Papa's Surprise

"Pell! Chaka! Igaram!"

"Yes sir!" Igaram responded enthusiastically. "How can I be of assistance?" The other two just stood at attention, their eyes fogged with drowsiness at the rude awakening.

"As you all know, it's my darling Vivi-chan's birthday today. And I wish to make her the most spectacular birthday party she's ever seen!"

"You say that every year, Your Majesty." Pell remarked with a kind smile.

"Yes, but this one shall be different! Even grander than last year's."

"I agree full-heartedly, Your Highness!"

"Then we shall begin preparations immediately!"

Yes, today was a hectic day within Alabasta's royal castle. Everyone from the royal city wished to assist in any way possible, offering gifts and fine materials for lavish decorations. They all loved their princes and wished her the best for her birthday. The finest foods were made and the most delicious drinks were brewed. However, there was one key element missing.

"My lord! We have yet to make a cake!" Igaram informed after several throat clearings and a "mah mah mah".

"What? No one's prepared my daughter a cake? Can you have your wife do it?"

"She's busy making sure the food for the feast is properly prepared." He reported.

"Everyone is busy doing their part to make Princess Vivi's birthday the best it can be." Pell explained.

"We all want her to be happy." Chaka interjected.

"Then...we, together, shall prepare my daughter's cake!"

Pell and Chaka gave each other an incredulous look before looking back at their king. "Uh, are you sire that's the best thing to do, your highness?"

"Of course it is! Come! We must begin preparations!"

Chaka and Pell exchanged another look. This one resembled something closer to mild trepidation, and the general feeling of 'this won't be good'.

o()o()o

"Hmm...baking a cake is much more complicated than I thought..." The king had his nose in a cookbook, a nervous sweat collecting at his temple. "What is a tsp?"

"Ah, yes, that's right. Your majesty has never baked—"

"—or cooked." Chaka added.

"—before. Are you sure you know what—"

"Yes of course I know what I'm doing!" There was a moment of contemplative silence. "Alright! We need flour, eggs, milk, sugar, baking powder, cocoa, uhm...butter...Pell. You be in charge of reading the cook book. Don't take your eyes off the page! If I see your eyes wander I won't forgive you!" The king was oftentimes childish when under stress. It was better to just simply listen to what he was saying than to argue against him.

"Alright...it's looking a little lump, but it should be fine. We've added the cocoa, flour, milk, and eggs. Now what?" The king was a mess. Even though he'd covered his robes with an apron, it didn't seem to make a difference as he was covered with several failed batter attempts. The most memorable was when they had turned on the mixer while the bowl wasn't properly locked in place, sending ingredients, which hadn't been added in the correct order besides, all over Chaka, the king, Igaram, and the floor.

"Well," Pell was too scared to look at the pandemonium, so he obediently kept his beak in the book. "Next you add baking powder..."

"Alright!" The three of them went to the cabinet and looked for the so called "baking powder".

"I don't see anything."

"Me neither."

"I have found it!" Igaram pulled out a box with "baking soda" clearly written.

"But that says baking soda..."

"But it's for baking, and it's a powder right?"

"Ah, yes. That is very true."

And so, it went on in quite the similar fashion. 'Well, it's all going in together anyways, so what's it matter the order it goes in.' 'If we bake it at a higher temperature, we can bake is in shorter time.' 'DO you bake the cake with the frosting already on the cake?' 'No, of course not, that's ridiculous.'

Pell didn't want to get involved.

After many laborious hours and hundreds of berries worth of ingredients wasted, they finally had a solid object that they could barely christen a 'cake'.

"She will be thrilled, Your Majesty!"

"Though, I must admit, I did imagine it to be slightly larger."

The mutated, crispy, black biscuit was thick and awkward on one side and thinner and cracked on the other. Not that this was visible anymore, for they piled on layers of too runny, too thick, and incredibly lumpy frosting.

"Well, we'll see..."

o()o()o

It was finally the big moment. All of the food was laid out and the presents were piled high in the corner and the decorations were perfectly placed. Now all that was needed was the princess so her "fabulously prepped" birthday cake could be revealed.

"Where's my daughter?" The king questioned for the umpteenth time. Al of the guests looked around amongst each other, hoping that someone would have the answer.

"Your Majesty." Pell flew in through one of the windows in the grand hall, which was always left open just in case something like this occurred so Pell could come swooping in. "A note from, Princess Vivi."

The king hurriedly opened it.

'Papa,

I hope you receive this letter early on in the day, for I can assume that you would have worked hard to prepare a birthday party for me if I had not told you this. I've gone out to celebrate my birthday with my friends, but I shall be home in the evening. Please do not worry, I am with good people you can trust. They can protect me if need be.

Love,

Vivi

Author's Note

In just the nick of time, I managed to pull it off~ hope ya'll like it! Though not may people seem to read/write vivi fics.

Guess who vivi was with ;P

-PD