Epilogue
Smiling joyously, Chichi felt as if she was floating on a cloud as his strong arms held her close, guiding her through the dance's slow steps and carrying her away to a world of their own. In the back of her mind she could feel the heated stares of the joylessly glowering crowd, yet she paid them no heed. This was her day, at last, the day she had been waiting for all her life. She would not let them spoil it for her now.
She could feel his breath creasing her cheek, glancing up she saw him smiling warmly down at her. She smiled playfully back before leaning up to whisper in his ear. "Everybody is staring at us." She whispered so that only he could hear.
"Let them stare; I've waited a life time to hold you like this, I don't care what they think so long as I have you in my arms." She could feel herself blushing at the suggestion and quickly rested her head against his chest so he wouldn't see as they drifted round the dance floor. It had felt so strange to be dancing again. As a girl she had always loved to dance and her father had been happy to indulge her, paying handsomely for instructors to come to their kingdom in the mountains and teach her all they knew. She had dreamed of the day she would lead the first dance of her wedding, in the arms of a great lord from a distant land and serenaded by the grandest orchestra.
Then she had met Goku and the direction of her life changed. Dancing had become martial arts, and that great lord had been overshadowed by that strange boy with a tail who rode a cloud and came into her life so unexpectedly before vanishing again, never lingering so say goodbye. He had dominated her thoughts for so long that she forgot all else, until the day they were married and she recalled a distant childish fantasy. They had been married at the World Martial Arts Tournament, the ceremony had been small and lacking any grandeur, but there had been a floor to dance upon. Goku had resisted, forced her to lead, and stepped on her feet with every other step before pushing her away, complaining that dancing was stupid.
Trunks had made no such objections. Though he'd tried to keep it a secret, she knew he'd been secretly taking dancing lessons for the past two months so he'd be ready for today, when they took their first dance as husband and wife. He had wanted the day to be perfect.
And it had been the most wondrous day of her life.
They'd both felt a chapel would have been inappropriate, so instead they'd arranged a more lavish ceremony along the banks of the Five-Flower Lake where they were married before, as over half the number of guests could fly around the world in a matter of moments, moving the so called celebrations to a five star luxury hotel, a bit closer to their new home in Florence. There they'd drank and toasted and cut a ten-tier wedding cake, all the while doing their best to ignore the stark, disapproving looks of most of their guests. It was no secret that their relationship had been met with a frosty, almost hostile, reception by most of their friends and family.
Opening her eyes as she felt Trunks take her hand and spin her like a ballerina, she couldn't help but giggle as Trunks pulled he close. There wasn't a sliver off light between them as he dipped her back before bending down and nuzzling the hollow of her throat. "What do you say we get out of here?" He asked as the band accompanying began to go quite, his hot breath ticking her bosom through the lace of her gown.
"Mmmm...that sounds wonderful."
Flashing a knowing smile, he helped her back up before taking her to her seat as he went to announce their impending departure. Having already finished her cake, she quickly drained the orange juice in her champagne glass before taking his arm as they left the white dressed ball-room through its glass doors and stepped out into its lavish gardens. It was early autumn, the air a pleasantly cool and she could taste all the rich flavours of fall as they walked down a quaint cobble stone path to a glassy clearing beside a shallow creak. It wasn't yet seven so the sun was hanging low In the horizon and the darkening sky was streaked with pink and pale orange.
Slowly their guests began to follow them down. Bulma and Vegeta were the first to approach. Though ten years her senior, her new mother-in-law had made every effort to defy the years and look resplendent in a gown of flowing blue silk while her husband wore what must have been a newly fashioned panoply of Saiyan battle-armour over a black spandex bodysuit.
Smiling broadly, Bulma embraced her in a tight hug before kissing both her checks. "You look so beautiful Chi, I'm so sorry for the way I've been acting. I really couldn't have hoped for a better daughter-in-law." Vegeta could only smirk triumphantly as he watched them, to the surprise of most he had been one of the few to not object to their union, marital or otherwise. However it for want of his son's happiness rather than to his mind, Trunks taking Goku's wife put their rivalry to an end, in his favour.
Smiling, Chichi quickly said goodbye to her friend before turning to see Gohan coming towards them with a heavily pregnant Videl on his arm. Though somewhat less enthusiastic about the situation than Vegeta, Gohan had witnessed first-hand how unhappy she had been at times and now only wanted her to be happy. As both the best man and the maid of honour, the couple had made every effort. Despite approaching her eighth month of pregnancy, Videl wore a gold, emerald studded tiara in her raven hair and an elegant turquoise gown that had fluttered around her as she'd danced, Gohan had dressed in a matching shirt and Armani suit. They were both sweet and kind; both embraced her and kissed her lovingly before saying they'd had a wonderful time. Neither said what had been on their mind nor commented on who was missing. Chichi loved them all the more for that.