Winter zipped up the back of Weiss' gown while she studied herself in a full-length mirror.
"Well, that makes it official," Weiss said. "I'm getting married."
"The wedding dress is a big tip-off," Willow pointed out, adjusting the train. "You actually look like a lady now."
"Mom!"
Winter chuckled. "She's right, you know. And I'm willing to bet that everyone in the church would think the same, I could bring them in to prove it."
"No! No dolts in the changing room," Weiss said. She looked at herself in the mirror one more time. The ivory dress seemed to glow in the light. If she didn't know better, she would suspect it had Dust sewn in it. "I hope everyone got dressed up. We may be Huntsmen, but it would still be a tad embarrassing if we couldn't at least clean ourselves up."
"Don't worry, everyone looks presentable," Winter said. "Except for Chief Wukong, he still dressed in his battle attire"
Weiss sighed. "Great. All I need is that idiot monkey swinging around the Church of St. Oum."
Nothing is going to ruin this, Weiss," Blake assured from the doorway. Looking at Blake, now a mature and strong woman, as close to Weiss as her own sister, no one would ever know she was the Leader of the New Faunus Brotherhood. Apparently, being the Chief Representative for the Faunus and the Head of Security for the SDC were working as well as ever. "I hope the 'no dolts in the dressing room' rule doesn't apply to me."
"Get in here and help me," Weiss said
"Are all the guests here?" Winter asked as she took a brush and started combing her sister's hair
"Sienna is here," Blake said as she eyed the bouquet of white roses. She's wearing a fur coat. At least I think it's a coat. I could have sworn I heard it growl at me."
"Wow," Willow said. "Jaunthan made it. Ghira's here with Kali, too. Ren and Nora are there with the kids, Neo and her boyfriend, Cinder-you know, the regular bunch-oh, Qrow."
"Qrow! He came? We haven't seen him in ages," Blake said.
"I saw him. He cleans up quite nicely," Willow said.
"He's hot," Winter said.
Everyone looked at her in disbelief.
"What?" she cried defensively. "He is!"
Weiss nodded. "Anyone else?"
No one said anything. Weiss thought she saw a look pass between her mother and sister. "There was no way to find her."
"Who?" Weiss lied.
"You know who we're talking about. We tried," Blake explained. "She's just hard to track down. We tried every connection the SDC and the Brotherhood had."
"Well, I don't want her here anyway," Weiss said. "She'd just make it all about her and ruin it for me. She'd probably do something childish too. It's for the best."
"Weiss, you're not thinking about her, are you?"
Weiss hadn't seen "her" in almost five years. Of course, she was thinking of "her." However, she knew for certain that she shouldn't bring "her" up now.
"No!"
"Good, because you're marrying Neptune today. You need to be sure." Winter lectured.
"Oh, you're giving me relationship advice? How many hearts have you step on this year?"
"I denied them because they were not right for me," Winter said. "Most of them were too-"
"Weak? Winter, there's nothing wrong with weak. When Jacques was still in power, we were all weak before him but now look at where we are."
Winter chuckled. "Well, that was the price we paid for the choices that we had made."
There was a knock at the door and then it opened. Ironwood entered, smiling.
"Director?" Weiss asked.
"You look so beautiful," he commented
"He's been begging to see you all day." Willow said, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "I kind of like this side of him."
From the open door, the sounds of a pipe organ floated into the room.
"It's Showtime," Winter said, handing Weiss a bouquet of white roses.
Weiss checked herself one more time in the mirror. She actually did look like a beautiful woman-not the most beautiful, but beautiful nonetheless. She took a deep breath and smiled. Today was the start of a new adventure. Neptune was exactly the tall, handsome, breath of fresh air that she wanted, and together they would build a nice, smooth, happy life.
"Weiss?" Ironwood said. "It's time."
"I wish Jacques were here," Weiss said.
Ironwood took her hand and together they walked to the back of the church. "I'm sure wherever he is, he's sending you his blessings and wishing you the best."
Weiss cracked a smile at the thought. She shook off her nervousness and took a deep breath. Neptune has become a fine man. He's kind and loving and handsome and a breath of fresh air. A wondrous breath of fresh air. He's the kind of man that she want beside her during the hardships of the SDC. She need him. He'll kept her sane.
And then she walked into the church and through a sea of smiles. There were many faces she hadn't seen in years, and new faces she suspected masked more familiar faces. One man sat quietly muttering to himself-ah, Oscar. Flynt and Katt, Emerald and Mercury sitting next to Cinder and her service wolf-even Taiyang had made it out from Patch, and there, in all his stubby glory, was Klein. As she passed, he smiled and said, "Nicholas would be so proud."
And on the other side of the church, there were more economical people-Atlas People-who had no clue that they were at a wedding with warriors. And at the altar was Neptune, his blue eyes gleaming. He had shaved his goatee for the day. It was funny to see him without it. She barely recognized him.
The minister smiled down at her. "Who gives this woman to be married?"
"I do," Ironwood said, and placed Weiss' hand into Neptune's. It felt warm and comforting. Ironwood nodded approvingly and joined Winter, Willow, and Whitley in the front pew. Her brother, who was no long a child nor a prick, standing nearly six feet tall, grinned and winked at her.
"Marriage is a journey," the minister said. "A walk down a long, twisting road. Some days the path is clear and bright, and others, murky and mysterious. There are many bends in the road and more than a few crossroads. Today, the two of you take a road together, hand in hand, promising to tall here and Oum himself that you will not let go of each other. Before we start, it is customary to ask the congregation to witness this unison. I ask those gathered here, do you promise to support this marriage, in good times and bad, to help this couple down their road whenever possible?"
Weiss turned to look at the audience just as they all said, "We do."
The minister smiled. "Very good. It is also customary to ask those gathered if anyone can give cause or reason that this unison should not take place. If anyone objects, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Weiss cringed and looked out to the crowd once more. But no one rose. No one spoke. No one acted childish. She was not there. She was not going to ruin her wedding. So why was she...disappointed?
"Very well," the minister said. "I believe the bride and groom have written some vows they would like to share with one-"
He was suddenly cut short by a bright light above the crowd. Everyone craned his or her neck to see what the commotion was, but Weiss didn't have to look-she knew.
When Neptune's side of the church gasped and screamed and rose from their seats, she sighed. When Taiyang and Qrow began to grin, and when Winter started to chuckle, Weiss did not have to look up.
"It's-it's an angel," the minister said, falling back in shock.
"Hardly," Weiss muttered.
And then "the angel" floated down before her, with wings of silver glowing behind her. She was a woman. No longer a child. And she was gorgeous.
"Hello, Weiss." she said with a wink of her silver eyes that infuriated Weiss, but not enough to stop her from grinning.