A collection of short stories of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers.

Title: The Wedding
Character: Althea
Word Count: 824

Notes: My first fanfiction. No prompt that started it.


"You may now kiss the bride."

Before Layle could respond, Belle threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a full blown kiss.

Althea watched with a bemused expression. She could see the same look on Keiss' face.

*.*

She fought to keep her smile. Althea had cared for Layle, but it was not love. It was more thankfulness to the man who had saved her and the world she knew. Besides, she was a queen, and he was a free spirited crystal bearer. Of which she was no longer.

Belle and Layle suited each other. Belle was able to draw out the more cheerful side of Layle, while he was able to convince her to be serious. Once in a while.

The wedding had been small. This was Layle's doing, Belle had wanted to invite all four kingdoms. The wedding was held outside, with chairs pulled up in a church like setting. There were flowers everywhere. Althea picked up a white daisy. It matched her simple dress of peach tones.

A few years into her reign, Althea knew she had to be looking for a suitable husband. She had prospects, but none said love. Do queens have time to find love?

*.*

She had not left her chair, but most of the guests had. They broke up into clusters of conversation and laughter. She watched Keiss talking to a couple of older Selkies. Her gaze trailed over him. When she realized what she was doing, her eyes snapped down and studied the flower.

*.*

Yes, a suitable husband. A Lilty. An Older Lilty. Or a Yuke, that would serve her right for eyeing up one of her former colonels!

*.*

Keiss had slipped into the royal army, purchased a good position, and then turned down the high commander occupation because she was giving it to him!

But she had enjoyed having him around, she realized. His mentality was different from the people she had grown up with. For a warrior race, the Lilties were a stiff tribe ruled by customs and traditions. Selkies were a wild emotional group, almost borderline primitive at times compared to the Clavats and Lilties.

*.*

How upset her other colonels had been when Keiss was promoted! Althea remembered that they tried to get him to conform to the dress code and remove the thick beads from his hair. It made her smile for Keiss had won in the end. This had irritated the higher ranking (but shorter in stature) officers. At the time the council could care less.

*.*

She heard a chair creak and jumped when she realized someone was sitting next to her.

It was Keiss.

He wore a pair of dark slacks and a loose cream shirt. And he still had those beads in his hair. She guessed it was the closest to a Selkie dressed up.

*.*

"A coin for your thoughts, My Queen?"

"I think they would cost more than that." She added, "Since you're not part of the royal army any more, you do not have to address me like that."

"It was a requirement of your guards, before I, as they put it, 'bothered you'."

She knew her guards stood along the tree line, out of sight but not out of mind. She realized they must, in general, still trust Keiss.

*.*

He flipped a coin in the air and placed it in her palm. "A piece of your thoughts then."

The truth? Why not? "I was thinking about you."

"...and that is the only piece you are going to give me?"

"I told you, my thoughts are expensive."

He laughed. He was handsome, she mused. Not like a Clavat but something completely different. And a lot taller than most Lilties.

"Do you dance?" he asked her.

"Only the waltz."

He stood up and offered her his hand. "I could teach you one of my native dances." Althea smiled inwardly at the thought of trying one of the sensual dances the Selkies favored.

"My guards might have a heart attack, and I'm not going to be very good." But she took his hand.

He gently removed the flower that was still clenched in her other hand and tucked it in her hair. "We can fix that."

*.*

Instead of going to the dancing clearing that was full of couples, he led her to the open space in front of the chairs and before the altar. One hand holding hers and the other on her waist, he counted the steps out loud as he practiced them with her. Her pulse quickened as he spun her.

Maybe she had been looking too hard.

He was a Selkie and she was a Lilty. It was the difference between the Waltz and the Tango.

But she wasn't going to let the notion die just yet. Maybe high commander had not been good enough for him. Perhaps standing beside her would.

And she certainly was not going to "give" it to him easily.

*.*

-fin-