"Yunie, what time is it?"
"Don't worry," she laughed, checking the clock on the wall. "You still have about half an hour." She smoothed down the golden dress she was wearing, obviously nervous herself.
"It's nearly time already!" Rikku gasped, butterflies swirling in her tummy, feeling somewhere between sick and bursting with excitement. It seemed as if she had been dreaming about this moment for a long time, and now that it was fast approaching she could hardly believe it was real.
Rikku examined her reflection in the long mirror; her long, strapless dress swept around her, enshrouding her in a haze of pearly glow. The corset was a soft blue, with golden lace that fastened it together at the back and delicate patterns of gold swirled in gracious spirals. Rikku had fallen in love with this dress; after only five minutes of shopping, it had been an easy trip. Yuna was persistent to keep looking, but nothing else could compare to it, and so Rikku got her dream dress. Every head will be turned in her direction! As she noted her appearance, Rikku thought her dress glowed. Or was it her? She smiled widely and teased out her hair a little more; for the first time in a while, her golden locks were free, and they framed her face beautifully.
Satisfied, Rikku turned to face her two bridesmaids – both dressed in gold – and beamed for the first time in an hour or so; there had been faces of panic, worry, fearfulness, but this is the first time she truly smiled.
"How do I look?"
"Radiant," smiled Yuna, clasping her hands and tilting her head.
Paine – who was anything but pleased that she had been forced into a dress – looked solemn for a moment, before smiling slightly and replying: 'Beautiful.'
None of them moved; Rikku twisted her body slightly left and right, in a sort of hypnotic movement, feeling slightly awkward. There was something about being the centre of attention that Rikku found nerving; she had to remember so many things that it seemed impossible to get through today and look graceful while doing so. But once that part was over, everything else would be easier, surely?
"Are you nervous?" Yuna asked, seemingly reading her thoughts. Her smile had faded a little, as though sensing something wrong.
"Kinda," Rikku shrugged. "But mostly happy. Really happy. I just want everything to go right and be perfect."
"It will be!" Yuna cried enthusiastically.
"Unless the groom gets cold feet," murmured Paine, folding her arms haughtily.
Yuna gave her a wearisome, but also slightly amused, glare. "Why must you always be so negative?" she asked.
Rikku, however, giggled. "Oh, Yunie, you know she's always like that! Even on her own wedding, she'll be all doom and gloom!" However, nestled deep within the smallest part of her heart was the slight doubt of him not showing; just one of the things that could go wrong. Could Gippal give up his bachelor lifestyle to settle down and have a family?
"You're right," Yuna nodded, smiling. "Paine, you should stop being so miserable otherwise no one will want to marry you!"
On any normal day, Paine might have taken serious offence to a comment like this. But, Rikku knew, today was an exception due to the joyous occasion that was about to take place. "Who'd want to marry?" she threw back, though with little venom. "To be tied down, to do a man's bidding."
"How can you say that?" Rikku scolded, though was amused at Paine's cliché vision of how married life was like. "Being married is so romantic! Loving one person all your life, promising to stand by one another forever! To live happily ever after is everyone's dream!"
"A fool's dream," Paine replied, flatly, though a smirk danced upon her lips. "The minute you say 'I do' a ball and chain is slapped on your ankle."
And the three of them continued to bicker and chatter like old times until they had to rush off to the ceremony.
"Wait! W-we're not really for you yet!" Baralai stood with his arms flung open, blocking the way to the Besaid beach. He wore smart, dark green robes with a small New Yevon symbol blazed subtly on his chest, but his face looked worried and harried.
"What's the hold-up?" Rikku asked, butterflies fluttering nervously around in her stomach; her special moment was only moments away. Baralai glanced anxiously at her, his pale eyes gazing at her dress; there was an unreadable expression etched into his young face. He ran his hand through his pure white hair, before beckoning Paine to one side to chatter in harsh whispers.
Rikku, confused above everything else, peered round the natural rock formations that rolled onto the beach, glimpsing rows of people facing away from her – dressed smartly under the brilliant sun – soft white and sky-blue flowers wound around the archway at the end of the make-shift aisle, and there at the front stood an extravagantly dressed priest to conduct the marriage. But there was something missing...
"Where's Gippal?" she cried aloud, frantically looking from the empty spot at the altar to Baralai, who looked like he had just seen a ghost. There was no mistaking the suffocating silence that hung on the air between the four of them; by the look on the Praetor's face, something was definitely wrong.
"Where is he?" she yelped. Several people sitting in the rows of seats turned to look in their direction, distracted by her high pitched squeal and just as confused as Rikku about the absence of the groom.
Baralai hurried over to the bride, talking in the same calm reassuring voice he used to install peace. "We don't know where he is; he said he forgot something back at Besaid village but he never came back."
"Have you sent someone after him? Maybe he's been attacked by fiends!" Yuna exclaimed, looking desperately from Baralai to Rikku to Paine. It was painfully obvious that Yuna was making an excuse for him, but nothing could quell the resentment and distraught welling inside her.
Rikku's body was numb; it was as if she had been submerged into an icy pool of water, but she hadn't come back out. There was nothing she had ever felt in this life that came close to what she was feeling now. A dull sensation similar to the heaviness of lead was now rushing into her body; she felt weighed down by her own shock and sorrow. Surely, Gippal's leaving meant he didn't want to marry her; he had lied and chickened out, and she was left feeling the fool. Rikku couldn't move, and as a result she was becoming more embarrassed than ever as Baralai and Yuna discussed the groom's absence in urgent whispers, giving her sympathetic glances every few seconds.
With all the effort she could muster, Rikku pulled herself away from what was meant to be a joyful scene and ran back to the village. She didn't look back; she didn't want to see the shocked, understanding faces of Yuna, Baralai and (especially) Paine, or see the scene which had gone wrong before it had begun. Her ears deafened the shouts of her name, and only heard her head scream the truth of what was happening on her special day.