When finished with the floor plans, Piccolo began carefully carving the top from the giant white rock.

60;
60; *Making of a Wedding Arbor*

It was now two weeks after he set out to find the right material. He was finishing the last little details on the arbor's dome top. The small spike at the top would have flowers and a gauzy streamer tied to it, courtesy of Bulma and her mother.

Piccolo sat back to observe his progress. The arbor was indeed a masterpiece in the making. The large white quartz boulder he had found was the perfect medium for carving the nuptial bower. It would look stunning when finished. So far, Piccolo had just the top carved into the design he wanted. He was carefully using his ki in small lasers with surgical precision.

The ki lasers were so fine that they left the surface glittering like diamonds. Piccolo then started to carve out the first post of the six he decided would be best for holding the top's weight. It was a painstakingly long and arduous task. Piccolo figured that since Bulma was making most of the wedding plans, it was only right that he should make the arbor.

He couldn't imagine having to order all the crazy things needed for a wedding. Piccolo reasoned that may be why most weddings were mainly about the bride. Thankfully, he had found someone who realized the wedding wasn't just about the bride dressing up to look like some Prima Ballerina or whatever it was. It was about starting a life together, not an excuse to dress up and have an elaborate party.

Of course, Bulma harried him into helping pick out certain things. The guests' and groom's men's gifts was one of them. That was boring as heck. Then there were the food and the catering companies. He wasn't all that big on olives. Valenti's head chef stated that olives were a big part of authentic Tuscany cuisine. Piccolo was not happy about that. They had argued and gotten the chef to compromise about some of the dishes. There would be two versions of the olive dishes. One with olives and one without.

The decisions about the wedding cakes were the best. He really loved that pineapple and lemon curd cake with the coconut. Like a drink from the Carribean. An edible Pina Colada. Piccolo had to admit that Bulma's cake tasted damn good, too. The cake they had agreed upon was decadent as sin. Piccolo could already imagine the looks on the guests' faces.

Piccolo shook himself awake from those thoughts. Daydreaming about cake was not a good idea when carving your own wedding arbor. Studiously, Piccolo went back to his work.

A thin slice of rock crashed upon the cave's floor. It was quickly swept to the side to join a steadily increasing pile of rubble. The first of six posts was slowly making its existence due to Piccolo's careful craftsmanship. He was cutting the post thicker than they would end up being. The reason was that small cups were to be carved in swirl patterns along the posts.

The cups could hold small candles or some other ornamentation. Maybe shortly pruned flowers or ball shaped silver glass Christmas ornaments. Piccolo would only state his ideas to Bulma and her mother and let then decide what would correspond with the wedding theme.

Given the choice, Piccolo would opt for the silver Christmas balls. They could be removed for putting little candles inside the cups to then be lit for the evening.

While Piccolo was busy slicing small slivers of rock from the boulder, the figure of a man stepped into the cave. "You've certainly made finding you easy, Namek. Why the hell isn't that cell phone Bulma gave you on?"

Piccolo looked up from his task to find an irate Saiyan Prince. Piccolo wasn't happy to see Vegeta and it showed in his voice. "What do you want, Vegeta? Incase you hadn't noticed, I'm busy. I had the phone turned off so I could work in peace."

Vegeta looked at the large boulder in the middle of the cave. "Is this what you've been doing? Making that altar Bulma's been telling everyone she can about?"

"Yes, why have you come here Vegeta? To bother me?" Piccolo did not appreciate Vegeta's sarcastic tone of voice. He then stopped any further inquiries when he noticed the strange look on Vegeta's face. "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" The tall Namekian was quickly losing his temper.

"Nothing. I've just never seen a whipped Namek before." Vegeta shrugged his shoulders as he said this.

Piccolo got intensely angry, "listen here, you little Saiyan son of a bitch, I don't have the time for a fight. But if you want one, Vegeta, I'll gladly give it to you." The Namek let loose his own impressive growl.

Vegeta just laughed. "You sure you want to start a fight with that big pebble in the vicinity? Aren't you afraid of it getting smashed? What would Bulma say if there wasn't any altar to get married under? I think she'd be very upset with you, Namek." Vegeta was clearly taunting the much taller alien and enjoying it.

"Vegeta, you better tall me why the hell you're here. I'm rapidly losing my patience with you." Each word was emitted through gritted teeth.

Quickly becoming bored with the game, Vegeta answered Piccolo's query. "The tailor called me earlier today. He said that your, Gohan and Goten's suits were ready for the first fitting. I've been trying to contact you through your cell phone all morning. Now here I am getting lip from you when I took time out of my schedule to let you know. You've been living amongst the humans too long, Namek. You're starting to be as rude as they are."

Piccolo could only blink as he was soundly chastised by Vegeta. All he could think of saying was, "um... sorry, Vegeta. You don't exactly make it easy to be civil around you."

"Point taken, Namek." Vegeta tilted his head in acknowledgment of Piccolo's rebuttal.

"You know damn well my name is Piccolo. Not Namek." Piccolo took his point further with getting his own say in the argument.

Vegeta just smirked at the other alien. "I think we've done enough lecturing about manners for the day, Piccolo." Vegeta placed great emphasis upon the Namekian's name. He got a glare for his impudence in the process.

After shooting his best glare at Vegeta, Piccolo picked up his phone and began to dial the tailor's number. Vegeta just leaned back against the cave wall to await what he knew would happen. The call would not get through.

"Damn it! I don't have time for this." Piccolo dialed the number again just to receive the same message as before. "Your call will not go through. You may be outside your calling range."

Vegeta just laughed as Piccolo cursed into the phone for a second time. "I had no idea you could be so hilarious, Piccolo." The Saiyan Prince chuckled harder when he said the Namekian's name. "You should go into stand up."

"Go to hell, you little pointy haired bastard! I don't feel like listening to your cra..." Piccolo was cut off mid curse by a forearm pressed to his throat. When Piccolo got over his surprise, he noticed a very angry Vegeta. In fact, he hadn't seen Vegeta this angry in years.

"Think whatever you may about me, but I'll let you know that I am not a bastard. Both my parents had a great deal of honor and not only were they mated but also joined together by a Saiyan priest. You had best be careful about any statements you may make about the circumstances of my birth or my parentage." The intense anger Vegeta felt was clearly displayed in his eyes. "Got that, Piccolo."

It had been years since Piccolo had heard such venom in anyone's voice, even Vegeta's. Grabbing the Saiyan's arm with both hands, Piccolo pried the forearm from his throat. It was no easy chore. Vegeta literally had a death grip on him.

"Get the hell off me, Vegeta." Piccolo mustered enough breath to growl at the Prince.

"Gladly," and with that, Vegeta stepped back several feet to give the Namek room to breathe.

Piccolo scowled at Vegeta. He didn't know what his problem was, but he was damned if he'd be used for an outlet. "What the heck is wrong with you, Vegeta?"

"I am not some errand boy for you, nor for Bulma."

Not believing a word he said, Piccolo tried digging deeper. "That's not it, Vegeta. You're not as quick to losing your temper as you used to be. So, what gives?"

"It is nothing you need concern yourself about, Namek." Clearly Vegeta was still angry enough to revert back to calling Piccolo "Namek."

"Oh, I think so, when you nearly choke me, that it is my concern." Piccolo would not easily be deterred from getting the truth.

Vegeta just ignored Piccolo and walked over to the arbor's construction plans upon the cave's wall. "This is what you're going to make out of that?" He pointed toward the boulder at the end of his question.

Getting the hint that there was no way he'd get his answer today, Piccolo informed Vegeta that those were indeed the plans for the arbor. He also showed his visitor the spiraling cups going down the posts.

"It looks more like one of those gazelle things." The Saiyan Prince commented.

"That's gazebo, Vegeta. Not gazelle. A gazelle is a small antelope from Africa."

Vegeta didn't really care. "They're both nouns." He studiously compared the placement of the posts along with the weight of the top. "You sure six posts will be enough for holding up the top? Do you plan on carving out any support beams?"

"Of course there will be support beams. I had helped Dende fix the Lookout after the fight with Buu. I think I know what I'm doing. And what did you mean about the posts? There is enough to hold the top up." Piccolo became incensed at Vegeta's inquiries. He had it all planned out down to every small detail.

Vegeta was skeptical about the structure's integrity. "Are you sure? And how will you support the posts?"

"Huh? The posts are fine." The Namekian maintained his point of view. Piccolo was not going to relent to Vegeta.

The Saiyan Prince further explained his view of a flaw in the construction plans. "No, they're not. If you leave them separate, they can easily be moved around at the bottom. That'll make them unstable. If the top is too much weight it could cause the posts to spread and the whole thing will crash down on top of itself. Why do you think most gazebos have that lattice working between the posts? It's not just to make it look pretty."

Piccolo sighed as he realized Vegeta was right about the posts. If he were to carve some kind of lattice working between the posts, that would mean that there couldn't be any cups. "Then what do I do about the cups, Vegeta? They're for candles or whatever else Bulma and her mother might think of putting in them."

"Then just have the crossed connections at the bottom were they're needed and have the cups over top that. They can put potted plants around the bottom to cover it, or whatever they want to do." Vegeta started drawing his version of the arbor. It showed the top like Piccolo's had, but all the additions he came up with. Eight posts with lattice working between them. The posts would go around most of the arbor with only a front entrance. He also drew potted plants along the bottom were they would cover the lattice work. It look much sturdier than Piccolo's plans.

"I've got just over a month, Vegeta. How the heck do you expect me to get this done in that amount of time?" Piccolo motioned at Vegeta's revised design.

Vegeta only smirked at him. He then said, "You're so smart, you'll figure it out." Vegeta started walking toward the cave's entrance.

"Vegeta! Wait up!" Piccolo wanted to know how Vegeta thought he could get the arbor done in time for the wedding. The Namekian ran after the shorter alien. He caught up to Vegeta just as the Saiyan Prince stepped out into the sunlight.

Piccolo glared at Vegeta. He was about to ask the Saiyajin how he believed he'd get the bower done within a month when his cell phone rang. The jingle of the ring's tone startled the Namekian. He thought he was out of range. Piccolo answered the call, it was Bulma. She wanted to know if Vegeta had found him. Piccolo talked with his fiancé and assured her the Vegeta had indeed found him.

Meanwhile, Vegeta stood there listening in on Piccolo's side of the conversation. It was easy to figure out what Bulma was saying. Vegeta was relieved that he got the Namek onto the discussion of the arbor instead of his grumpy attitude. How was he supposed to say he was jealous of Piccolo and Bulma?

His jealousy had nothing to do with any kind of feelings toward the betrothed couple, but about their happiness with each other. The Saiyan royal wanted to be planning a betrothal to a certain spiky haired younger Saiyajin. Only with Goku, would Vegeta ever consider fully espousing himself to.

Marriages were an important custom in the Saiyan Royal House. Vegeta had not taken Bulma as his true mate, but he did marry her. There was no way he would allow his children to be completely illegitimate according to Saiyan custom.

The alien royal was brought back to the current situation when Piccolo flipped his cell phone closed.

"Bulma said Trunks needs you at Capsule Corp's business building." Piccolo informed Vegeta of the his son's trouble with an unpleasant client. Vegeta just nodded as he began to levitate off the ground.

"Hey, Vegeta! How do you think I can get the arbor done in time for the wedding?"

Vegeta paused midair. Clearly, the Namek hadn't figured it out. "Dende remade the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to have no limitations on the amount of time anyone could spend in there. Just use that to get it finished for the wedding. And since you're not to perceptive as usual; the reason you couldn't call before was because you were inside a cave. It's a little hard for the signal to make its way though hundreds of feet of rock."

A very embarrassed Namek was left in Vegeta's dust. "Why the hell didn't I think of that? And when the heck did Vegeta get so smart? Maybe since he was fused with Goku. Who'd have thought being fused with Goku could raise one's IQ?" Piccolo then realized Vegeta never answered his questions about why he was being an ass earlier. "That damn Vegeta!"

& #160;  0; & #160;  0; & #160; *Author's Notes*

Poor whipped Piccolo. Sorry, if I made him a little on the slow side today. I think he might have been out of the sun too long. Maybe being inside that cave, with all the fumes from ki carving the quartz boulder, slowed down his brain functions.

I think he needs the sun light for photosynthesis. Somebody came up with that idea for why Piccolo only needs to drink water. And since Namek was so sunny, it did make sense to me.

I just love having Vegeta and Piccolo interact. Piccolo is my second favorite love partner for Vegeta. Their attitudes are so alike that it may be why they argue and fit so well together. But I'm a "Goku for Veggie" fan all the way. Hell with Bulma and ChiChi!☹

Speaking of which. Wasn't Vegeta cool in this chapter? Power to the Prince! I figure he might have married Bulma when she was pregnant with Trunks.

I know that some of you want more Vegeta and Goku. Sorry. I had to write about Bulma and Piccolo and their wedding. It is how the story started out and all that.

Short chapter, I know. It thought that was a cool ending. Also, I haven't been able to write much lately. Damn storms! And now here comes another one! Fudge! Oh... fudge. Time to make more brownies for my muses. Kewla knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Again, everyone does not need to review. But it's always nice when you all do.

"Forever and ever, you'll stay in my heart. And I will love you. Forever and ever, we never will part. And how I love you. Together, together that's how it must be. To live without you, will only be heartbreak for me." "I say a little prayer for you" by Aretha Franklin