Chapter 1

It's a nice day for a white wedding…(1)

In the vestibule stood the man and young woman patiently waiting, before them the double doors that would soon open at the hands of the sentry guards. They stood silently together arms linked, her hand curled upward around his bicep. The fresh bouquet she carried trembling slightly. Her head was bowed, so she did not see the small smile that touched his lips as he gazed down at her. Each of them assumed the other to be lost in thought about the momentous occasion before them. He was about to break his silence and reassure her when suddenly she spoke in Japanese for their privacy…..

"Nogura?"

"Hmm?"

"I have to go."

"Yes, yes, in a moment, they have not yet started to play our cue."

"No, that's not what I mean…. I have to go."

"When the music….." He stopped in mid sentence and looked down her.

"Now?" He asked incredulously.

"Hai!"

She lifted her head and her pleading emerald colored eyes met his dark piercing stare. Continuing in Japanese he spoke to her reassuringly.

"Leelee, it is just nerves. I am sure more than one bride has felt this way before the onset of her wedding. You will be fine until after the ceremony and if the need is still there afterwards you can quietly excuse yourself. Besides, the bridesmaids and groomsmen have already walked and we are to go at any moment now."

"Yes, yes, I know they've gone and I thought it was just nerves too, until I started thinking about the last time I went. It's been at least a few hours, right before Katie started putting me in this getup, and since then I have had a few glasses of champagne and what feels like a gallon of water! It's not just nerves, I really have to go and I will be going at any moment if I don't go now!"

Just to emphasize her point she gave a little wiggle, just as a small child would.

Nogura, no stranger to that wiggle, let out a low voiced string of Japanese expletives. No, he told himself, it was simply pre-wedding jitters. He would not give in, she promised on this day of all days she would be prepared and ready and he was going to hold her to it. Giving her a look that would have fried the braid off of any worthy Starfleet officer within five hundred feet, he quietly reprimanded her in his native tongue.

"Do you not realize that there are over two hundred and fifty guests behind those doors awaiting us? And not just ordinary people, sitting among our family and friends are dignitaries from all over the federation, who have arrived on time and each expecting this ceremony to begin at the appointed time. Not to mention that your mother and others have gone through extensive planning and preparations for this event to proceed as planned. You will hold it and we will follow the schedule!"

Leelee knew many men in Starfleet or otherwise who would have quickly scurried under a rock after receiving such a look from Nogura, but she was no stranger to that look and the formidable man who wielded it at those who displeased him. Years of practice had taught her how to sidestep that look and the sharp words that usually came with it. When others would have run at the sheer thought of displeasing Nogura, Leelee had stood her ground and fought back. Employing well thought out strategic planning, or as a last resort feminine wiles, Leelee had proven herself to be as stalwart as any opponent Nogura had faced in the past. Instinctively, she felt he was proud of this trait in her, though he would never admit it to anyone, but his wife. What she did not know was that he hoped her future husband would come to appreciate this trait in her as well.

Now with quiet urgency she repeated.

"I have to go."

"You should have said something sooner. You are an adult not a child. One of them knows the difference when nature is calling!"

Oh! That was low, she thought.

"I didn't feel it sooner! It's Katie's fault, she wouldn't let me so much as move an inch on my own once she got her hands on me today. She has twisted, pulled, tightened and tweaked me from my head down to my toes all day long, and not once asked me about my personal needs! And with all that tightening and tweaking I have gone numb, how could I've known I needed to go? Katie didn't even ask me if I wanted lunch! And now come to think of it I am hungry too! Nogura, this whole shebang has caused her some kind of mother's madness. I'm convinced one of the wheels has fallen off her wagon! Please, I will only be a minute and we are wasting time with this argument!"

"You will not speak about Katie in such a disrespectful tone. She is your mother, and she loves you beyond anything and anyone in this galaxy. Seeing to your well being and happiness has always been foremost in her thoughts and actions."

"Yes, I know and I did not mean to be disrespectful. I am sorry, really, but she's not going to like it either, when I pee during the middle of the ceremony and a nice yellow stream trickles down the altar. Now think about what she'll have to say to you after that little scene plays out. Especially once she finds out I told you beforehand!"

She knew she was playing underhanded and should have taken pity on him, but at this point she was more than desperate to go.

Nogura looked at Leelee and weighed the options of battling with her or the battle that would be sure to come afterwards with her mother over any incident that would ruin this day. Before he could choose the first strains of the wedding march began to play and seep through the closed doors before them. Leelee looked to Nogura in panic. The sentries with their hands on the doors eyed both of them nervously unsure whether to open the doors or not. Nogura, shook his head at the sentries and gave his daughter a little push toward the facilities. She didn't move. Exasperated, he asked;

"What now Leelee?"

"Well, I am going to need some help, there's so much stuff underneath, I am not quite sure how to reach the goal."

"I'll get Katie."

"No! Oh no, she'll take one piece off at a time and it will take forever! Maybe there's a lady somewhere in the vestibule able to help me?"

As the wedding march continued to seep through the doors, Nogura shook his head in frustration.

"Go, I will find someone and hurry!"

"Hai!"

Once he saw Leelee move toward the small room where she had waited earlier he moved to the double doors motioning the sentries to let him enter. Inside the chapel he thought again what a misnomer that name implied. The Starfleet chapel was more of a cathedral than any chapel he had ever entered. With its high arched ceilings, stained glass windows and massive size, it rivaled any of the ancient cathedrals still standing. Quickly, he steeled his gaze toward those he was in need of at the moment. He caught the eye of the sinfonietta leader and made the silent move of a hand across his throat. The leader caught it and quickly changed the tune to different melody. He next sought out his son, Michael and motioned him to come to him. He intentionally kept his gaze away from the altar and the eyes of the many guests. Next he looked at Katie his wife and signaled to her all was well. Then just as quickly as he entered he stepped back outside the doors with his son Michael.

Aware that something was wrong and knowing that the sentries were near by Michael spoke in Japanese. Like his father, he was well aware of what the interstellar press would pay for just a hint of gossip about this wedding.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, everything is fine. We are just experiencing a minor delay. I need you to go back inside and reassure Katie, the guests and most importantly the groom that everything is fine. It's just a small delay."

Despite his father's calm demeanor and soft voice Michael could sense his father's tension and instinctively knew where it came from. With a small smile beginning to form on his lips he asked…

"Where's Leelee?"

"She was in need of the facilities."

"What!"

"Now?" Michael began to laugh softly.

"Holy shit! Only Leelee would have to go now!"

No longer able to hold his own emotions at the absurdity of the situation, Nogura rubbed his hands over his face and shook his head to cover his own smile. Quickly he recovered.

"Michael, stop! Now please go back in and tell the sinfonietta leader to look for one of the sentries to cue him again when we're ready. And Michael, no matter what happens you're not to let Katie get out of her seat and come back here. Leelee is nervous that Katie will make matters worse, and now I fear I must agree with her."

"But, dad, what am I supposed to tell her and everyone else?"

"Only that we are experiencing a slight delay and everything is fine."

"That's not going to be enough to hold Katie back."

"Very well, tell Katie and only Katie, that I've received an urgent communiqué from Starfleet."

"Ok, but Dad, most of the people that would send such a message are inside!"

"Michael, I have no time to argue the validity of this. Just do as I ask and make Katie believe it. I must find someone to assist Leelee now."

Seeing the tension return to his father's face, Michael did not argue and moved back towards the doors. Just as he reached them, he turned back to his father with a mischievous grin on his face and said;

"You owe me twenty five credits."

Then he slipped back through the doors.

Nogura, shook his head after him, remembering their bet on whether Leelee would make it to the chapel on time. He laughed at the thought of the debate they would have over whether it was technically the chapel or the ceremony she had to have made it on time to. He would win naturally, because he had gotten her to the chapel on time, now he just had to get her to the ceremony!

He turned his attention to the sentries and quickly ordered them not to let any guest wander out into the vestibule. Then he began to search the area for any female who could help his daughter. When his search proved fruitless he made his way towards the waiting room where Leelee had gone.

Leelee, having carefully made her way through a tangle of undergarments and being ever so careful of her beautiful dress and train had somehow managed to blissfully relieve herself. With those same undergarments half up and half wrapped around her legs she had half walked, half shuffled, back into the dressing area. Now her dilemma was how to put herself back together again to Katie's satisfaction. With the voluminous dress hindering her every move she felt helpless without aide. Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door. Oh, thank god, she thought.

"Come in! Hurry please!"

"Leelee?"

"Nogura? I thought you were sending help?"

Nogura entered the room to find Leelee clearly distressed.

"There are no ladies outside the chapel to be found. Were you able to attend to the matter alone?"

"Yes, yes, I managed to go, but like Humpty Dumpty, I can't get myself back together again! I had to loosen the crinoline and the slips and now they're down around my legs. You'll have to find a female to assist me."

"I have just informed you, daughter, there are none to be found."

"We'll I can't go out there half dressed, I need the slips to give the dress the volume Katie intended for it or it won't look right. Oh! Katie will never forgive the two of us, I can hear her now; "Jesus, Joseph and Mary, what have ya done to the beautiful dress I made ya?" For the rest of our lives will have to listen to how we ruined this day. You have to find someone to help me!"

Nogura, patiently listened to Leelee's lamentation and recognized it for what it was, the nervous exaggerations of a nervous bride. Yes, Katie would be disappointed if the dress was not perfect, but to berate them for it the "the rest of their lives?" No, his wife was not that type of a woman, nor was he the type of man to have his wife disappointed on this or any other given day. Enough! He thought.

"I will assist you."

Her eyes wide with astonishment, and blushing unashamedly, Leelee looked at him as if he were some ancient samurai emerging from the wall prepared for a battle.

"Nogura, it's a lady thing!"

"Daughter, I am assuming you have the minimum of undergarments in tack and on your person. Therefore, it is no different than seeing you run around the house in one of those tiny swimsuits I do not approve of or a pair of your short shorts and a cami."

"This is different, I'll be half naked!"

"I believe one of my most strident arguments over your swimsuits was the fact that you were half naked in them. Of course your rebuttal being, all the right parts were covered and nothing out of the ordinary was showing. Therefore, that would apply to this situation as well. And have you forgotten I have seen you naked too? Or do you not recall how many times as a child I have given you a bath or changed your clothing after you have been sick and feverish?"

"I was a little girl! Things have….….. Blushing furiously, Leelee sought the words. "Well, things have changed since then!"

"Nevertheless, I would do the same today if you were ill; you are still my child. Someday when you have a child of your own, you will understand. Now our guests and your groom are waiting, turn around and let me assist you now Leelee!"

From the quiet authority and emphasis of his voice Leelee knew she would not out maneuver him and besides she was out of options. Reluctantly she turned her back to him.

"Katie made the dress form fitting from the shoulders down to the waist, we have to take it off in order to get the crinoline, slips and the rest of the doodad's to sit right."

"Very well."

With military precision, Nogura removed her train and undid the small row of buttons at the back of her dress. Than ever so gently he lifted it over her head and laid it out on a nearby chaise lounge. When he turned around Leelee was putting the first slip into place and he hooked it for her. Quickly, they worked together and added the crinoline and other slip. Then he was able to slip the dress once more over her head with the same precision he'd shown before. The bustle at the top of train gave him some minor trouble when he tried to reattach it, but he eventually managed it. Nogura then redid the buttons and moved to reset her veil. As he stood in front of her adjusting it, she felt her eyes begin to well up with thoughts of all this man had done for her. Nogura caught the gleam of tears in her eyes and more harshly then he intended said.

"No! You will not do this now daughter."

Startled and a little hurt at first, Leelee was about to say something, when the gleam of a tear in his own eyes caught her. Her veil in place, they silently moved toward the door and vestibule. As they moved along the corridor each was lost in their own thoughts of their lives together. Leelee broke the silence when they reached the double doors to the chapel once more.

"You'll need to adjust the train, so it lays flat and untangled as we move down the aisle and lower the front portion of the veil again."

Without speaking Nogura quickly set about his tasks. A light murmur from the guests inside could be heard through the doors and Nogura thought they had made it back before they had become too restless. Gently he started to lower the light veil that would cover her face. Suddenly Leelee reached out and touched his arm and a small giggle escaped her lips. His eyes questioned hers.

"Nogura, I am probably the only bride in history who has been dressed both by her mother and father on her wedding day!"

"Hai!" With that his own lips slightly curled up ward and a twinkle lit his eyes. He finished lowering her veil. Then he once more took her arm, noticing that the bouquet she held shook a bit more than the first time they had stood before these doors.

"You are ready daughter?"

"Hai"

In standard he instructed one of the sentries to instruct the sinfonietta leader to begin the wedding march momentarily. After what seemed like an eternity to them both the strains of the music began and with a nod of his head Nogura instructed the sentries to open the doors for their journey ahead.

(1.) White Wedding, written and performed by Billy Idol