I stood as Katara, Sori, Mom, Aya, and Tilee helped me get ready. I looked down at the long white dress, and felt the butterflies in my stomach once more.

"How's that? To tight?" Mom asked tightening the back of the dress.

"No that's fine." I replied.

"Turn around," Tilee said

I obeyed and turned, I could see into the mirror again. I hardly recognized the girl I saw. My hair was grown out again, I was in a wedding dress, and there was a smile on my lips. I looked at the others. "Well?"

"You're gorgeous!" Sori exclaimed! Katara nodded in agreement.

Mom was fighting back tears and the others were just smiling. "You're so grown up…" Mom said smiling at me. I returned her smile and then a knock came at the door.

"Who is it?" Aya asked walking towards the door.

"Me," Came Nero's voice from the other side. "They sent me to find out if you were ready yet."

Aya opened the door and Nero and I locked gazes. He was in a tux, and looked rather handsome. "Hey Nii-san." I said smiling at him.

He gave me a warm smile in return and, after exchanging a glance with Aya stepped into the room. The others left to give us some time. He took several steps closer, "You look amazing."

"Thanks," was all I could say…there was a lump in my throat…I knew that after today, I wouldn't see him every morning when I walked through the house. I was really trying not to cry, but it was hard. So to keep him from seeing I hugged him, he wrapped his arms around me and held me to his chest. I guess he was having a hard time with that fact also. We pulled away after a minute or so, my eyes were shimmering and I noticed his were as well.

Mom opened the door slowly…"May we?"

Nero turned to them, "Of course," he said stepping away from me, but he didn't leave. Mom embraced me and father wrapped his arms around us.

"You've grown up so fast…" mom said, several tears running down her cheeks. "I'm going to miss you."

I smiled, and by now there were a few tears on my own cheeks. "Haru and I won't be far, and we'll be over plenty I'm sure." Ada and I simply shared a glance, that's all we needed. "Thank you." I said looking at him. "All of you," I said now looking at mom and Nii-san also. Nii-san came over and joined the hug, we pulled apart after a minute or so had passed. Mom and Ada left and Nero waited for me to finish getting ready outside. I opened the door and walked out with my bouquet in hand. He smiled once more and took me up to where father was waiting outside the main room of the church. The doors opened and despite all the people in the room, my eyes focused solely on Haru. He was in a tux standing at the altar, our eyes met and the butterflies disappeared as he smiled. Father walked me down the aisle to him and then I took my place across from him. The boys were all standing behind Haru. Eric was best man and Nero was beside him, then came Demo and Tysen. Katara was my maid of honor and Sori stood next to her. Haru and I weren't having a huge wedding. It was pretty much just family. But that was actually a good number of people. Haru and I said our vows and Shikyo brought the rings out.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Haru lifted the veil from my face and we kissed, then we just embraced each other. There was applause from everyone present, and then we all went outside (it's spring) for the cake and to just visit. Our cake was a simple white double layer. Haru and I cut in and then took two pieces and prepared to feed it to one another…then we smirked and turned around, I smashed mine in Nero's face and Haru got Katara……and then there was a cake fight. By the end of it everyone weather they had joined or not had at least some piece of the cake on them…thankfully Haru and I had guessed this would happen and had a second cake to eat. After that we cleaned up a bit and then it was time for my dance with Ada. It was almost Twilight by now, so we turned on the white lights set up in the clearing we were in. Stealing Music began to play so Ada and I began to dance.

"I'm proud of you." He whispered as we danced.

I smiled. "That's all I could ask for." I replied. As the song ended, after that some of the more upbeat stuff came on and the others also came to the dance floor. I would get to dance with each of the boys tonight.

Demo was the first I danced with, he smiled which meant a lot to me. Since I had met him we had come a long way. When I had first joined the lost he had hated me, and I hadn't particularly liked him. But over time we warmed up to each other. I found he was always there when I needed to talk, and it was nice. We didn't really talk as we danced, I could simply think my thank you and he got it.

Next was Shikyo, he had a beaming smile on his face. "This is how you're supposed to be." He stated. I simply cocked my head, I highly doubted he meant I was supposed to be in a wedding dress all the time. He realized I didn't understand. "This happiness you're giving off, it's how you should be."

I smiled in understanding now. "This part of me is only possible because of all the others I love being happy." This was mostly true, but knowing Haru would never leave me was a decent chunk.

Shikyo passed me on to Tysen, which felt just a teensy awkward. Even though it had been two years since we had met, and I knew he didn't hold loving Haru against me I still felt bad. Tysen had fallen for me when we met, and well I didn't have the same feelings….We straitened things out but I always hated dragging him into things involving Haru and I as a couple. He shook his head and smiled at me.

"You don't have to be worried...I'm happy for you." he stated, and by the look in his eyes and sad smile on his face I knew he was telling the truth.

"Thank you, that means a lot." I stated.

"He's lucky," He stated motioning towards Haru who was dancing with Aya.

I shook my head. "Nah, he's just stuck with me. I'm the lucky one…" I smiled a little brighter at him. "I'm more than lucky, I'm flat out blessed. I mean, look at all the wonderful people I get to share my life with. If any of you were to leave, or if I hadn't met one of you, my life would be totally different."

He smiled a bit brighter, "I think my turns over," and with that he handed me over to Eric.

"Hey," I said smiling to him.

He smiled in return, it was hard to think he was already 17… "Thank you…"

I cocked my head. "For what?"

"For all that you've done for me, all that you did for Haru….most girls wouldn't have forgiven him for what happened." He stated glancing at Haru, who was dancing with Sori now.

I simply shook my head. "Then most girls are idiots…Your brother never meant to hurt any of us in any way. He did what he thought was necessary to protect us, even if it was hard for him. I couldn't have done what he did, even if I could truly convince myself I needed to." I replied. And it was true, there was no way I could have pulled off what he did. If I had hurt Nero badly I wouldn't forgive myself I couldn't even imagine if Ice had killed him. But even if she had, leaving my family……leaving Haru… and not know if I'd ever come home was something that I couldn't do.

Eric smiled and hugged me. "It means so much to me that you still love him like you do. That you take care of all of us the way you do."

I returned the embrace. "It's the least I could do in return for the love and care you've all given me."

As we pulled away Nero tapped Eric on the shoulder, Eric just nodded and left to dance with Sori. As I watched him walk off I noticed Katara walking towards Haru. I then returned my attention to Nero as the next song started and we began to dance.

"Elinor Inuzuka….that'll take some adjusting to." He stated smiling.

I chuckled slightly, "Even for me." We danced for a minute in silence then he sighed. "What's wrong?" I asked tilting my head slightly.

He shook his head…"It's nothing…."

I frowned. "You're lying."

"It's just….it's hard to let you go." He stated

"Aww, c'mon Nii-san. It's not like I'm moving away to another village, You've seen where the house is. We aren't going to be more than 10 minutes from you." I stated.

He shook his head. "It's not about distance."

"Then what is it?" I questioned, curious now.

"You're his now," He stated motioning over to Haru. "Up until today, up until your name changed I was the one who watched out for you. It was my job as the big brother to keep you safe and protected…now it's his." He looked at me sadly as he moved a few loose hairs out of my face. "Father isn't the only who's giving you away today…" He whispered as we continued to dance.

"Oh…" was all I could say. I hadn't thought about it that way. I mean Nero would always be my big brother, he would always be watching out for me and someone I ran to when I was in trouble. But he had made a point, now I would be closer to Haru…Now when I woke in the middle of the night, when I was sick, or when someone was fixing me breakfast. It wouldn't be him anymore, Haru would be the one there.

He smiled sadly at me. "But this is how it's supposed to be, and at least I know Haru will take care of you." He stated.

My smile mimicked his, because I was also realizing that while he was letting me go, I was letting him go. Ever since he protected Katara, protected me…I had felt like I was responsible for watching out for him as well. That I would no longer be only a room away when he wasn't feeling well, I would no longer be only a room away when he wanted to talk, that I wouldn't be there to hold him when he was broken…it was hard to think about. And suddenly I was crying, because up until now I hadn't realized just how bittersweet this really was.

"Hey, what's this about?" he asked wiping the tears away gently with his thumb.

"I guess I never thought about what leaving the house really meant…" I stated.

He held me against his chest. "Shh, you're not supposed to be the one crying…And we'll be okay, like you said to mom earlier. It's not like you won't be over." He said

After a minute I pulled away and wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand trying to pull myself together, "You're right…"

After I calmed down he took my hand. "C'mon, I've kept you away from him long enough…" he stated as we began walking towards Haru and Katara. They weren't exactly dancing, Katara had her arms crossed over her chest and Haru just stood with his at his sides. As we got closer I realized Katara was lecturing him…and threatening him.

"I swear, if you don't treat her like gold I will-" she cut off as she saw us approaching.

Haru also turned to face us. He and Nero shared a long look, and then Nero took my hand and placed it in Haru's. I realized this was him giving me away, just like Ada had done only an hour or so ago. As Haru's fingers enter-twined with mine he gave a small nod to Nii-san. Signaling he understood, and that he was ready to take the responsibility that went with this. Nero and I shared one more glance then he took Katara's hand and began walking away.

Haru and I began to simply sway to the music, and then we began to dance as a new song started. We danced in the center and several others danced around us.

"So are you happy?" he asked looking at me as we danced.

I rolled my eyes, he was always so insecure about us…actually he was just insecure about him, he was always afraid he wasn't doing enough for me. Or that he owed me more for leaving, but all I really needed was him by my side. "Of course I'm happy, why are you even asking me that?" I replied.

"Just wanted to make sure. I mean, generally people are a little older than 18 when they get married." He replied.

He was right, but our parents hadn't been that much older. And it wasn't like I would have changed my mind. "Are you happy?" I asked, hoping that this hadn't come from him not wanting to have done this.

"Elinor…" He shook his head and then laid it on top of mine. "There isn't a guy in the world who could be anymore happy than I am right now."I smiled and we danced a little longer then we said our goodbyes before leaving. We headed out into the woods to our new house, they had just finished building it yesterday. Despite the fact that usually people went on a honeymoon after their wedding, as ninja we felt we needed to stay in the village. So everyone was just going to leave us alone for a while unless an emergency came up.

We stopped at the doorway and I got on my toes and kissed him. "Welcome home."

He picked me up bridal style and then walked into the house. "Welcome home."

~The End~

Authors notes:

Disclaimers: Tilee and Sori belong to Ti-chan, Destiny and Elinor belong to me, all the other RPC's belong to Aya and then any other characters belong to Kishimoto. For anyone wondering why I wrote this.....I was bored, enough said......