Author's Note: Sorry this is posted so late in the day; the log-in system was giving me trouble. But in any case, merry Christmas to many, happy holidays to others, and happy day to the rest.
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For Us, Forever
By Leebot and Raijin Tora
Rating: K+
Chapter 1: Approach
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"Can't this thing go any faster?" Haruka demanded. The trip was only supposed to take a few hours, but it had to have already been half a day by Haruka's estimation. Though to be fair, she'd found from experience that her estimation could be off by quite a bit when she had nothing to do. Normally Yukino's private jet provided her with more than enough distractions, but this helicopter was significantly more barren.
Yukino let out a sigh. "It's going at its normal cruising speed, Haruka. We have plenty of time, and so I'm not going to burn fuel just to get there a bit faster, especially after I recommended you bring along a book to read."
Haruka let out a grunt. "It's not my fault the press airbrushed me while I was heading back to my room to get ready. That stupid rumor just won't die, no matter how many times I deny it to the public. And after all the time I spent trying to convince them it was false, I had to rush here so I wouldn't be late." She was beginning to wonder if it had been a mistake helping out Shizuru when she'd asked Haruka to help with this particular rumor.
Out of the corner of her eye, Haruka caught sight of a slight grin crossing Yukino's lips. "The public can be like that. By denying something, you make people thing there's something there worth denying. Especially when you held a press conference to specifically deny it. If you'd scheduled a press conference to deny that Earl was flat, you'd be sure to convince more than a couple people it actually is."
"Well that's dumb," Haruka said, narrowing her eyes. "It's false. Why should me saying it's false make them think it's true?"
"Well... you do have a way with how you say things," Yukino said. "You probably convinced a bunch of people you'd let the truth slip in the past and are trying to cover it up now. Most likely it's because you were so specific. If you'd simply said you didn't know the date, people might still press you on it, but it wouldn't get out of control like this."
"But I do know the date!" Haruka said. "I'm not going to lie to them about it. I can say it's a secret, of course. And it really should be a simply matter to squash a false rumor. But no, I get up there and say that Shizuru and Natsuki are not getting married on Valentine's Day in the Royal Gardens of Remus, and suddenly everyone's asking me if that's really the date. Sheesh. Shizuru couldn't have figured out a better way to keep people in the dark about the real date if she'd tried."
Yukino was suspiciously silent in response to this. Haruka glanced over, only to see her Meister biting her lips, as if she were holding back laughter.
"What?"
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People were already finding their seats in the chairs that had been appropriately lined and set up for them to witness this one-time event when Natsuki made her way towards the aisle. She stopped, taking in the entire scene before her. Folks were chatting amongst themselves as they waited for the main event to begin. It felt like hundreds of eyes would be on her and Shizuru as they both stood at the front, exchanging vows and pledging their entire lives to each other. Shinso... This was it. She suddenly found herself unable to take that next step, though no one turned to look at her. What if she messed up? What if she passed out? What if she bolted from the altar in the middle of the ceremony? What if someone objected?
What if Shizuru never showed up?
Shit shit shit... It's my own wedding day and I'm standing here getting cold feet. Get it together Kruger! All you have to do is take that first step forward. Don't look at anyone. Hold your head high and press on. You'll get through this just fine, and in the end you'll walk away with your wife.
Closing her eyes, the Second Column took a deep breath before stepping forward again. Her fears had not been expressed outwardly, and all along it had been as if she had only stopped to admire the guests that had arrived as well at the spot where she would start her new life with the one she loved.