Hello, this is just a piece I wanted to post during my current long hiatus (I need to prepare for school exams). Maybe it's another cliché wedding piece to you all, but I just wanted to give it a try.

The quote is translated from Japanese.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Cause of Death and its affiliated characters.

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"If I would be able to go meet you again, I wouldn't ask for more."
- Girls' Generation, Time Machine

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Natara Williams, bride-to-be, was alone in the preparation room. Her mother and sister had decided to give her some breathing space before the ceremony. She could not help but let her mind wander.

Will marriage change anything? Yes, yes it will. Oscar will arrange for dinner together every night like always, after work. Work. Work. To him, my work is more important. Yelling into the phone the other day… Should have cleared things up. Either way, Oscar's not pleased with my work. Still, proposing to me? That means a lot. Conflicted. This is supposed to be a joyous occasion, yet there seems to be no happiness. Mal. Mal. Where's Mal? Right, guys can't come in here. Wish Mal was here. Probably coming to see me soon. Always breaking rules…

The door opened.

Mal?

To her disappointment, it was not the man she wanted to see most. Still, Natara was glad Blaise Corso could visit her and not stay outside, flirting with Jeremy Redbird.

"Blaise? Thank you so much for coming." She smiled brightly.

"No problem! Wait. You look so pale. Are you okay?" Blaise sat down by her side, eyes boring into her. "It doesn't take a fellow profiler to know something's wrong."

"I'm scared," Natara muttered. It was half-true. Marriage was a lifetime commitment. She worried she couldn't make it. Mal was not there to give her advice too.

"The Natara Williams I know never gets scared. Stay calm, okay?" Blaise bit her lip. "You could always say 'no' in the end." An awkward silence followed before the door opened once again.

Let it be Mal let it be Mal please…

"It's time," her mother, Anita Mansingh, declared. "Out you go, Natara!"

As she walked out the room to resounding applause, she scanned her audience. Someone was missing.

Mal isn't here.

There was no time to contemplate this though. Soon, she was standing at the altar, facing her future husband. Oscar Santos was devastatingly handsome in his tuxedo. To him, she was probably the most glorious woman in the world, adorning the white gown the Ildonian princess had given her when she saved from that assassin with Mal.

Why isn't he here right now? He told me he would come last night..

She did not listen to the minister's babble. She did not pay attention when everyone offered the couple their blessings. She was too busy wondering what to do next.

"I do." Oscar's voice brought her back to reality.

It's going to be my turn! Damn!

"Do you, Natara Mansingh Williams, take Oscar Santos to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or from worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?" The officiant smiled down at her.

The answer struck her as clear as day.

"No."

This awkward silence was worse than before.

"Come again?" The officiant smiled kindly at her. "It is perfectly normal to get cold feet. Say 'I do' and everything will be fine, alright?"

"Natara, please don't make things difficult!" Oscar's eyes were pleading.

"Now…" The officiant repeated his question.

"I can't!" Natara turned, hoisted up her long wedding gown and started running down the aisle. She did not notice how her father looked somewhat pleased while her mother was greatly upset. She did not see Neha's shock, clearly written on her face. And she did not see how most of the guests looked on, astonished. Then she was out of the chapel doors.

As expected, snow was falling.

Oscar thought it would be nice to have a wedding in winter. That doesn't seem to be the case now.

She was thankful the ground had not been covered by the snow yet. She started walking dully down the street; Oscar was not going to run after her. He was probably going to keep calling her on her phone later, but that was it. He was not going to make a fuss out of this and embarrass himself.

Her leaden legs, burdened with heels whiter than the gray slush by the road, dragged her past opulent shopfronts, past traffic lights, past people with umbrellas to shield themselves from the snow descending on them…

She released her hair from the tight chignon it was in and let the coldness envelope her. She knew she looked like a tragic princess, running away from an unhappy marriage. Of course she resembled that tragic princess. She wished she had a jacket. She wished she had an umbrella.

She wished she had Malachi Fallon by her side.

Her wish almost came true when she reached the doorstep of his apartment. When no one responded to the doorbell, she picked her way in with a hairpin.

There was a note on the table in the living room.

I'm away for an urgent matter and some breathing space to myself. Nat, sorry I couldn't attend your wedding. Congratulations to you and the DA! – Mal

If she had doubted it before, she was now sure that accepting Oscar Santos's proposal was probably the greatest mistake of her life.

Natara slumped down on the sofa. She had succeeded in running away from what was probably going to be an unhappy marriage, but she might never be able to win him back.

Their relationship was strictly platonic at first, but soon, she found him glancing at her every free moment he got, the way he talked with her sometimes, that look in his eyes… He had even confessed to her when they were at the resort, in Gil Franzen's hands! Of course, it did not take a profiler to know what he felt towards her.

It was not her blindness that cost her one chance with him. It was how she denied his feelings, although she was clearly aware of them. She had been frightened before by the sorry excuse of a man called Shawn Mallory, and she had refused to 'date a coworker' since, as much as she wanted to try.

That was why she had kissed Oscar instead of Mal that one time, when it was the latter that saved her. She could not bring herself to love Mal. Perhaps it was not accepting the wedding proposal that was the problem. It was becoming Oscar's girlfriend.

Sighing, she stood, only to stumble into Mal's bedroom and throw herself down onto the bed. She turned and found a photo of Mal and her on the nightstand. It was of them in happier times. She put the framed photo back, then found so many other photos just like that, framed neatly, showing how happy they were before…

Could the situation be salvaged? Was it already the point of no return?

She dialed Mal on a telephone. It rang… and rang… then she was redirected to his voicemail.

"Hi Mal, I didn't marry Oscar today. I don't think I ever will. I need time to think. I can't commit myself to such an important thing so quickly. Wish you were here! You always give me the best advice. Come back soon from your trip outside, okay? Love, Nat."

Natara spent a few hours lying around in the apartment, thinking of nothing but Mal. When it was night, she changed out of her wedding gown into some clothes she found in the closet. He won't blame me for this, will he? She stashed the wedding gown and heels in a corner, hurriedly scribbled a note ('Sorry Mal, I couldn't stand wearing this the whole day!') and left the apartment.

She walked all the way to her hotel in a baggy T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. The first thing she did when she reached her room was check her phone; she had forgotten to bring it to the chapel.

Twenty missed calls from Oscar. None from Mal.

She stayed up late into the night, slouching against her bedside, hoping Mal would come over right now and tell her he would always be there for her. That did not happen. Her phone kept ringing, but none of the calls was from Mal.

Mal probably hates me now. Ditching him for Oscar, and then running out on Oscar to try and get him back. Horrible. So horrible of me. Everyone, especially Mal, will think me, Natara Williams, as scum. Hey, it's true.

She glanced at the clock. It was two. Then she thought of the perfect solution to all her problems.

I'm going to embark on a time machine!

She sat up straight. Yes! She could use a time machine to change everything. She would reject Oscar's advances and finally accept Mal's feelings. Then things would be okay again. But where would she get a time machine?

Reality shattered her dream. Time machines did not exist. She would never get to fix the time she accepted Oscar's proposal. She would never get to fix the time she kissed Oscar instead of Mal…

What was she to do?

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Should I write another chapter to give this story a sense of closure, or should I leave it be? Your input is very welcome.