Me: Tadaaaaaa! Another side story!

Mana: Of course.

Me: Yep yep.

Setsuna: Alright, Give'em the back story.

Me: My cousin just got married today. So, I got to thinking about Setsuna and Konoka's wedding. Teehee.

Mana: *grins evily* Good idea.

Setsuna: I hate both of you.

Me: Love you too.

Mana: Now lets begin this on a good note, children.

Me & Setsuna: Fine. I'm sorry.

Mana: Good. Now lets get on with the story.

"HowdoIlook?I-Ismyuniformlookalright?Noanimalhair?"

"For the last time, YOUR UNIFORM IS FINE. Stop fretting, you look great Setsuna. We're proud of you. Very proud."

"You sure?" Setsuna breathed out, turning around shakily from the oak mirror to face her friends. They nodded in unison. "Just think, Setsuna, you'll be married soon!" one of them soothed, patting the uniformed girl in front of them on the back. "Thanks, Kaede, Mana. I'm glad you guys are here with me." Setsuna replied, all signs of nervousness disappearing from her handsome face. She grinned, patting her comrad's hand, still on her back. "We're happy we can be here, Setsuna." Kaede stated, stepping forward to fix a tangled metal, laying inches above clothed breast. Kaede chuckled, sensing the anxiousness the young Lieutenant-Colonel was feeling. Setsuna smiled sheepishly, but it soon spread to a love stricken grin. "I'm so happy. I can't wait. I've waited so long for this." Setsuna whispered, eyes gleaming with happiness. Mana chuckled, shaking her head "3 years. Has it been that long since the ball?"

Kaede smiled, carefully raking the silk, smooth, black locks over onto Setsuna's shoulder, "I guess it has, wife." Mana smiled also, reminiscing on her own wedding day. It had been a wonderful ceremony, leading up to an even better honeymoon. "Yuck." Setsuna said, playfully sticking her tongue out. "Hey, 2 years from now you'll be 'Do you remember our honeymoon, honey? I do. I always will. It was the best day of my life.'." Mana scolded, pulling the top of her dress up. It was a black, strapless dress, ruffles running around it. Mana would have preferred to wear her uniform, but her wife/husband (They weren't sure who wore the pants in their relationship) had begged her not to, saying a dress would look great on her. After all, it was a rare occasion that Mana wore a dress.

"And you'll be just like us." Kaede grinned, breaking away from her higher ranking companion to plant a soft kiss on her beloved's cheek. Setsuna smiled and shook her head, turning back to the mirror. Mana smiled, returning the kiss to the slightly taller girl's cheek, while wrapping her arm around a uniformed waist. Lovingly, Kaede leaned her head on Mana's head, wrapping her arm around her waist pulling her closer. "Hey," Setsuna said, nervously pacing in the enclosed room. "But what if she gets cold feet? What if she doesn't want to marry me anymore? " Rolling their eyes, the reply came in unison, "She showed up for the first date, didn't she?" The captains giggled, eyes meeting in the mirror. Kaede couldn't help but smile, who couldn't with the most gorgeous person in the world by their side? "But, that could be arguable to someone." She thought, carefully analyzing the fretful girl, chewing on her lip, as she paced around the carpeted room. "Stop that, you'll wear a hole in the carpet if you keep doing that!" Kaede gently scolded, wanting her friend to calm down a little.

Outside, the hustle and bustle of excited bridesmaids and grooms could be heard, as they hurried back and forth. There was the muted thuds of tennis shoes, yes, tennis shoes. It had been decided by the bride that the bridesmaids would be wearing black Vans, with neon blue laces. This definitely would be a wedding that broke away from tradition, and it would all be recorded by the father of the bride, the military's own, Eishun Konoe.

Eishun was ecstatic, happy his little girl would be marrying someone as amazing as Setsuna. Though this was often a fact told to him by his cheerful little girl, no, his now grown-up daughter. Yes, she had grown up fast, physically and mentally. She was no longer the tiny, bubbly, headstrong little girl, the one who had avoided omais by hiding in the spacious gardens of flowers, planted by his wife, now passed. She was no longer a teenager, putting up fights whenever she had to go to an omai, then angrily stomping off to her room. Yes, his little Konoka, had grown up.

"Daddy, do you think this looks okay?"

Snapping out of his revere, he looked up, to meet sparkling pools of chocolate brown, just like his wife. "I'm sorry, sweety. What did you say again?" Eishun said, a smile spreading to his face as he watched his daughter tug at her dress in random places. "She must be really nervous. Were we this nervous, Murasaki?" Eishun thought, questioning his deceased love, his hand coming up to stroke the stubble of hairs growing of his chin.

The young woman before him sighed, obviously irritated with her dress. In fact, it was modeled after the dress she had worn to the military ball, where she had met her most beloved friend. And now, soon to be her husband. "Daddy, my dress isn't...cooperating." She huffed, plopping to the floor. Meanwhile, Eishun chuckled from his chair, "Stand up, lets fix it. You do know though, she wouldn't care if you came out wearing a box, right?" Konoka smiled, standing up while sighing dreamily, "I know, daddy. Set-Chan thinks I'm beautiful, no matter what I'm wearing."

Eishun smiled, "I'm happy you two met. I had been trying to find someone for Setsuna and you for a long time. I guess I never thought about putting you two together." He sighed, standing up to help his daughter get ready. She giggled, twirling in her blue Converse, laced up with black strings. "You should've thought of it, daddy. Life would have been much easier." Konoka stood still, smiling up at her dad, who was smiling proudly down at her. Eishun stepped back, taking a moment to overlook her.

Konoka twirled around on the balls of her feet, her dress twirling around her knees, revealing smooth tanned legs. Eishun chuckled, looking down at her Converse clad feet, but then again, she was her mother's daughter. She had to be different than others, it was just who she was. With a somber expression, Eishun let his eyes glide back up to his precious little girl's face. She still possessed the same chubby cheeks she had when she was just a child; the tiny little button nose, which Setsuna said was adorable. In fact, the dress had been designed by his, unsure what to consider her as, son-in-law. Setsuna had spent months away from work, laboring over a blank sheet of paper, trying to come up with a dress. "She did a good job." Eishun mumbled, tugging one of the ribbons that was sewn on Konoka's breast. "She did a wonderful job. That's my Set-Chan." Konoka muttered fondly, butterflies taking flight in her stomach suddenly. Suddenly, Konoka felt nervous, she needed more time. If only her daddy had woken her up earlier! But no, he had decided Konoka deserved a little extra sleep, as she had been up all night with her closest friends, talking excitedly about the wonders marriage would lead to. So, the young princess had woken up later than she had hoped. Which had kicked her nerves into high gear. Plus, she hadn't seen Setsuna all day, and it was pure torture. Konoka frowned, clucking her tongue nervously. Cautiously, she took a step back form her father to the mirror, placed for her convenience in the locked room, in case Setsuna would try and peak before the ceremony.

Konoka ran her fingers through her chocolate brown locks, biting her bottom lip. She had a feeling, it was almost time.

-knock,knock-

"Setsuna, Mana, Kaede, it's time. Get out here. Setsuna, your new family wants to see you."

"We'll be out in a minute, Cindy." Mana replied, somewhat nervously. Cindy was an American relative of Setsuna, in fact, about 50 percent of her family was American. Which often influenced her lifestyle, which was about to change. "You ready?" Kaede asked, taking Mana's hand in her own, her cap in her other hand.

The groom paced endlessly, a darkened place starting to form in the carpet. The sun was slowly creeping into the room, casting troubled shadows over her face. She didn't seem to hear the knock at the door, signaling that it was time; time for forever to begin. Setsuna kept pacing, running her fingers through her hair. Finally, she stopped, "Huh? Is it time?" Setsuna asked, licking her lips, somewhat chapped.

"Yes. Are you alright?" Kaede asked, voice filled with concern as she looked over the handsome girl before her. Setsuna let a slight smile spread over her face, "Yeah. I'm ready, but just a little nervous." The already married couple laughed, "It won't be bad. Oh, Setsuna, you and Konoka wrote your own vows. Did you write them down?"

"N-No. I m-memorized them." Setsuna stuttered out, it was uncharacteristic of her to be so nervous. She had handled press conferences, public speeches, discussions, everything that involved speaking in front of numerous people and news stations. And yet, this wedding bothered her? The reason was simple, there was that one person that changed everything. The one person that this had to be perfect for, Konoka Konoe. The soon to be, Konoka Sakurazaki.

This is where Setsuna's nerves came in, pretty much her whole family was there, both military and blood, Konoka's too. She didn't want to make a fool of herself at the alter. "If only I had...just a little more time to go over everything.." Setsuna thought, turning to face the mirror. Carefully, she smoothed any wrinkles out of her uniform, ignoring the chuckles coming from behind her. Taking a deep breath, Setsuna stepped back from the mirror, so she could get a full view.

As requested, Setsuna had worn her 'Mess' dress uniform. Which required her to move all medals and badges to the brand new uniform. Setsuna puffed her chest out, watching in satisfaction as the soft velvet uniform rose, the medals clinking quietly. Their weight felt odd, on this unused uniform. It was a new one, she would be modeling a test version for her wedding. Setsuna liked it, it was more similar to the Marine's uniform, which she was quite fond of, her cousin being a Marine after all.

Her jacket was black, with blue threads running up the sides, signifying that she would be marrying royalty. She still couldn't believe that Konoka was actually a princess, not that she didn't believe she was. Konoka was Setsuna's princess, soon to be her queen. From the moment she had proposed, they had been swamped by Kazumi Asakura, the reporter had resulted in this somewhat larger than planned wedding. Setsuna had planned to only invite her family, American and Japanese, and Konoka would invite her closest family members, but when Kazumi caught wind of their engagement, she had to tell everyone. It was in the past though, Setsuna would not let it stand in the way of her marriage.

Critical eyes skimmed over the mirror, not wasting any time at picking hair off her uniform, or tugging some of the wrinkles out. Rolling her shoulders, Setsuna watched the Marlow Bullion mess knots on her shoulder rocks back in forth, their golden color shimmering in the sunlight. She made sure all medals were laying untangled, every button buttoned. Her hat was laying on a chair, she wouldn't need it. She would put it on after the ceremony, then they would go to the reception.

Setsuna took a deep breath, carefully tugging on the white belt fastened around her mid section. Making sure it wasn't too tight or loose, she moved on to her arms, laying forcefully to her side. Stitched to her fore arm was her insignia, sewn in intricate gold and red thread. On the cuffs, there was an embroidery, of golden leaves, twisted around her wrist. Satisfied, Setsuna moved on to her dress pants, a dark navy blue, slightly baggy at the ankle, but tightened at the hip. On the sides, there was a single neon blue stripe, matching the threads on her jacket. Her shoes wouldn't have to be checked much, they were a shiny black, only having to be checked for scuff marks.

"Lets hope you don't forget them, like Kaede did." Mana said, smiling at the memory of Kaede standing at the alter, dressed in her uniform, blushing because she had forgotten them. Kaede chuckled, "Yeah, it wasn't pretty." She added, slipping off her gloves, since she was the best man and ring bearer she wouldn't need to wear them. Sighing happily, Kaede slipped away from Mana's warm embrace to pick Setsuna's cap up, swiping away hairs that had settled on the white felt cap. "Are you ready?" Kaede asked, tucking the small hat under her arm, while slipping a hand to a brass door nob.

The butterflies in Setsuna's stomach flipped, a lump was beginning to form in her throat. There was an unsettling feeling in the base of her stomach, chills ran up and down her back. They had rehearsed it last night, she shouldn't be this nervous. "Y-yeah." She choked out, taking a crab step away from the mirror. Mana smiled, thumped Setsuna on the back, and pushed her out of the enclosed room for good measure. "Lets go then!"

Me: I SWEAR, this will be the last side story I do! Haha

Mana: Whatever. You'll end up writing something else.

Setsuna yep.

Me: *sweat drops* Alright alright. I have a few more chapters for this. Goes all the way till the honeymoon. I'll have the next chapter of Strike a Pose up by...the weekend. I have most of this typed up, but in one file it was 13 pages. *sweat drops again*

Mana: Well then..

Setsuna:*Cough*Nerd*cough*

Me: HEY! SHUT UP!

Mana: LALALALALA GOODBYE

Me:...bye *pouts*

Setsuna: Bye. Remember to review.