I do not own Shaman Kings or any of its characters.

Please do not sue.

(Personal note)

About Marco. I don't know whether to A) strangle him B) give him a hug (because he is obviously a messed up individual) or C) just simply make his life a living hell.

Honestly, I don't actually hate him. In the anime, I could tolerate him. Heck I liked him in the anime, to a certain extent. But the manga version (of what I've seen so far) of him simply frightens me. Especially when he wears his short shorts (that made me want to gouge my own eyes out) and which he forces Lyserg to wear.

Please forgive any errors in this story. No one wanted to beta-read it. And if think Marco/Meene is odd, please blame my friends. I.e. saw a screen shot of Meene, saw a screenshot of Marco (shock: looking relatively normal). Combine them together and… 'wow. She looks nice and so does he. Who are they and why are they dressed the same? Are they like Jessie and James from Pokemon?'

This story takes place about twelve years in the future. Meaning Marco is 39. Lyserg is 22. Jeanne is 20. Etc.

This is an AU fic.

It was a beautiful wedding. The bride wore white, the groom dressed in black, but lacking the proverbial proud father to look on, the nearest equivalent of one would be Marco Innocenzo Testarossa glaring murderously at the groom, then shifting his murderous glare at a certain wedding guest and then looking faintly teary eyed at the bride.

"…Marco... People are normally happy during weddings," Porf informed the former captain of the X-Laws as idly picked at the plate of salad in front of him as Marco continued to glare murderously at both Lyserg Diethyl and Asakura Hao by alternating between the two in almost perfectly timed ten second sequences. Lyserg smiled nervously when Marco turned his attention on him while Asakura Hao simply stared back, looking particularly smug, sipping on a wine glass at the same time.

"I think Lyserg has got the message that if he hurts Jeanne-sama in any way, he will die so slowly and painfully that being stuck in a room with Hao the Destroyer for all of eternity would be a relief, Marco," Meene piped up as she smiled serenely at the two newly weds at the main table while keeping one hand on her right thigh holster which was home to a .38 snubbed nose revolver loaded with rubber bullets... Just in case. It wasn't quite a coincidence that Meene sat right across the table in front of Marco where she had the perfect line of sight either. Similarly, Marco was seated between the two largest former members of the X-Laws, Venstar Ryan and Larch Demantere, as a precaution. Also, a further incentive to encourage him to do anything rash, the Mother Superior and the nuns from Marco's mission were seated at another table next to them. This was all at the behest of the former leader of the X-Laws, Jeanne D'Arc... now Jeanne Diethyl.

"If I don't want to be happy at a wedding, that's my business... and will you please keep your hand off your gun," Marco requested sarcastically before he turned his steely gaze onto Meene who simply smiled back.

"Still the stoic 'Roman', Signor Testarossa. You are merely mad that I kept your time occupied while Lyserg went to propose to the love of his life. Besides you really need to relax," Meene shot back as she took picked up her glass of water to take good drink. The other X-Laws immediately tried to busy themselves with their plates. Meene and Marco noticed this quite easily.

"Might I also add that I am 'quite proud' at the other X-Laws 'great show of chivalry, bravery and honour' when we were supposed follow through with the plan, which I remind myself that I was the only one who did so," Meene drawled lazily as she gave her former comrade at arms slash co-conspirators a stern look.

"Well... hic, you seemed to be doing fine at, hic, the time," Denbat said. Though he tried not to show it, he cried throughout the entire wedding commenting how beautiful it was, to the point he was hiccupping... Much to the embarrassment of everyone else who wasn't quite sure how to handle it. The handkerchief that Cebin lent Denbat was in such a state of use, that Cebin thought it wise not to ask for it back in the end. Indeed the handkerchief was stuffed in the front pocket of Denbat's tuxedo.

"That doesn't mean I would not have appreciated some help. Where were you guys anyways?" Meene asked curious.

"Um... well, I'm not sure any more what we did on that day... I can't even remember what we had planned to distract Marco," Larch answered truthfully and looked ashamed. Marco bristled and glared at Larch on his left.

"This coming from the man who came up with the grand plan..." Meene said faintly annoyed.

"The plan was to get Marco drunk... It wasn't exactly the most inventive plan," Venstar answered as he stabbed potato on his plate. Marco turned his glare to the right, where Venstar sat before he turned his eyes to his untouched plate of food.

"So you all conspired against me! Including Lyserg Diethyl... Only Jeanne-sama was the only one who didn't betray me" Marco said through gritted teeth as he picked up his fork and knife and violently attacked his meal. Then Marco looked at all his former companions in the eye. Most of the others kept their faces calm and relaxed when they realized Marco hadn't quite figured out the reasons or person behind that particular incident or the wedding seating. It was quite unfortunate that while most could keep their face from reacting from Marco's comment, there was one person at the table who could not.

Cebin, for a brief moment, wished he still had the mask he wore in the past. That way no one could read his face as they could now but ever since Asakura Yoh had resurrected him and restored his burnt off face as it was before his run in with Hao, his face was like an open book to everyone. It was now incredibly hard to win poker matches against Larch, Porf and Denbat because he couldn't keep his face muscles from twitching every now and then during the matches when he got good hands or bad ones. Marco easily read the look on Cebin's face. The corners of Cebin's eyes twitched in a curious way which gave away his nervousness.

Marco calmly put down his eating utensils and calmly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. That single action got his glasses in just the right angle to reflect the glare from the overhead lights and hid his eyes from everyone's view.

"Is there something that I should know about?"

Usually when Marco asked a question, he sounds curious or perhaps confused. But the tone he asked the question was like the sound of hell freezing over. To understate, he sounded displeased. Additionally his glasses shined ominously, a sure sign that he was very angry.

"...."

That was the only response that Marco got as all the others kept on eating their meals.

"Are you all trying to suggest that perhaps Jeanne-sama somehow knew about your plans?" Marco asked crossly and all too calmly turned his unreadable gaze upon Jeanne Diethyl who was happily talking to Lyserg.

"Marco you can see how happy she is with Lyserg right? I mean it's not as if you can guard her for the rest of your life," Denbat said, unsubtly changing the subject.

"You're her legal guardian right? So you're like a father... that means she's like a daughter right? So think that you're not losing her but gaining a son," Porf offered.

"I don't want a son..." Marco answered calmly and mechanically began eating his meal in silence. His glasses no longer reflected the overhead glare and revealed his weary blue eyes.

"You at the very least want your daughter to be happy right? You do realize the only reason why we gave you shotgun shells for your birthday each year was because there were times you acted like some psycho overprotective redneck father who used a shotgun to keep her single... I imagine you appreciated the gift," Meene noted.

Marco looked up and glared at Meene annoyed.

"I would never presume Jeanne-sama as my daughter but yes I want her happy. This is why I haven't given Lyserg anything more than a warning not to make her unhappy." Marco decided not to comment on the shotgun reference. He was also quite frankly never going to admit that he appreciated the gift of six shotgun shells every birthday he had. It worked wonders scaring off droves of men away from Jeanne, except for Lyserg who seemed, strangely enough, more amused than frightened. Marco had developed the habit of shining up a shotgun and laying out the ammunition in the presence of perspective men as they waited to meet Jeanne.


"You mean you gave Lyserg another horrifying death threat. Not that it matters at this stage..." Meene said as she shrugged. She paid more attention to the bride and groom to ignore Marco. She completely missed seeing a blue haired man in a tuxedo stand up from his seat.

"It is my pleasure as the best man... hey!" Horo Horo began at the head of the dining table. Then he realized no one was paying attention to him. In fact everyone was busy carrying on their own conversation or eating and the bride and groom were no better.

"... Can one of you please tell me what happened in London between you?" Larch asked curious. Both Meene and Marco turned to glare at him. Everyone at the X-Laws table was far more engrossed in the brewing feud between Meene and Marco then in Horo Horo.

"No." Both snapped and looked faintly flabbergasted at the fact they were in perfect sync.

".... SEX!!!...." Horo Horo shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice carried well over the noise of people talking.... and into the hallway of the hotel where it echoed down its entire length. Many of the other guests in the hotel briefly paused in the hallway to try and discern where the shout came from. Tamao and Pilica reddened with embarrassment and Kororo bapped Horo Horo's head while everyone else finally paid attention to the best man for his speech. Lyserg didn't even seem to notice... Neither did Jeanne for that matter, Marco privately noted.

"Er... Well now that I have finally gotten your attention. I will have to ask the father.... err... guardian of the bride to propose a toast for the bride and groom... and please make it quickly as possible because the groom is currently making us all feel queasy by making googly-eyes to the bride..." Horo Horo said in a flat voice. He was dramatically trying to keep himself from gagging. Lyserg and Jeanne reddened at the comment and looked away from each other reluctantly.

"What?! I wasn't informed of this!" Marco said in a loud voice of surprise. He felt flustered as everyone eyes rested upon him and his mind was completely blank as to what to say.

"Well... Umm.... It is traditional at a wedding," Horo Horo managed to say without too much difficulty.

Marco opened his mouth to protest but the look on Jeanne and Lyserg's anxious faces, actually more of Jeanne's anxiousness more than anything else, convinced him to make an effort. Marco gritted his teeth, stood up and lifted his wineglass stiffly. He remembered all so vaguely a wedding he had attended when he was a small child in the village of Ronamorium. The toast to the bride and groom was something he remembered quite well and at the end of the toast everyone threw their wineglass to the ground and shattered it. Other than that experience over thirty years ago, he had no idea what a wedding was like.

"Er... Well then. I know that I'm not a popular man with most of you and the fact that you actually tolerated me so far is amazing. You have my thanks for barely tolerating my presence and ire for making me do this. I am proud to see that Jeanne has grown to be a woman of exceptional character and very annoyed to see she has chosen someone to be her husband. A word warning to the groom, Jeanne is perhaps not the easiest person in the world to live with when it comes to getting up in the morning. Do you know exactly how many times she's missed class in the morning because of it? Other than that she is, I can only assume still is at this point, an absolute saint... Just don't wake her up too early for hell hath no fury than a sleep deprived woman. As the groom will soon discover tomorrow morning..."

Everyone blinked... Did the infamously stiff and serious Marco make a joke at the expense of himself and his obsession/ward? It seemed too unreal to be considered. Jeanne just blinked while Lyserg looked on shocked. He all ready knew about Jeanne not being a morning person but he would never imagine Marco ever saying it out loud in public.

"So a toast while there is still time. To the lamp of love - may it burn brightest in the darkest hours and never flicker in the winds of trial. So let us toast the health of the bride; Let us toast the health of the groom; Let us toast the person that tied; Let us toast every guest in the room. So that the man or woman you really love will never grow old to you. Through the wrinkles of time, through the bowed frame of years. You will always see the dear face and feel the warm heart union of your eternal love. My greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years your love for each other will so deepen and grow. That years from now you will look back on this day, your wedding day, as the day you loved each other the least," Marco said in a slow voice so that everyone could hear and follow along.

Needless to say... everyone in the room was shocked. Asakura Hao looked impressed. Lyserg and Jeanne's eyes widened at the same time. For this was the very same man who was virulently opposed to the wedding had made perhaps the most memorable of toasts they could of imagined. Marco, in truth, had to restrain himself from adding, 'and if you hurt Jeanne-sama in any way. You will die a slow and painful death, Lyserg Diethyl, at my hands'.

With that Marco and many of the other guests lifted their glass and drank their wine. The nuns from the mission refrained from drinking but offered up their glasses. Most set the glass down again without missing a beat.

SMASH!

Marco threw his wineglass on the floor immediate after drinking and found himself to be the only guest left standing with broken glass on the floor. He cringed with embarrassment. He quickly sat right down to avoid feeling even more of an idiot.

"... You haven't been to a lot of weddings have you Marco? Most wedding guests rarely ever do what you just did any more," Larch asked trying not laugh while the other guests at the table looked at the former lieutenant of the X-Laws curiously. Many guests also tried not to snicker except for Anna who simply furrowed her brow and made a mental note to make sure the bill for the broken wineglass was put on Marco's bill and not Manta's.

"Well... That was really great but I bet that that speech was stolen from somewhere. Oh well, you wouldn't have imagined this was the very same guy the X-Laws and us had to tie up in chains and rope," Horo Horo noted and moved on with to the next toast. Marco fumed at the reminder of what had happened to him three weeks ago. He couldn't, however, feel remotely insulted of being told he stole the speech… He did steal it, so there was no point in feeling indignation over the accusation.

"Now for the groom and bride to make a speech," Horo Horo announced. Waiters went around refilling the wineglasses once more. Or in the case of Marco giving a newly filled wineglass to replace the one he shattered.

Lyserg smiled widely and stood up from his seat. He helped Jeanne to stand up besides him.

Lyserg started off his speech.

"First off... I'd like to thank Marco for not killing me and giving that fine speech at our wedding. It was hard sacrifice for him to do, I'm sure and one I am sincerely grateful for... Even if we had to convince him rather brutally to get him to agree. It is great to see all our closest friends here at our wedding... Except for Manta who is picking up the bill for dinner, is completely distraught. When he saw the guest list, with addresses in most of Europe, Japan, China as well as the four corners of the world, he was delighted, since he felt sure that most of you wouldn't make the effort to turn up. It's to his credit that you would never have guessed by looking at him that he is, in fact a broke, or rather a broken, man."

Most laughed at the thought of Oyamada Manta being completely broke. Manta could do hundreds of weddings for his friends without fail because of his wealth.

Lyserg sneaked a kiss on Jeanne which caused Marco glare at him. Jeanne spoke after Lyserg.

"I suppose I must apologize to Marco for all the stress he had gotten for the last few weeks. The news of engagement to Lyserg must have added a few wrinkles and grey hairs on him. Not too mention the events before the wedding. But I can tell you all now that I am happy beyond all belief. Thank you Pilica for being the bridesmaid and thank you Yoh for being the ring bearer. I suppose I should also apologize to all the women in the world for removing one of the better men from the market. I'm sure I won't be trading it in for a better one."

Lyserg could only grin while everyone laughed except for Marco who looked flabbergasted at how improper Jeanne sounded. It appeared Marco was not going to only get more than wrinkles and grey hair out of the wedding... He was currently eyeing the champaign that the waiters left on the table and reached over to pour into his glass. Both the bride and groom sat down afterwards and made, in the words of Horo Horo, googly eyes to each other.

"Ahh! So it's my turn at the execution block, eh? My speech is going to be short and sweet. First off, I believe we can all say we are finally happy that Lyserg had finally gotten the balls to propose to Jeanne and piss off the pedophile of the X-Laws at long last. I can remember the time when Lyserg tried to pretty much kill us all after joining the X-Laws and we mastered the Chou Senji Ryakketsu... We kicked some serious ass against them."

Marco choked on his champaign and spewed out the alcohol back into his glass.

"... Perhaps we should start fitting the coffin for the idiot," a voice belonging to Tao Ren said not too silently.

Marco glared murderously at the blue-haired Ainu while the rest of the X-Laws internally debated letting Marco rip the offending best man's head off. They decided, without even talking or looking at each other, not to… no matter how tempting it was. Jeanne would obviously not appreciate bloodshed at her wedding.

"Anyways I'm not up here for that. After hearing those two great speeches from the fa-... guardian of the bride and the bride and groom, I wonder if I can even begin to measure up to them. But who cares! Our hopes that you have a wonderful wedding and lots of sex after being disrupted so many times by everyone! And don't look so innocent Yoh. You're the one who walked in on them the most out everyone. Cheers to the bride and groom!" Horo Horo announced and lifted his wineglass to make the final toast.

Horo Horo's best man speech began and ended soon enough. It earned the Ainu unpleasant looks from the X-Laws table but other than that everyone raised their wine glass and toasted. Even Marco didn't go against the spirit of the crowd and raised his glass reluctantly for the bride and groom a final time. Though in truth he wanted to throw his glass down on the floor again and strangle Lyserg Diethyl. His hand clenched the glass tightly and his eyes burned with resentment and anger upon Lyserg… but Marco heard the familiar click of a gun's safety being removed and the shuffling sound of two very large men inching closer towards him. Thus he was deterred from murder… barely.

"And now for the bouquet to be thrown... So let's get ready to rumble!" Horo Horo crowed and watched the main floor for single women to take to it. The last time at Yoh and Anna's wedding when the bouquet was thrown all the women started a brawl to try and catch it. Even the normally sedate Tamao proved to be... rather 'desperate'? No, too weak of a word. More like completely utterly ruthless and vicious when it came to catching the bouquet. In the ended the bouquet was grabbed by three different women at the same time and caused it, for a lack of a better word, explode. It was however thoroughly entertaining to him and he cheered them all on. Though afterwards proved to be a different matter between him and the said women competing for the bouquet.

Marco simply slugged down another drink and another…. And another… He pretty much had a complete monopoly on the champaign at the X-Laws table. No one moved to deny him of the alcohol because a drunken Marco was infinitely more desirable than a murderous Marco.

"Um... Horo Horo, there's only one single woman here... Meene-san. Jun, Tamao, Pilica and Anna is pretty much engaged or going to get married in a year, already married or generally not single… And I don't think we can count the nuns from the mission or Jeanne's classmates either," Lyserg said and looked at the X-Laws table on the other side. The nuns, who were close by the X-Laws, smiled serenely and waved to the head table. Horo Horo had forgotten that the previous wedding had happened well over five years ago.

"Oh wonderful. If I can't catch the bouquet of flowers with these odds, I'll seriously consider joining the convent," Meene muttered and found that her voice traveled a bit further than she thought in the room. Everyone heard her words.

'Oh great, I hope no one tries to hold me to my word,' Meene thought to herself sarcastically. She got up from where she sat and tried to smile at Jeanne.

"Just throw the bouquet to me Madame Diethyl," Meene said and waited for Jeanne to throw it. With a nod, the Jeanne threw the bouquet in a wide arch and thought nothing of it... until at the zenith of its flight, it got caught in the whirling fan blades on the ceiling which then proceeded to tear the bouquet apart. Meene on the other hand just stood at where she was and cringed. The flowers from the bouquet rained onto the ground and laid there. Meene stood perfectly still for a moment and then quickly sat back down at her table and just tried to massage away a headache that was building.

Mother Superior Charlotte, an old spry woman of 65 years who sat close by Meene, leaned back in the chair to tip it. She came practically face to face Meene and gave a wry smile.

"When should I expect you at the convent? You know that I think the habit looks good on you," the old woman asked jokingly.

"I will then have to avoid the convent if she joins and go on that relief mission to South Africa then," Marco said as he poured himself another glass. He was beginning to look faintly red in the face.

"Really now? When do you leave? After all we can't have you looking in on us while we're changing again, now can we?" Charlotte asked. The rest of the nuns, most no younger than forty tried to bite back laughs while the rest of the X-Laws, sans Meene, looked at Marco with a look of horror. Marco reddened even more and tried to say something to defend himself.

"It's… It's not what you think! I did not peek on them! Meene help me out here! You know what happened!" Marco babbled embarrassed. His glasses shined in the light hiding his eyes again but he looked more foolish than intimidating.

"I saw nothing, heard nothing, and know nothing of the sort of sordid situation you described…" Meene answered lightly. But her smile told a completely different story.

"…Here I thought you preferred younger women," Venstar noted privately. The rest of the male X-Laws went into pseudo-contemplation.

"It wasn't like that!" Marco said firmly. The looks on the other male X-Laws faces and other guests just made him give up the argument. He looked at his empty wineglass and then at the half-empty champaign longingly. He poured himself another drink to mollify his embarrassment.

"Er… Well… Congratulations! You're going to become a nun," Horo Horo said after watching the bizarre spectacle (and hearing way too much information about Marco).

"Next is for the single men in the room. The garter is going to be thrown and the prize is the rather attractive, but unfortunately way too old for me, Miss Meene. Come on men and get your act together! If you catch the garter, you get to pull the garter up her leg and dance with her!… Actually I wouldn't mind catching the garter myself and dancing with her. For someone whose over thirty… but Tamao might get jealous and kill me," Horo Horo probably meant for most of his words to be said to said to himself. But having such a loud voice as he did and the way the room seemed to be perfect for amplifying sound, his words traveled quite a bit further than it would otherwise would. Tamao, who for the most part was sweet and reserved, had obviously picked up some pointers from Asakura Anna in the 'look of death tm' to put errant men in their place. She was currently giving one such a look to Horo Horo. Something that did not escape his, otherwise oblivious and dense, notice.

Larch, however, visibly perked up when he heard Horo Horo and his face was plastered with a slightly goofy smile which most people did not miss. Meene however did not see it as she simply buried her face in her hands in slight embarrassment and much irritation. The single men of the room stood up to take to the floor. The other tables had various male friends and co-workers of Lyserg that seemed quite eager to catch the garter and get acquainted with the only single woman in the entire wedding. Why the single male to single female, minus the nuns, ratio of the wedding was so out of whack was something no one actually considered until now. The blame ultimately rested upon Lyserg who simply just didn't know that many women and somewhat on Jeanne but she only knew nuns and a few female classmates who had boyfriends.

"I'm going catch the garter and dance with her!" Bokuto no Ryu announced in a mildly maniacal voice wrought from years of rejection from various women. Meene wondered if she could get away with shooting the one who caught the garter with rubber bullets.

"Come on Marco… You too," Porf said and snatched the champaign bottle out of the man's rather loving grasp. Most of the X-Laws cringed, held their breath and waited for Marco to explode with rage from being denied his drink.

"All right… I just need to stand in the far side of the room where I can't catch the damn garter…" Marco muttered darkly and stood up from his seat. Apparently the alcohol had done its work and mellowed out Marco. The others let out a sigh of relief. Meene idly counted the men who crowded the floor and wondered if God was making fun of her.

There were fourteen men on the dance floor and all waiting for the groom to shoot off the garter. Marco, true to his word, was in a corner of the room well away from the center. Larch deflated somewhat at the competition but looked nonetheless determined.

"Remember Lyserg, remove the garter from Jeanne with your teeth," Horo Horo reminded the blushing couple. Marco, though mellowed from the alcohol, developed a throbbing vein of anger and glared at Lyserg.

Lyserg, for his part, seemed to gleefully ignore Marco and kneeled down in front a very co-operative Jeanne who had lifted the hem of her skirt so that the task would be easier for Lyserg. Marco sputtered with disbelief and decided that the source of all Jeanne's corruption was not the imperfect world in general. It was the close association of disreputable individuals and cads like Lyserg and Horo Horo.

The removal of the garter seemed like an eternity. Lyserg slowly removed it with his teeth, his mouth indecently close to Jeanne's inner thigh and was part way down when Lyserg finished the task using his hands. The two blushed but they seemed exceedingly happy (and for the X-Laws exceedingly relieved that Marco did not fly off into a rage).

Something clicked in Marco as he watched the two and he stopped glaring. He remembered some time in his past at the village of Ronamorium. Watching the wedding, the feeling of utter abandonment coming to the fore, as the ceremony was winding down to the last act. Everyone was so happy at the wedding and laughed but not him. How old was he? Four years old at the time? He did not laugh, how could he laugh? Everyone was trying to forget about him, he was the public shame of the village. The boy everyone wanted to be rid of and to forget. The public shame of the bride and the devil cursed boy of the village… His mother's mistake waiting to be erased. She laughed and hated him. She was so much happier now that she would be free of her shame, her burden and the village curse. He was going to be sent away to Rome, a place so far away it was like going to another world to a village boy like him. One beyond his world of the spirits in the fields, the dead; the things that only he could see.

Marco looked on Jeanne and Lyserg and felt tears well up but they did not fall.

'Now I remember why I hate weddings, lucky me,' Marco thought bitterly.

There was a roar of approval and laughter from the crowd of the past, matching the wedding party of present.

Then something landed on Marco's face. A very silky, silvery something on Marco's face that vaguely held the scent of Jeanne. Marco snapped out of his stupor and stared at the garter that crowned his hair and batted his face. He almost breathed in the garter.

"That's not bloody fair! Why didn't anyone turn off the *&$%ing overhead fans!" Larch complained loudly. Larch looked devastated and Marco immediately summarized what probably had happened in his head.

The groom fired the garter in the air. The garter in mid-flight got caught in the forsaken over head fan and, instead being ripped into pieces like the bouquet, was spun around a few times before it was launched to where he was standing. In other words, it was dumb luck, sheer utter dumb luck that allowed him, against all odds, to 'catch' the garter. He was not amused at all.

"…."

Marco did not know what to say. Meene looked at him oddly. The wedding party went silent.

"There we have it folks! We have the lead man and the lead woman," Horo Horo announced.

"It's too late to run away isn't it?" Marco asked calmly but made no move to remove the garter from the perch on his head.

"Yes it is and even if you did, we know where you live," Horo Horo cackled.

Marco removed the garter from his head and seriously debated running away anyways. Meene made no move to get up from where she sat.

"Sometime within the next few minutes or this year, which ever comes first, would be highly preferable," Tao Ren dryly observed.

"Please Marco, we need someone to lead the dance with us," Jeanne said.

Meene got up from where she sat reluctantly and walked over Marco who seemed ready to either cry or run away rather than put the garter on her despite the plea of Jeanne.

"Marco? Hey? Are you there?" Meene asked as she waved her hand in front of his face. Marco noticed Meene was standing before him.

"… I loath you…" Marco stated flatly. Meene blinked.

"… I am so glad…" Meene answered in an equally warm voice.

"… Right leg…" Marco stated as he stretched the garter out and kneeled down.

"… Can't…" Meene answered embarrassed.

"Why not?"

"You know why…"

"… But this is for the right leg only. It looks weird on the left, not to mention it has got to be uncomfortable."

"… Are you being difficult on purpose to spite me or are you actually drunk?"

"A little from column A, a little from column B."

Sigh.

Meene lifted the hem of her skirt on her right thigh up where everyone could see her gun holster and the fully loaded gun. The enthusiasm of seven men who wanted to put the garter on her was reversed immediately. These men decided that they would rather not put it on her any more. On the other hand the other X-Laws, who were fully aware of Meene's habit of going around fully armed with something, were not surprised. In fact the enthusiasm of Larch to put the garter on her grew as did his despair that Marco got to do it instead.

Marco on the other hand felt completely humiliated and embarrassed. He really wished he was drunk, that way he wouldn't feel like such an idiot. Meene looked as though the situation was just as humiliating as it was for him. Most people in the crowd were quiet as they watched. After all, Meene's and Marco's 'enthusiasm' was quite evident from their brief exchange of words.

Hoping to lighten the atmosphere, Lyserg made a gesture for the band to start playing music for the dance. Lyserg and Jeanne led each other to the floor and smiled, while Meene and Marco looked as though they were contemplating jumping off a cliff rather than dancing.

"Hey, do you know how to dance?" Marco asked quietly to Meene.

"Yes… Do you?" Meene asked back.

"Yes… But I am not imitating how Jeanne and Lyserg are dancing," Marco answered. He observed the couple were a bit too close together for it to be decent.

"Fine, just keep one hand on my waist and the other on my shoulder. I'll keep mine on your arm. Let's get this over with as soon as possible," Meene said as she arranged Marco's hands on the areas she specified. Once they were done they awkwardly tried to slow dance. The danced well, very well in fact. Better than anyone in the room. It appeared that the years of ballet that Marco took went well for ballroom dancing. That and Meene was forced to study dance during her childhood.

"We're a lot better at this than I thought," Marco stated.

"I've noticed. Unusual since we are a match made in a significantly warmer place than heaven," Meene observed.

"You're no prize winner yourself," Marco muttered. He couldn't help but let his eyes wander back to the bride and groom and twitch at how indecent they both look. Meene noticed and rolled her eyes.

"Marco… They are married now. Get over it and be happy for once. You get to be their children's 'grandfather' I imagine," Meene said.

"That only makes feel older than I really am. And I'm supposed to be happy? What do I do now?" Marco asked. He looked at Meene miserably and she couldn't help but take pity on Marco.

"Three words. Take a break. When was the last time you went and watched a movie? Ate sorbet or drank coffee at a café in your free time and not between some break from work. Heck, when was the last time you gone on a date?" Meene asked.

Marco thought for a moment and drew up a complete blank in his memory.

"I don't think I have ever been on a date," Marco answered truthfully.

"… Marco… You are a very, very lonely and sad man," Meene observed surprised by his answer.

"I know."

"…I changed my mind. Let's do the next dance as well."

Meene smiled. Marco frowned.

"Why?"

"I want to keep you from drinking for as long as possible. You want to be sober enough to do the last dance in the end with Jeanne right? That and you don't step on my feet."

*****

The wedding was over and Marco thanked God, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mother Mary for that. He danced with Meene for the most part, danced a brief bit with Jeanne in the end and sat down to drink the rest of the champaign. If there was ever a time he wanted to drink himself into a stupor, tonight was the night. Of course, now he had exceeding trouble walking in a straight line but he wasn't going to admit that or the fact he needed help getting home.

The party was a blur. Events, jokes and talking were way over his heads. But he did remember having a particular interesting and enlightening conversation with Tao Jun about various incredibly painful torture techniques. He had to admit, while he was very knowledgeable of the subject, he didn't have quite the breadth of knowledge of the subject that she did and was surprised at just how vivid her descriptions of some of the tortures were.

In the end, he found himself in the company of his former comrades in arms as he exited the hotel. All who were drunk and simply staggering about talking about random items.

"I wanted to dance with Meene! Why did you hog her for the entire night Marco? You knew she was on the single woman in the entire place" Larch whined rather loudly. He leaned heavily on Marco's shoulder and hung there for a few seconds.

"It was her idea. She wanted to keep me from drinking… Long enough so I can do the dance between the father and bride bit," Marco answered, without slurring too badly.

'I am not drunk, I am not drunk. I am a bit tipsy but I am otherwise fine,' Marco chanted to himself while trying to ignore the signal from his stomach to throw up.

"That's not what I think," Porf slurred and kept his balance by leaning on a wall. Venstar valiantly and futilely attempted to keep Cebin walking towards the car waiting for them outside. It didn't help that they were, mostly, very drunk.

"I think there's something going on between you two and don't get me started on how well you two danced," Denbat announced gleefully.

Marco frowned. Larch looked angry. Porf smiled. Cebin and Venstar could care less.

"Okay! I demand to know what happened between you two in London!" Larch said angrily.

"Like hell," Marco muttered. He unceremoniously dumped Larch from his shoulder, who promptly fell to the ground. He took up a lot of space and Denbat promptly tripped over him.

"You okay?" Venstar, the only sober male X-Laws, asked.

"I'm fine… but where is Meene?" Larch asked in a daze.

"She went to have a talk with Lyserg and Jeanne I think," Cebin answered who was literally being carried by Venstar like a child.

"Here's my car guys. I'm going to make sure you get home. Are you going home too, Marco? There's not that much space in my car" Venstar asked as they all approached the extra large car waiting outside the door. He put Cebin in the back seat. Denbat followed after Cebin and took the middle seat of the car.

"No… I guess… I'll just stay here for a moment and talk with Jeanne before she leaves my life," Marco said quietly.

"Ahh… Okay then. Take care," Venstar said as he picked up Larch from the ground and stuffed him into the backseat of the car with Cebin and Denbat.

"We'll see each other in two months for the reunion right?" Porf called out happily as he took the front seat and closed the door. Venstar started the engine and sped away to drop off his friends.

"Til next time…" Marco said to himself more than to anyone. He turned around and walked back into the hotel in a languid pace. The wedding hall was empty since the vast majority of the guests retired for the night and his feet was the only sound he could hear. As he approached closer and closer to where the wedding party was he heard talking. He stopped suddenly and listened closely. It was obvious that he had come in to the middle of the conversation and was missing quite a bit of information but he heard it.

"Meene, this has got to be a joke! Did Marco know about this?" Lyserg asked angrily. It was an ugly tone, one full of despair.

A silence followed. Marco simply stood where he was and tried to make sense of the conversation.

"I don't think you should blame Marco about this in any way. I honestly don't think that he even knows about it. He's obviously too ignorant, and cares too much about Jeanne," Meene said. Marco blinked and wondered what anything had to do with him.

"I wonder now since you've told me. I have this terrible feeling that he would probably encourage Jeanne to go into the Iron Maiden anyways… Just like how you kept this a secret," Lyserg responded with venom.

"Hey now, I like him as much, or as little, as anyone else but he isn't completely without morals or compassion. Besides he's too much of a justice freak to be so secretive. Everything he does is obvious in purpose and intention. I can't say the same thing for myself though."

Marco wasn't sure whether he should feel flattered or insulted by Meene's rough sketch of his personality. The course of the conversation, plus his inebriation, made it seem incomprehensible to his brain. But he kept quiet, unsure what to say next or what to do next.

"…I thank you for the truth, Meene-san. But I am going to live for as long as I am able to. No matter what happens because I am alive and I have an entire future I want to live out. I will live," Jeanne stated with the pure undeterred conviction that drew people to her.

"Chris said the very same thing before she died. I believed her but she died anyways," Meene said quietly.

"Lyserg… Let's just go now. I want to go now. This is our wedding night, I don't want strangers listening to this," Jeanne pleaded with urgency, as though what Meene said broke something within her, to Lyserg. Marco suspected he had been sensed by Jeanne and felt immensely guilty for just standing around and listening. He wanted to tear into the room and demand an explanation but lethargy weighed down his arms and his vision was beginning to get fuzzy.

"Yes Jeanne. It is our wedding night. It's supposed to be the beginning of our future," Lyserg said gently and soothingly to Jeanne.

"I…don't think you should see us any time soon… We need time. Time to think and time to live," Lyserg said bitterly. It was a bitterness that made even Marco wince and he could only imagine how Meene must have felt being the target of it. Marco heard the retreating footsteps of two people and the sound of a door opening somewhere. Then a soft click of the door closing and silence. Marco waited and waited until.

"I don't know who you are but if you don't show yourself in ten seconds, you will be introduced to my gun," Meene said in a threatening voice that seemed quite unlike her. Marco gave a start and walked into the wedding hall. He could see the remnants of the wedding waiting for the hotel's cleaning staff to start cleaning it up. The white, red and green confetti littered the ground, he remembered vaguely throwing the pieces of paper into the air when the party 'officially' ended. The guests all began exiting in streams since Anna officially declared that the newly-weds wanted privacy but were too polite to ask everyone to leave. So she took the responsibility of kicking everyone out and when Asakura Anna orders you to do something, you do it.

Meene stood in the middle of the room with her simple white summer dress and her hand reaching for her gun. Her eyes widened as he came into view but he didn't notice her distress. He was suddenly looking at the ceiling and blinked. He had fallen, could not seem to be able to get back up again. Meene's concerned face was over his in a few seconds. Her footsteps echoed in the room.

"Marco! How much did you hear? Never mind that! How much did you drink?" Meene asked her voice hovered over the edge of panic. It wasn't every day she saw the 'Roman' collapse for no apparent reason.

"Enough to make me wonder what the hell is going on and why I just had to drink so much tonight," Marco managed to say but the world decided to black out on him soon afterwards. Thus leaving Meene with an unconscious man on the floor.

"You just had to black out on me right now of all times didn't you?"