Piccolo:

"Mum, I can't find my earrings!"

"Next to the door, Menka!"

Piccolo and Kera's house was bustling with activity. They were getting ready for Gohan and Videl's wedding, and ever since they got up, everyone was always looking for some article of clothing or accessory.

"Can we go then?" Piccolo waited impatiently outside the house, pacing back and forth as he kept casting unnerved glances at the door. He hadn't bothered to put on anything else, and had thrown on his preferred gi and cape.

"I'm ready." Reyak came running out of the house. He was wearing a plain black suit, a white shirt and a green bow tie that matched his skin tone. He had combed his hair back with a lot of gel.

Menka now stepped outside the door as well. She had Gine by the hand. They both wore light blue dresses and had a flower wreath braided into their hair. Piccolo smiled at the sight.

"I have everything now too."

Just behind Menka and Gine came Kera. Piccolo's jaw dropped for a moment and he forgot to breathe.

He had known that Kera would wear a dress to the wedding, but until now he had not seen it. The long leg slit and plunging neckline made him swallow hard. She had done her usual long braid a little differently and braided flowers into it.

'You look beautiful.'

Kera smiled as his thought reached her. He felt a certain relief inside him. The first real smile she had given him since he had told her of his plan to bind Gine's powers.

Until today, the atmosphere between them had been icy. He and Kera talked only the most necessary things to each other and otherwise she largely ignored him. She even closed her mind to him most of the time, which pained him especially. He would like to tell her that he found this behaviour childish, but she had vehemently blocked any attempt to talk. He had to admit that he was a little surprised about her stamina. Saiyans were stubborn after all. But in the meantime he missed her closeness. There were days when he wished he had never made this proposal to her.

Piccolo hoped that Gohan and Videl's wedding would put her in a better mood and they would have the opportunity to talk to each other, or that she would at least mellow down a bit. The fact that she was now flying close to his side and had even smiled at him, he took as a good sign.

Kera:

Gohan and Videl had decided to celebrate outside in the field in front of Kakarrot and Chi-Chi's house. This meant that many guests had a longer journey, but thanks to Bulma's help, it was possible for everyone to stay in small huts. They had built a small village not far from the house where all the guests could stay.

A white pavilion had been set up on the lawn, under which there was a table and two chairs. In front of it, narrow chairs were lined up for the guests to sit on.

Kera looked up after landing. The sky was bright blue and cloudless. Perfect weather for the wedding.

Reyak, Menka and Gine immediately ran to look for Trunks and Goten, while Piccolo and she walked up to Gohan and greeted him. Gohan was visibly nervous, kept tugging at his tie and kept looking around as he talked to them.

'Quite nervous the short one, isn't he?' Piccolo looked behind Gohan with a smile as he turned to the next guests.

Kera nodded in confirmation. She was still not completely mollified and was not yet in the mood to forgive Piccolo for deciding something without discussing it with her first.

She subliminally sensed his disappointment as she left him to go look for Vegeta. She had to admit that she missed his closeness by now and wasn't quite so sure herself if they shouldn't let Gine's powers bind. Maybe it would just be safer. But her Saiyan pride was getting in the way. Admitting now that Piccolo was right was something she couldn't bring herself to do. At least not yet.

Kera found Vegeta in the shadows of the house, where he could keep a good eye on everything, but wasn't immediately visible himself.

"Knew I'd find you in some hidden corner again."

He just shrugged and looked her up and down.

"You're wearing a dress," he remarked dryly.

"You knew that."

"I didn't know you'd look so ... good in it."

"Thank you." Kera smiled. "You look very smart too." She pointed to his suit, which was the same blue as his battle suit, so Kera and he were dressed to match.

"Hey, there you are." Kakarrot came around the corner, clearly pleased to see them. Kakarrot was wearing a classic black suit and bow tie. He had put his finger between the neck and the bow tie as it seemed too tight for him.

"Wait, I'll help you."

Kera motioned for him to turn his back to her, hovered up to him and loosened the bow tie a little.

"Better?"

"Thank you." He turned back to her. "You look so different. I don't even know you in different clothes."

"I'll be glad to get this ridiculous thing off too," Vegeta grumbled.

"Don't make such a fuss. It's nice to do something other than train for a change, isn't it?"

Neither Kakarrot nor Vegeta broke into cheers, but neither objected.

They watched on the sidelines as the final preparations for the ceremony went on.

"What's happening here now, anyway?" Kera looked first at Vegeta, who shrugged, and then at Kakarrot.

"You've never been to a wedding before?"

"No. Which one could I have been at?"

"Don't you know what a wedding is?" Irritated, Kakarrot looked at her.

"Of course I know what a wedding is. I just wanted to know how to celebrate it on Earth." Kera made a sweeping gesture to the guests, the chairs, the decorations and the buffet. "On Vegeta, we didn't celebrate it this big, at least as far as I can remember."

"Under Frieza's reign, we didn't have the chance to either", Vegeta added bitterly.

"Okay." Kakarrot cleared his throat sheepishly, as if uncomfortable that he hadn't thought of it. "We'll all sit on the chairs right there. Gohan will be in front and Videl will go with her father then to Gohan."

"Why with her father?"

"It's tradition. Chi-Chi explained it to me."

"Well, we won't do anything wrong as guests, will we?"

Kakarrot shook his head.

"This seems to be getting rather boring," Vegeta said, still seeming unenthusiastic about the upcoming event.

"Don't say that too loudly. Someone will attack us later," Kera admonished him. "It's been quiet for too long."

"Why long? Tarble hasn't been gone that long."

"Yes, I know," Kera confirmed her twin brother's statement. "But that doesn't count for me. They weren't serious opponents."

"We'll just have to keep training," Vegeta and Kakarrot said simultaneously, hiding their grins from each other.

Piccolo:

Piccolo was glad the ceremony was over and he could finally stand up. Sitting on a chair for a long time, and such a small one at that, was not something he was used to.

He looked over at Kera, who was laughing and talking to Bulma and Chi-Chi, seemingly very taken with the wedding.

"Piccolo?" Dende and Menka stood in front of him, seeming to have something on their minds. "Can we talk to you for a moment?"

They stood a little apart.

"I think Menka and I have found a way to bind Gine's powers."

Piccolo hadn't expected them to bring up the subject at Gohan's wedding and looked around in a panic to make sure no one was listening. He leaned down further towards them and spoke quietly, "Do we need to discuss this here?"

"Not necessarily, but I wanted to tell you quickly. If this method works, we need a certain moonlight to do it, which is only achieved when the moon is full, and that's tomorrow."

"Can't we just wait a month then?"

Menka nodded eagerly. "We can. We just wanted to tell you so you could ... discuss it."

"Thank you."

"What did you want to discuss?"

Kera was suddenly standing behind them. She must have seen him stand off to the side with Menka and Dende. Piccolo swallowed.

"Um... It looks like Menka and Dende have found a way to bind Gine's powers," he said cautiously.

Kera's eyes flashed angrily. "So you continued to research it? Without my permission?"

Piccolo indicated to Menka that she should quickly run away with Dende, which she promptly did. She tugged Dende along by the sleeve and mingled with the people again.

Kera's anger was now completely directed at Piccolo.

"Didn't I say I didn't want this?"

"Kera, please, let's talk about this later!"

Her hair turned golden for a moment before she got herself back under control. She gave him another sharp look, then went back to Bulma and Chi-Chi, who looked at her questioningly.

Piccolo couldn't enjoy the rest of the festivities. Once the children were in bed, he really needed to talk to Kera. If she let him.