It was the day, the wedding day. Integra was a lump of nerves, but she was determined not to let everyone see how frazzled and emotionally imbalanced she really was. On the inside she was in a locked room screaming and throwing herself against impenetrable walls, trying to find an escape she knew wasn't there. On the inside her heart was bleeding and her eyes were closed to what they refused to acknowledge. On the outside, it was quite a different matter.

Her long platinum hair was in an intricate…pattern? She didn't know what to call it. The hairdresser had spent a good four hours pulling at it and putting large quantities of creamy looking substances and sprays into it. It had seemed like a terrible waste of time and effort at the time, but looking at it now even she would admit it looked impressive.

Seras had insisted on doing her make-up. Integra had made her swear she wouldn't make her look like a hussy. Seras had crossed her heart and offered Integra a pinky she found out later she was supposed to clasp with her own. It had taken another half of an hour and Integra didn't even want to know what the Police Girl was smearing all over her face.

She was almost ready; it was almost time for her to take the most impossible of plunges. Outside she could see the guests seated and the wedding minions making their final touches.

"Seras," said Integra forcing herself to look away. "Help me into my uniform."

Seras looked up from where she had been finishing her own cosmetics.

"Uh," mumbled Seras. "About that…"

Integra's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

Seras threw her hands up in defense. "I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Integra continued to stare.

"It's just that," she continued. "Well-" without finishing her sentence Seras briskly walked out of the room. Integra thought perhaps she had ran away from fear of what would Integra would do when she found about out whatever tomfoolery she'd been up to.

Integra sighed; maybe it was for the best. She would just be married in her bathrobe, that way if she threw up, as she feared she might, she wouldn't have to have her uniform dry-cleaned.

But before Integra could entertain herself with images of Percy being forced to marry her in a towel and curlers Seras had returned with a package in tow.

"Here," she said thrusting it towards her. "I thought this might be more suitable."

Integra took the parcel. It was obviously protecting some sort of formal wear. Integra wanted to just hand it back to Seras in protest, but the Police Girl had gone above and beyond on everything else in a very short period of time, and Integra thought she owed her to at least look at it. Then she could say no anyway.

She unzipped the front of the protective cover and pulled out the offending item.

It did look impressive, even on the hanger. It was elegant, intricate in an antique sort of way. It was a soft cream color, not white. Integra was glad, she despised white. It was a beautiful dress. She had half a mind to wear it.

"Please at least try it on," begged Seras. "If you hate it we can always take it back off."

Integra nodded in consent. It couldn't hurt to put it on, after all.

Seras helped her slip on the required undergarments that went with the dress (which had mysteriously appeared, Integra had a sneaking suspicion she was being hoodwinked) which included a corset like…thing, some sort of cotton under suit and what appeared to be a few petticoats.

Seras had a time figuring some of the more intricate details out, but in the end Integra felt reasonably sure that everything was how it was supposed to be, and if it wasn't she doubted anyone would really notice.

"Finished," Seras declared after she tugged a bit at the bottom of the gown. "Oh, Sir Integra!"

Looking in the mirror Integra could see what Seras meant by the exclamation. In the mirror standing in front of her was a beautiful woman who looked like an elegant bride and a radiant atonement to her gender. Integra felt it was a pity such an impressive appearance had to be wasted on such a terrible day.

"Will you wear it?" Seras asked breathless.

"Yes," Integra resounded, turning to study herself at different angles. "I think this will suffice."

Seras clapped her hands. "Excellent," she said.

"Oh," said Integra. "But I do have to piss, help me out of this."

Seras instantly looked like someone told her she was going to have to build a pyramid.

"Just joshing," Integra said with an impish grin at the last minute.

Seras let out a breath. "Don't scare me like that."

"Mmmm," said Integra, still highly amused by her little joke.

While Integra basked in her moment, Seras went over to a box where she had been pulling out various things the whole evening. First the cosmetics, then the perfume. Now it seemed she was looking for something else.

"There's a bit more," said Seras into the box. "One mo."

Integra watched her pull out a cream box that matched the dress, followed by a pair of dress slippers.

"I have been hoodwinked," she mumbled to herself. Seras walked over grinning, having heard her with her enhance hearing.

"These shoes go with the dress," she said, bending down to her knees to put them on Integra's feet, who couldn't do it herself due to the sheer amount of cloth she was wearing. She slipped them on gently, as if Integra were something to be careful with. Integra felt a momentary swell of affection for the girl at her feet.

Seras then rose to her feet from her knees in a graceful movement no human could have ever accomplished.

"This," she said, retrieving the box, "is very special. They go with the dress." Seras opened the box and inside Integra saw a small country's worth of jewelry, it looked expensive.

"How much did you spend Seras?" Integra asked, impressed nonetheless.

"Oh," said Seras sheepishly. "Not a dime, actually. But you're not allowed to ask!" she said as Integra opened her mouth to speak. "Just know that they're gifts, okay?"

Integra nodded, satisfied that Seras' word was answer enough.

First, Seras took an old looking comb from it's velvet bed and placed it gingerly in Integra's hair. Next she took out a bracelet that reminded Integra of one that her mother had worn when she was a girl and clasped it to her right hand. This was followed by a set of gold chandelier earrings with ruby accents.

Then, just when Integra was wondering if all the cloth and precious metal on her body was going to allow her to walk, Seras pulled out the remaining piece of jewelry. It was a large ruby, the biggest Integra had ever seen. Its color was deep and it sparkled with a fire Integra had never seen in a diamond. It was surrounded by the same gold as everything else, the same gold that set off her cream colored dress so well. The chain was thick and it when Seras placed it around her neck it fell perfectly against her white skin.

Seras took a step back, looking at her master's master.

"Oh, sir Integra," she said at last. "You're so beautiful; I think you're the best looking woman I've ever seen!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Integra said covering her secret pleasure. "Every bride looks good on her wedding day, that's how it's supposed to be. Besides, you shouldn't get your knickers in a twist for me Seras; I'm to be a married woman this night. Besides, the iron virgin couldn't possibly harbor secret lesbian tendencies; it would make all the rumors so much less creative."

Seras laughed, wiping bloody tears away with a bit of toilet paper she's used earlier to blot Integra's cosmetics.

Integra took her free hand in her own.

"Let's be off Police Girl, the sooner this night ends the better."

Seras blushed.

"Uh," she started. "Speaking of tonight," she lowered her voice and made Integra stop pulling her toward the front doors by pulling her close. Integra lowered her head to show that she was listening. "Are you really planning to – you know- with him?"

"I am supposed to produce an heir, Seras," Integra said in her normal voice, but then dipped her head even closer to Seras, lowering her voice. "But, no, Police Girl, I'm not. Not if I can help it."

Then she gave the young vampire a wink and once again took her hand and pulled her to the direction of the front doors where she would begin her walk down the isle. Seras followed obediently. Integra had a feeling that Seras knew she wasn't really taking her hand to lead her, or keeping her so close just so that she could make her fetch things if need be, and she was grateful that there was an unspoken comfort between them, Integra didn't think she could have made the walk on her own.

Their walk took forever and at the same time went by in the blink of an eye. Integra thought her stomach was trying to rearrange itself.

"We're here," stated Seras obviously after they had stood there a moment. There was a bustle of servants around them trying to get the wedding party arranged in order to take the walk, no one seemed to notice them yet. "It looks like we're a bit early."

But by the time Seras had finished her sentence people had in fact noticed Integra, and she thought the way they openly gawked was downright rude. The ladies complimented her and touched her dress. Integra made a point to be polite, but felt suffocated.

"Right," called a woman to the left of Integra. "Places everyone, the music is about to start."

Integra felt her throat sink into her pelvis. There was a flurry of motion around her and people slowly started disappearing down a carpet leading to what Integra was mentally referring to as her 'doom.'

She watched as another set of people began to walk the plank. She wanted so desperately to run.

"Did you like my present?" asked a hauntingly familiar voice behind her. She whipped around.

"Alucard!" she exclaimed. A bubble of happiness shot to her chest, somehow his presence made the whole ordeal easier to swallow. "Present?" she asked?

He gave he an insane smile.

"Why, your attire, my Master."

Integra looked down at herself. Yes, it did seem the sort of thing he would pick out. It was rather a bittersweet gift, actually.

"Although," he said, interrupting her looking. "You did forget something."

Integra was surprised. She did?

"I did?" she asked.

He didn't say anything. Instead he took her left hand and raised it up. On her hand sat the ring Percy had given her. He took it off gently and tossed it over his shoulder, Integra couldn't bring herself to care. In its place he slipped on something else, something she wasn't expecting.

It was the crest ring the Queen had given her at Chesterfield. She felt a tide of emotion hit her and she had to beat it down.

"And," Alucard continued, "you should probably carry these."

He handed her an assortment of red roses. "The florist brought you terrible orange hydrangeas; I tossed them out and plucked these from the garden. They are much more fitting, wouldn't you agree?"

She nodded, not trusting her voice.

"It's almost our turn," Alucard said, looking ahead of them.

"Our?" Integra managed the word, but her voice cracked. Alucard looked at her sharply.

"Yes," he said. "Our turn, I'll not make you take this walk alone, Master." He took her hand and pulled it through his bent arm; she noticed that he was wearing a very smart tuxedo she hadn't registered before.

"Besides," he went on, they were next. "You are mine to give away, wouldn't you agree?"

And on that note they took their first steps down the isle.

Integra was so thankful for his presence. She could even feel him in her mind, a connection that had been severed since Chesterfield. It felt good, like coming home. He was invaluable to her on that arduous walk. When her knees buckled and her feet refused to move he gave her strength, when her she felt her hand begin to visibly tremble he took it and intertwined his own fingers to stop the shaking, when she could feel the bile rising in her throat it was him in her mind soothing her conscious, making her hold it down.

Then they were in front of the alter. Integra turned to Alucard, she was afraid to let go. Her eyes filled again with tears and it occurred to her that all she did lately was cry. He pressed a handkerchief into her hand. She pressed it to her face before her make-up could run. It smelled like him, like blood and gunpowder.

"You look beautiful," he told her. She smiled. She still didn't let go, she knew that she was taking much to long, and she could practically feel Percy's angry gaze on her. She didn't care. She didn't care that people were beginning to whisper, and although few recognized Alucard, that the ones who did were put out by presence. She didn't let go.

Alucard released her hand and removed his arm from hers. She stood in front of him; she felt a balloon in her chest on the brink of bursting. He nodded his head toward Percy, but she still didn't move. She couldn't, she just couldn't.

Alucard gave her a long look, then leaned foreword and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. She felt her face wrinkle up. As he pulled away he pushed at her shoulders, forcing her towards her fate.

She turned and stepped onto the platform, Alucard's handkerchief still clutched in her hand. She put on a cold beautiful face and stared at Percy. Internally she could feel Alucard as he left the ceremony, he didn't want to be here to see it, and she was glad he did. She didn't want him to see it either.

"What were you doing?" hissed Percy under his breath as the preacher went on about the fruit of marriage or some such nonsense. "Why are they here?" he asked, indicating to Seras who was standing behind her, looking a bit worried through a waterfall of tears at the display previously. She might have been the only one there who had recognized the exchange for what it was; a goodbye.

Integra didn't answer. She didn't owe him any explanation. He was, after all, just a sperm donor.

When the time came for Percy to slip the ring onto Integra's finger, he was surprised to see the Hellsing crest in its place. He looked up at her. Integra gave him a look, daring him to try and take it off. Instead he took her right hand and slipped it on her index finger there instead.

She rejoiced for her small victory.

When the ceremony was on the brink of being finished, the clergyman told Percy he may kiss his bride. He moved closer to her, but Integra stepped back and instead offered him the hand bearing the Hellsing crest, a hand that was clutching a piece of linen that belonged to an undead king. He kissed it, but first he gave her a glare. She just smiled at him.

Their first walk together as man and wife left Integra feeling empty and thirsty at the same time.