"I'd be totally beautiful in a wedding dress! Right Dart?"
"Um…"
Trust Dart to be utterly nonplussed at such a question.
"I don't know," said Haschel's voice. "I think Meru needs a bit more maturity first."
Rose couldn't have agreed more. Meru hadn't even realized how tactless she had been by wedging herself into a conversation that had been about Haschel's daughter.
"You're awful, Haschel!" Meru protested.
Rose gave an inaudible sigh as she lay on her bed. She really, really wished she would fall asleep, but the voices of her companions wouldn't let her.
Haschel laughed. "I imagine when the time comes, you'll look lovely. I hold unreserved pity for the groom, though."
Meru didn't answer verbally. Rose, who couldn't see them because she lay on her side facing the wall, could easily imagine Meru making an exaggeratedly ridiculous face at the Rouge Master.
Now Rose sincerely wished that they would keep talking and change the subject, but nothing more was said except for Meru declaring, "Good night!" There was silence at last, but now Rose had her own thoughts distracting her.
Of all the things they could have talked about…
"What are you doing?"
"Hmm?"
She shoved him lightly. "You're staring at me with the weirdest look on your face. What's up?"
"I'm trying to imagine how you'd look in a wedding dress. It's not working."
"Excuse me?"
"I can't imagine you in a wedding dress."
She stared at him, nonplussed. "And why not?" she queried.
"Wedding dresses are so… white. You're the Darkness Dragoon, Rosie dearest. You dressing in white would be like the sun trying to come out at night."
"Fiancé or not, if you ever call me 'Rosie dearest' again, I'll punch you in the face so hard that you'll never be pretty again."
"My most humble apologies, dear."
"That's better."
A breeze began to blow as they continued to sit on the steps leading to Zieg's tower. "Come to think about it, I would probably look awful in a wedding dress," said Rose.
Zieg looked scandalized. "And just what made that ludicrous idea pop into your head?"
"Like you said…"
"To hell with what I said. I was just poking fun at you." Zieg took her hand and kissed it. "You'll be beautiful." He smiled. "Of course, if you're dead-set against wearing a dress, no one's forcing you. Go naked for all I care." He paused. "Now there's an idea…"
"Hell. No. I'll stick with the dress, thank you."
"If you say so…" His eyes sparkled with amusement. "You know, I bet Charle would be more than willing to help out with it."
Rose groaned. "Dear God, that's almost just as bad as going nude."
He laughed. "Oh, come on. I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad. And Charle would insist."
"Let me describe what would happen in the simplest terms possible: Enough lace, frills, bows, ruffles, and who-knows-what-else to clothe Emperor Diaz's entire army."
"What, is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Rose just rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation.
After a while, Rose spoke again. "It's not… presumptuous, is it? I mean… we're in the middle of a war… suppose…" her voice unconsciously went lower, "suppose one of us gets killed?"
"That's not going to happen. I won't let it."
"Zieg…"
" We will live to see the end of this war—we will live to see the Humans liberated. And then we'll have ourselves a wedding. There'll be lots of flowers—"
"No roses."
He smiled. "Fine, no roses."
"Seriously, if there is one single rose anywhere in the vicinity, someone is going to be kicked in their manly weak-point. Puns be damned to hell."
"Point taken. Where was I? Ah, right. There will be flowers—no roses, you've got my word—and you'll be wearing an army's worth of lace. Our friends will all be there—"
"And Kanzas can take on the duty of best man," Rose added facetiously.
"Good idea," answered Zieg with the voice of one who has had an epiphany.
"What?"
"It would piss him off." He smiled into space. Rose just shook her head.
"I love you, Zieg… but I will never understand your bizarre sense of humor."
"I love you too."
She had planned on saying something witty, but then that damned man decided to kiss her, making her mind go blissfully blank.
"Rose?"
She sat up. Sunlight streamed through the windows. Albert was standing above her looking concerned and uncomfortable.
"Err… are you alright? You've been… muttering in your sleep."
"It's nothing," she answered curtly.
It was difficult to see if Albert believed the lie or not, but either way he chose not to comment. "The others are already down in the entrance hall, so just come whenever you're ready." He gave a parting nod and left.
Rose took a shuddering breath. She wasn't going to cry—she hadn't done so for many, many years. She wasn't going to cry. She swallowed it all: the tears, the pain, the urge to scream. She closed her eyes.
Of all the things they could have talked about…