Authors note: thank you to my two reviewers! I hope you will enjoy this chapter. It's not so much history, more…. An exploration of a culture that many cultures have historically engaged with, when it comes to setting up marriages. Anyway, on with the show:

Chapter 2

Goku hadn't been to any weddings before, all his friends were still single as far as he knew, they told him he was too young to get married, but considering it was his grandpa who had wished him to get married at 19, he gladly obeyed. As his own was the first he attended, he supposed he couldn't make a fair judgment of how the wedding had gone. But a niggling feeling in the back of his mind said that surely the bride was supposed to be happy, not… seething with fury… had someone done something to make Chichi angry?

He wondered what it could have been, when she didn't uncross her arms from her chest as he passed her the pen after signing his name on the marriage contract, it was a messy scrawl of a signature. Chichi hadn't been looking at him as he offered her the pen, so at first he assumed she hadn't heard, but when several other people had urged her to take the pen he knew it couldn't have been a mistake. Eventually, when she could no longer feign deafness she took the pen, and almost tore the paper with the hard strokes of her name.

The feast came next, that was great, loads and loads of food, the most superb chicken, and some roast lamb from heaven. He had offered some to Chichi who was sitting next to her, she declined with a slight shake of her head which was when he noticed her looking at him. It was with a face he couldn't really explain, something along the lines of shock and nausea, so he had asked her if she was okay, after a long while that did not include a reply, he turned back to the food worried it would get cold, and didn't press the issue as he guzzled the food at his usual speed. Just as he was about to cry when the servants took away the dishes back to whatever genius they came from, they brought out mouth watering plates of cake and desert. But while he prepared his four buffet plates to gather enough of the final course of the feast, he had been made to leave the banqueting hall to take photos. Realizing that it would have upset Ox King, and not wanting to give Chichi any more reason for upsetting her further, he swallowed his whine and joined them.

He supposed that went well too, except Chichi's shoulders were still very much hunched about her ears and her arms were still crossed in front of her chest, he might have read it as a defensive stance, except she was downright glaring at the camera the whole time. The glaring got more intense when the photographer took photos of just the two of them, Goku knew he wasn't the most astute at reading people, but even he felt awkward by the emanating hate that seemed to irradiate from his bride. He tried to talk to her again afterwards when the dancers came out and performed the local wedding dances, but she remained definitively silent. Even when the wedding came to a close and they were safely enclosed in the kings chariot to take them to Mount Pouzu, his wife's glare never abated, her anger did not fade. In fact it seemed to peak when the Ox king bid her farewell with copious tears, her frame tensed, her eyes steeled and she remained silent. Could it have been the Ox king who offended her? Goku frowned, but he was her father… that didn't make any sense.

Goku decided he would talk to Chichi about it another time, maybe she was hungry, right then and there probably wasn't the best time. Despite his concern for his new wife's emotional well being, he had to admit… he kind of liked her anger, it didn't make much sense even to himself, but to be so angry for so long must mean she had a strong fire to her, it stirred something deep within him and made his chest tingle strangely. He liked the challenge to her anger. Grandpa was right, marriage would definitely be a good adventure with her, he knew he was unlikely to be bored with a person like Chichi.

The long long journey home was equally silent, Goku wished he could have used Nimbus instead, but apparently the chariot was part of Fire Mountain's tradition and he didn't want to disrespect his father-in-law, who so far, seemed to like him, and Goku liked him in return, he was joyful, kind, generous, and had a great appetite. And even though Goku was pleased Chichi wasn't of a giant stature like her father, he failed to see much resemblance between them in either looks or character. He had asked Ox King if Chichi was okay after the photography situation, the mighty king had perspired a little and replied that she was okay, just a bit nervous, which was apparently usual in these sorts of events. Goku was indeed nervous that morning, he hadn't met the woman who would soon be his bride, but when she came into the hall, in her sparkly embroidered clothes and gold in her hair, his nerves had vanished. Seeing evidence that she was a real and corporeal presence beside him had reassured him after contemplating for several weeks on the abstract idea of a bride when he hadn't yet known if she even existed.

But now, Goku did wish she would speak. The silence was getting progressively more stonier and awkward the more miles they covered. When they stepped out of the chariot, Goku directed the driver to stables half way down the mountains but insisted that he and the horses drink water before heading back on their journey. He noticed Chichi staring at him then, and for the first time it was without anger, she looked like she was about to ask him something, her lips were poised with a question, but she closed her mouth suddenly as though thinking better of speech and turned instead towards the house that had been their destination. He was a mixture of disappointment and nervous excitement, even though he would have very much liked to have heard what Chichi was about to ask, he was also keen to see her reaction to the home he had built for them.

It was a modest home, made of materials he had gathered from the nearby woods and jungle, it had a garden leading up to the front door, with windows delicately inserted (he had broken a fare few panes), and one had leaded stained glass in the picture of a dragon which he was particularly proud of. He had always looked upon this home with pride, but realized that may not have been how his new wife, who he had married in a literal castle, may feel.

"It's my home, Grandpa and I used to live near here, but that house was too small, so I built this one for us instead." She glanced at him curiously, "let's go inside, I hope you like it."

She followed him inside, Goku presumed she was probably keen to see the building too, leaving her trunks and possessions in the front garden for now.

Chichi didn't know what to expect when she entered the house, but it was warm and it comforted her. The house was more spacious inside than the outside assumed, it was sparsely furnished and plainly decorated, it screamed a desperation for photographs and paintings to bring it character, and she caught herself… to have photographs would be to make memories, and that was certainly not in her plans.

She noticed Goku was looking at her keenly, watching for a reaction, she was certainly impressed that one man had created all this but she would be damned if she let him know her thoughts. Haughtily she gave no sign of them with a turn of her head and continued moving from room to room. There was a good kitchen, with an absolutely huge fridge, a cozy living room around a fireplace, two bedrooms and a clean but simple bathroom. It felt like a cottage, and strangely to Chichi, it felt safe. But when Goku followed her into the final room to observe: the master bedroom, she was stunned when he said:

"Why are there rose petals on the bed?"

Which made Chichi glance towards the wooden bed and notice that there were indeed red rose petals on the bed, her face flamed and she didn't know if it were in mortification of anger. "Is this some kind of joke?" She replied, not knowing how else to articulate her outrage.

"Oh wow you do you speak! That's great, I was worried for a while that you just don't talk or something, but this is great, it's really nice. You have a very nice voice Chichi."

It felt like little flames were erupting from her cheeks. "Of course I can speak!" Goku just smiled back at her, delighted his wife was not a mute. "And what's the meaning of this anyway? Isn't this your house?"

"Well no, even though I built it, it's ours now."

Not knowing how to deal with such a statement of unity she disregarded it in favor of highlighting the original sin "But why are there petals on the bed? Who put them there? What's the meaning of this?"

"Gosh chichi I don't know, I guess one of the servants from your castle must have come into the room while I was gone. Someone did mention sending a cleaner here… they did a good job actually, even though I can't remember noticing any dirt before, the place definitely seems cleaner. There aren't any rose bushes nearby in these mountains, so I don't know where they came from, but don't worry, there's not many people nearby, I won't let strangers come here, it's very safe." She stared at him between his eyes trying to gauge if he were telling the truth or not, she glared at him for several moments before stating:

"If you think I'm going to do anything with you, you have another thing coming."

"Huh?" Goku was confused, what did she expect to do with him and why was she sounding so accusatory?

"I'm going to the other room. Don't you dare come in."

And with a flourish of her skirts and the smell of jasmine, she turned on her tail and stormed out of the room, making the door Goku had installed into the door frame, shake with violent rage.

Without really understanding why, a sense of deflation hit him in his stomach. It left him feeling confused and somewhat sad. He may not be very socially strong, he knew that he was very different from others considering he had lived his life alone for so long. But what he was certain of, from when he went traveling, was that married couples slept in the same room. Goku had been fascinated to learn that the parents of a family got to have the biggest room in the house all to themselves, while the children had to share one or two smaller rooms. He liked that, having a special room that you get to share with your team partner, and not being alone in the night time. He had been looking forward to sharing this room with Chichi, her sharp refusal told him something wasn't quite… normal here. But if Chichi didn't want to share, he sighed… he supposed he couldn't force her to either. It wouldn't be right and would just make things worse.

It had been a long day, maybe after some sleep, they could talk about it in the morning, but he'll make sure there were no petals left on the bed. If they upset her that much he'll do whatever it takes to banish the presence of any rose petals in the house again.

Authors note: still setting the stage for the rest of this fic. Hopefully things will be more smoother soon. Sorry for making Chichi so angry, but remember she has been forced into a marriage, and with her being a princess and having always gotten what she wants, she would never have felt acceptance to duty or to patriarchy.