Disclaimer: No, not mine.

Chapter 2: Weddings are happy occasions?

Thunder was rolling outside, but inside Queen Jupiter´s office the mood was so tense no-one would have wondered if lightning had erupted there, too, but at least it was not raining - yet.

"You have got to be kidding me! I´m not gonna marry that...that child!" The Thunder Princess was yelling again. This is madness! That girl can´t be older than twelve! And she´s so small...

"Princess Jupiter, let me assure you that my daughter is not a child, she turned 15 just last month. So the two of you are actually of the same age," Queen Mercury clarified calmly.

Dang, that Queen has got all the warmth of an ice-statue... oh yeah, she has the elemental power of ice, so I guess I should have expected that... And that Princess... she started blushing the moment they walked in... I bet she´s stuttering, or she would be if she said anything... God she´s small...

Yes, Princess Jupiter had that point right. The Mercurian Princess was by all means small and slim, even considering the planet she was from. Besides that she looked just like her mother, with azure hair and strikingly ice-blue eyes.

"Still, I don´t want to..."

"Daughter! We have been through all of this before," now Queen Jupiter was yelling as well, her anger mounting in line with her daughter´s obstinacy.

The Queen was short tempered on the best of days and this entire situation was stressing her to no end, but now her daughter had to bring that argument up again? And in front of the other monarch and the bride-to-be? The Queen was about to forget the promise she made to herself never to hurt any of her children and kick her daughter´s sorry butt into next week. But that would not have solved her little civil war problem, so she kept herself at bay.

"You will marry Princess Mercury, and you will do it now! For once, don´t act like a frightened five-year-old! Now get over here and sign this, so we can get this over with!"

The jovian Princess had never been afraid of her mother before, but like they say, there is always a first time for everything... She should appease the Queen as soon as possible, since she knew from experience that the lightning her mother could throw would, while not kill her, sting like hell. She had been hit more than just once during their combat sessions. With that in mind she quickly walked over to the desk, grabbed the pen which was all but shoved into her hand and signed her marriage-treaty without giving it a second glance:

12th Princess of Jupiter, 37th generation

"Your turn," she said gravely, holding the pen out to the Ice Princess, who still had not uttered a single word.

The smaller teen took her time walking over and reading the entire treaty. She noticed that both Jovians were getting more and more annoyed, but this was her way of telling her mother what she thought about this entire affair. After a moment Queen Jupiter left, but came right back not a minute later. Finally she signed, just as the Queen opened her mouth to start yelling (again):

1st Princess of Mercury, 37th generation

"Great," the Jovian monarch started, "now that this is finally settled," she sent sour looks in the directions of both princesses, "we just have to present this *happy* couple to the court and then my daughter will show you, Princess, where you will live from now on."

"Wait, don´t tell me she´s gonna stay with me, is she?" Oh nooooo!

"What do you think? You two are married! Of course she will stay with you! Her belongings have already been taken there, so let´s get going"

"Just a moment, please," Queen Mercury interrupted the bantering, " I will not be able to stay much longer, since I still have a lot to do at home, so I will leave right after the presentation. Daughter, you know what is expected of you, so do your best. I will try to visit you as soon as possible, but if I´m unable to make the time we will meet at the ball. It´s on Uranus this time, right? Thank God, it´s not on Pluto, I hate it when it´s there. That marble is so far off the flight takes forever and it´s always so dark there. Not that Saturn would be any better. Flying through those rings always makes me nauseous. Speaking of which..."

"Mother, you´re jumping again," her daughter intervened, speaking for the first time, at last, and proving that she did not stutter, although her blush was still there, "And no, it´s on Venus."

"Oh, was I? I´m sorry. Well, hopefully I will see you soon." That being said she shortly hugged her daughter, which caused her blush to deepen even further.

"Now, take your wife´s hand, please, so we can leave. Everything is set up outside."

"WHAT?"

"TAKE...YOUR...WIFE´S...HAND...NOW!" Both Jovians were shouting so loudly, Princess Mercury was wondering if it was possible that the entire court could hear them, but something told her that the Queen knew of her bad habit of raising her voice and had taken necessary precautions.

The scolded Princess was looking at her mother as if she had just been told to jump off a cliff, but still complied. She slowly walked over and carefully took the other ´s hand. Hopefully I don´t break her. She´s so... small...

Finally they left the hut in which the office was situated, the Queens led the way, followed by their daughters, to be met by the entire court. Standing on the podium in front of the office hut they were greeted by about 150 people, including the rest of the royal family, who first bowed and then started cheering for the newly-weds, although both the Jovian Queen and Princess felt that it was far less enthusiastic than usual for a royal wedding. On all other Planets it was custom to kneel before the monarchs, but considering the huge amount of rain pouring down every day on Jupiter and the therefore usually muddy ground, it was probably for the best to stick to bowing when outside.

Not two minutes had passed since the Royals came outside, when the sky opened up and everyone rushed inside for cover. At leset that never changed. Not a single royal wedding on Jupiter had gone uninterrupted by rain, so the people usually just took it as a good sign and often made bets on how long the wedding would last before the heavens opened.

Please Review and tell me if you find mistakes.