Chapter 12: The Wedding Part 1

After a long day of shopping and planning, everyone had gone home and had a good nights sleep. It was 6:45pm on the date of the wedding; and everyone was mingling outside the café where it was to be held.

Pai was in the men's room along with Kishu, Ren, and Pyron. He was standing in front of a mirror adjusting his bowtie.

"How are you feeling Pai?" Kishu asked, standing behind him.

"Fine, I'm just thinking about Lettuce, I hope that she is doing alright." Pai said looking at his reflection in the mirror.

"I'm sure she's fine." Kishu said reassuringly.

"I guess you're right." Pai said sighing.

"Hey, Pai?" Said a voice from the door.

"Yes?" Pai said turning to see Taruto standing there in his little Tuxedo.

"I'm here to get the wedding ring." Taruto said dully.

"Oh, yes, here you are." Pai said handing the wedding ring to Taruto.

"Thanks." Taruto said as he left.

In the hallway, Taruto slowly closed the door to the men's room and sighed with boredom. He began to walk when he was stopped.

"Taru-Taru?" Pudding said as she ran up beside him.

"Do you have the ring?" He asked, turning to her.

"Yeah, here you go, Na no da." Pudding said handing Lettuce's ring to him.

"Thanks, how is it going with the balloons?" Taruto asked quietly.

"Great, I got them all setup on the other side of the café; all we have to do is cut the rope, Na no da." Pudding said grinning.

"Good." Taruto said grinning with her.

In the women's room Lettuce was sitting on a chair fidgeting with her fingers.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm just a little nervous." Lettuce answered softly.

"Don't be, it will all work out fine." Zakuro said simply.

"I hope you're right." Lettuce said looking down.

"Okay, everyone is here." Mint said coming into the room.

"I suppose we should get ready, then." Lettuce said smiling.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, I am." Lettuce said happily.

"I'll go tell everyone to take their seats." Mint said leaving again.

Lettuce took a deep breath and a sip of water. She slowly stood up.

Outside, Pai was standing awkwardly at an arch of vines along side the minister. Keiichiro began to play the piano, as Zakuro and Pyron walked down the isle. As soon as they got to the end of it, they split up and took their places as a bridesmaid and a groomsman. Following them, Mint and Ren; Ren looking rather bored. They too split up at the end of the isle without as much as a glance in the others direction. Next came Kishu and Ichigo, their arms linked between them; Ichigo was looking quite annoyed, but kept a smile on her face. At the end, Kishu gave Ichigo a small kiss on the cheek and joined Pai, Pyron and Ren; Kishu being the first groomsman, stood next to Pai followed by Ren then Pyron. Next came skipping Pudding throwing flowers all around, and Taruto about a foot behind her. They stood away from everyone, off to the side. Finally, Keiichiro's song slowly merged into the traditional 'Here comes the bride' tune. Lettuce stood at the beginning of the long isle with a shy look on her face, holding her arm was Ryou. Slowly they walked towards Pai. Pai smiled at her radiance. Lettuce reached the end of the isle and separated with Ryou, who sat in an empty chair. Lettuce stepped closer to Pai. He took her hands and smiled at her, looking deep into her eyes, she smiled back at him.

"We are gathered here today, in holy matrimony to join together Midorikawa Lettuce and Aliens Pai." The minister said respectfully.

The next few things that the minister said were not heard by Pai, nor Lettuce; their minds were elsewhere. During which time, Pudding snuck off unnoticed. Finally, Lettuce and Pai snapped back to reality.

"Pai, do you take thee Lettuce to be your loftily wedded wife, in sickness and in health, through the good times and the bad, till death do you part?" The minister asked.

"I do." Pai said without hesitation.

"Lettuce, do you take thee Pai to be your loftily wedded husband, in sickness and in health, through the good times and the bad, till death do you part?" The minister asked as he turned to Lettuce.

"I do." Lettuce said smiling.

"Now, the rings if you will." The minister asked Taruto, who stepped forward and handed them each their rings to give to each other.

Pai took the ring for Lettuce and slowly slipped it onto her finger. She did the same for him. They stared into each others eyes.

"Well then, you may now kiss the bride." The minister said.

Pai slowly lifted the veil from Lettuce's face and gazed at her. Slowly he leaned down and put his lips to hers. Just then, what appeared to be a hundred balloons soared through the sky and above them. Pai and Lettuce slowly pulled away and glanced over that the beautiful array of multicolored balloons that painted the sky just as the sun was completely disappearing over the horizon. Pai and Lettuce turned back to each other and smiled. Pudding came running from around the café and stood in awe next to Taruto.

"Wow, it's even better than Pudding thought it would be, Na no da." Pudding said happily as she stared up at the sky.

"Yeah…" Taruto said not turning away from the all the beautiful colors.

Pudding slowly took Taruto's hand in hers as she gazed up at the sky with sparkling eyes and a glowing smile. He looked away from the sky and down at their hands for a second before looking up at Pudding. She turned her head to him and grinned as he gave her a nice smile in return. They both looked back up at the sky as the balloons drifted farther and farther into the darkening sky.

After the ceremony it was time for Lettuce and Pai to cut the beautiful cake that they had bought when they were in the city, it was a huge wedding cake with a little groom and bride on top; the groom was specially made to have big alien ears. Pai took Lettuce's hand and placed the knife in it, and put his hand on top of hers. Together, they cut the cake and gave everyone a piece of it. Everyone sat at little tables, provided by Ryou and Keiichiro from the café, as they ate their cake.

"Lettuce-san, this was truly the greatest day of my life." Pai said staring across the table at Lettuce with a smile.

"Mine too, Pai-san." Lettuce said smiling back at him.

Keiichiro played the piano beautifully as everyone ate, and soon it was time for Lettuce to throw the flowers. She stood up at the end of the isle with everyone behind her. She gently tossed the flowers behind her. They flew through the air twirling as it did. It struck Ren in the head and ricocheted off, landing in Jun's hands.

"I caught it!" Jun exclaimed happily. She turned to Pyron and smiled at him.

"Oh goodness…" Ren said rolling his eyes.

As the night grew darker, the time for dancing was finally there. Keiichiro was playing beautiful music that everyone seemed to enjoy. The first dance was to be between the bride and groom. Pai took Lettuce's hand and guided her to the dance floor. She looked up shyly into his eyes. Slowly, they began to dance. Everyone watched them as they did.

"Aw, don't you think that is just so cute Renny?" Jun asked Ren as she watched them.

"No, not really." Ren said taking a sip of his milk.

"Renny, don't be like that here." Jun said turning to him.

"That's who I am; you can't expect me to change just because we are at a wedding, Jun." Ren said angrily.

"I suppose not…" Jun said looking back at Lettuce and Pai.

Once that dance was over, everyone was invited onto the dance floor. Pai and Lettuce stayed on. Jun and Pyron joined them, as well.

"Horo Horo…" Ichigo said standing beside him.

"Uh…Uh…" Horo Horo sweat dropped.

"Do you want to dance?" She asked, glancing in Kishu's direction to see if he was watching; which he was, with one eyebrow raised.

"Uh-Uh- I'm taken!" He yelled as he began to dance with Chocolove.

"DUDE!" Chocolove yelled.

"Just go along with this okay man, please help me out!" Horo Horo whispered.

Ichigo frowned angrily.

"Zakuro, even if you are not my shaman queen, will you still dance with me?" Ryu asked walking up beside her.

"Maybe, but I must warn you, I am a professional dancer so you better keep up with me, got it?" Zakuro said turning to him.

"Yes, Zakuro." Ryu said as they began to dance.

Dancing with Zakuro made him look like one of the worst dancers ever. He tripped over pebbles and made horrible mistakes everywhere he went. Zakuro rolled her eyes at how unprofessional he was.

"Hey, uh, Mint? Do you want to, you know, dance?" Yoh asked kindly.

"Only if you agree, no funny stuff okay granola boy?" She said staring at him angrily.

"Dude, I'm like, engaged and junk." Yoh said innocently.

"Whatever." Mint said standing, "I'm only dancing because I love it and there is no one else to dance with around here." Mint said narrowing her eyes.

"Uh, alright dude." Yoh said giving her a thumbs up.

Mint was started by this, and stumbled backwards; almost falling down. She defended her face by throwing her hands in front of it and cowering. Her breathing rate increased and she felt faint, like she was to pass out. She stepped backwards in fear of her pursuer, who was smiling dumbly and showing his teeth in a wobbly grin. She was in a fit of fright as she began to have a conniption. Her mind was spinning with trepidation of what he was going to do next. She was engulfed in foreboding, as terror struck her every limb as if she was in a ghastly nightmare.

"Dude?" Yoh said cocking his head in concern.

"AHH!" Mint screamed as she ran in the other direction and hid behind Keiichiro's piano in hopes he wouldn't find her.

Yoh shrugged and sat down in a nearby chair to watch everyone else dance.

Ichigo was sitting by herself in a chair at an empty table with a glass of water in her hand. She took a small sip and placed it in front of her as she watched everyone else dance their troubles away. She closed her eyes and sighed. Suddenly, someone appeared behind her, his face beside her ear.

"Would you like to dance?" Said a calm voice that startled her.

"What?" She said spinning around.

"I said would you like to dance with me?" He repeated.

"With you? No way Kishu." She said angrily.

"Oh Kitty, I know you would just simply love to." Kishu said extending his hand to her.

"I wouldn't." She said nervously.

The music suddenly changed to another tune, which Kishu found much more interesting. He bent closer to her and grinned.

"Let's Tango." He said taking her hand and pulling her from her seat.

Before she could object, he had pulled her to the dance floor and was guiding her like a master. She was impressed by his skills; she didn't think aliens could dance.

"Kishu, where did you learn to tango?" Ichigo asked, astonished.

"Well Kitty, I watched people do this before, and I'm a very quick learner." Kishu said smiling wider.

Kishu was actually a very good dancer, Ichigo was having a pretty good time; although she was not about to tell Kishu that.