Chapter 10: Wedding


Vivi yawned tiredly. She had had a rude awakening earlier when Tofu had pretty much kidnapped her and went to fit her into her wedding dress. In other words, Vivi was feeling just a little cranky.

"Nma!" Vivi yelped as Tofu poked her with her sewing needle and white fabric.

The lady-in-waiting had been stabbing her all morning, circling her like a buzzard as she asked her questions that Vivi had no time to answer such as, "Sleeves or no sleeves? Strapless? What about the veil? Silk or lace?" And by the time she was done, Vivi was in even more of a tizzy than she was when she woke up. Tofu had left almost as fast as she had come, leaving her assistants and Vivi standing in the middle of her room like a tornado had hit.

"You still need to take a bath." One of the girls reminded Vivi as she handed the bride-to-be a towel.

Vivi thanked her. "I can bathe myself." She replied as she returned to her apartment to bathe. As she slid into the bath, she felt some of her tension slipping away. She remembered that she didn't have much time though, so she washed herself with the lilac-scented soap that was already available in the dish next to the bath. Vivi barely had time to wrap herself in a green towel before Tofu burst through the door and kidnapped her again.

As Tofu dragged Vivi back to her lair, Mikey was dealing with his own set of issues. Namely, his sisters were bothering him endlessly and making him extremely nervous. Apparently Jenna had purchased him a decent tuxedo when she had received word that he was to marry. However, she had to hem the pants a little bit, so while she stabbed Mikey's ankles repeatedly, he talked to his younger sister.

"You changed your name?" He asked, clearly shocked that she would do something like that of all things.

"Yeah. I'm Lilli now." Lilli (formerly I.F.) answered with a smile.

Mikey saw an opening there. "As in Lilliputian?" He laughed.

"Shut up!" Lilli snapped, but quickly calmed down. "I wanted to cut the rest of the bonds to my original family." She answered. "It makes me sad to think about it whenever someone calls my old name, so I changed it."

"As long as it makes you happy, Lilli." Mikey smiled, but then flinched when Jenna poked him with a pin. "Ouch! Remind me why I'm letting you near my legs with sharp objects?"

Jenna glared up at her twin brother. It was known between the three siblings that Jenna was not a very good seamstress, so it didn't make much sense that she was hemming his pants.

"I'm just putting the pins in. Lilli is going to actually hem it." Jenna replied. "I can't believe you're actually getting married… my own brother!"

Lilli grinned as she confiscated Mikey's pants for hemming. "And to a sickly human we hardly even know!" She laughed sardonically as she pulled out her needle and some black thread.

"Put it this way," Mikey replied, a bit annoyed. "I could've married someone in the entertainment district or from the Inu tribe!"

The girls shuddered. "Point taken." Jenna commented.

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Vivi looked at herself in the vanity mirror after Tofu and her assistants were finished dolling her up. The blonde could hardly recognize herself at all. They had put a lot of makeup on her, starting with a tan base to even out her skin tone. After applying the base they gave her a soft pink lipstick, and then they focused on her dark eyes. If they didn't stand out from her blonde hair before, the dark eyeliner, mascara, and dark brown eye shadow on her lids definitely helped them stick out even further. Tofu had even added a sand-colored shade along her brow bones to give her a smoky look before adding just a hint of rouge to Vivi's cheeks.

However, what really shocked Vivi was the dress. The strapped dress was made of smooth white silk that came down to her ankles, and it made her movements liquid as she walked. On her hips was a subtle belt of pearls that left the skirt to ripple downwards, stitched on in order to give her more comfort as she walked. She was also wearing a pair of long gloves that covered only the first knuckle of her middle fingers. There was a veil clipping back her hair in a half-up-do, a few synthetic flowers spread on the veil's silky material. Overall, it was a relatively simple dress for a wedding. But to her, Vivi seemed like a totally different person.

"Miss Vivi, just look at you!" One of the assistants breathed. "You're beautiful!"

"Absolutely breathtaking!" Another agreed.

Vivi smiled and looked back. "Nma, you did an amazing job, Madame Tofu."

Tofu smiled at her. "Couldn't have said it better myself. Are you hungry?"

"Tofu, how could you?!" Gallifery asked as she burst through the door of her lady-in-waiting's apartment. The women bowed to their queen as she approached Vivi. "How could you send Vivi into a wedding chapel…" Her Majesty began as she pulled something out from seemingly nowhere. "…Without the proper finishing touch?"

Upon closer inspection, Gallifery was holding a pearl necklace with an impressive blue gem in the center. Vivi had recognized it on Her Majesty from when they had met before she, Mikey, and Bananas had left on their most recent mission.

"Your Majesty! Nma…"

Gallifery fastened the necklace around the bride's neck. "I'll let you borrow it for today." She whispered.

Vivi smiled, blinking back tears to prevent wrecking Tofu's hard work. "Nma, thank you, Your Majesty!"

Time had seemed to fly, because soon it was time for the wedding ceremony to start. Louis, who had just arrived at the palace that morning, accompanied Vivi down the aisle in substitute of her father. Vivi didn't mind this because she perceived Louis as an older brother, but she was too focused on getting to the altar without tripping to protest even if she wanted to.

She did a good job as she reached her place facing Mikey, veil covering her face. But as soon as the reverend started talking, she tuned out and waited for the "Do you take…" phrases to tune her back in. It didn't take too long though, because she soon heard him asking, "Captain Michael Way, do you take Vivian to be your lawfully wedded wife, to cherish an love her forever?"

Mikey smiled and turned to the reverend. "I do."

"And Vivian Sunnis, do you take Captain Michael Way to be your lawfully wedded husband, through sickness and health, to love him and cherish him for all time?"

"Nma, I do." Vivi smiled, losing a battle with the tears in her eyes.

The reverend smiled. "…I now pronounce you, Captain Michael Way and Vivian Sunnis, man and wife. You may now kiss your bride."

Mikey didn't hesitate to pull the veil back from Vivi's face and kiss her tenderly on the lips.

In the front pew, Bananas sniffled as she held Louis's hand, dabbing at her eyes. The other wedding-goers applauded. The queen would never admit it, but she felt tears coming on too as she watched Mikey scoop Vivi up into his arms and carry her down the aisle.

She had a feeling that she'd be seeing a lot more of them in the next few years. And she wasn't going to argue with the fact that there would probably be a child or two running around the palace now.

In fact, she almost liked it…

End.