THE ELEVENTH HOUR

July twentieth.

The day wedding bells were to ring for Lux and Ahsoka Bonteri.

The day John and Mina could officially begin crossing their fingers for grandbabies.

The day Sierra gained the best sister-in-law ever.

The day the 501st had not only brothers, but one brother-in-law.

The day a whole lot of stress evaporated for Steela.

And it was the day that Anakin and Padme, who had loved Ahsoka like a daughter since day one, had the joy of seeing her married.

It was a great day.

"That bachelorette party was definitely…interesting, to say the least." Riyo Chuchi said, fixing her hair. "I never thought running around in a rented wedding dress could be so much fun."

"Ahsoka and I kind of discovered it by accident." Hero said, trying to zip the back of her dress.

Chuchi put her hairbrush down. "Do you need help?"

"Could you?" Hero asked. "I can't reach the zipper."

Chuchi nodded and took the zipper, while Hero focused on holding up the front of the dress.

Chuchi tried once. Then again.

"Ah, stand up straight." She suggested.

Hero inhaled, and squared her shoulders. Riyo tried again, but the zipper only went about an inch.

Steela dabbed mascara on her eyes. "Suck it in, Hero."

Hero shot Steela a look that screamed murder. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Chuchi checked the tag. "Are you a size five?"

"Yes."

The gears started turning in Chuchi's head. "Have you changed your diet at all lately?"

Hero froze. "Is it too small?"

Chuchi dreaded the response. She mouthed do you know how to sew? To Steela

Steela shook her head and mouthed is it that bad?

The look on Chuchi's face was all the answer she needed.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Steela lied, and started to sneak out the door.

But Hero saw right through it.

"I can't believe this is happening. My wedding is in two weeks! Ahsoka's is in two hours."

Steela ducked out. Her mission: find Mina. Mina was like Superwoman. She could fix anything.

But her friend wasn't the first person she bumped into. Rather, it was Padme.

"Hello, Steela!" The "mother" of the bride greeted.

Steela wasn't very close with Padme. In fact, she barely knew her from a hamburger. But rumor had it that Padme Amidala was a capable woman, and one to be reckoned with.

And chances had it that Padme knew some emergency sewing.

"Do you know how to sew?" she asked.

Padme nodded. "I do. Why?"

"Hero can't fit into her dress." Steela whispered. She didn't want Hutch (or God forbid, Saw) to hear.

Padme picked up on the secrecy, and started walking back to the bridesmaids' room.

"What do you mean, Hero can't fit into her dress?" she whispered back.

"She must have put on a few pounds. Her wedding's in two weeks. Stress, you know?"

If it's stress, I'm surprised you fit in your dress. Padme thought. Steela had been all but ripping her hair out over this wedding.

"All right, let me run out to my car for my kit," she said. Thank Force she kept a needle and thread in the console of her car. Senatorial gowns ripped like nobody's business.

As Padme speed-walked back from her car, she watched in horror as Ahsoka's little sedan rolled into the parking lot.

Ahsoka had gone to pick up the wedding dress, and Sierra had tagged along to keep her company while the bridesmaids got ready. Padme was really hoping that Hero's dress debacle would be over before Ahsoka saw what was going on.

Luck would not be hers today.

…

"You look great. Really," Steela said to Hero when Padme started to work on letting out the dress.

Chuchi was grasping at straws while she did her makeup. "Maybe you're bloated from the beer you drank last night. Beer can cause bloat."

Padme snipped a few more stitches. "Hero, the good news is that this dress has lots of seam allowance. All I have to do is tear out this seam, and you should be good to go. No stitches required."

"Thank God," Hero muttered.

Padme finished tearing out the last stich, and the dress zipped up without a problem.

"See? All better."

Just as Hero said thank you and rushed to finish her makeup, Sierra blasted through the door, holding it open for Ahsoka to come through with her wedding dress.

All attention was immediately diverted to getting Ahsoka into her wedding dress and putting makeup on her face.

"I don't know, guys." Ahsoka fretted. "Maybe this isn't the right dress."

"Oh, bah." Hero snorted. "You look great. If anyone says otherwise, I'll kick them out."

"Even if it's Hutch?"

"Hutch wouldn't do that!"

As if on cue, Hutch stepped into the bride's room, one hand clamped over his eyes.

"I-Is everyone decent?"

"Yes,"

"Okay," Hutch breathed, and uncovered his eyes. "Uh, can I borrow a few bridesmaids to…help Saw and I with our hair?"

Immediately, everybody's BS detectors went off. Saw and Hutch would never ask for help with their hair.

"Sure!" Hero agreed, grabbing Chuchi and leaving Steela to help Padme bustle the wedding dress.

Hutch shut the door behind the girls, and said. "It's bad. It's really, really bad."

"What is?" Chuchi asked, her gut filling with dread.

Hutch didn't answer. He didn't need to. All he had to do was swing open the door to the church.

"Oh. My. God."

The sanctuary was a buzz of activity, activity that mainly centered around a crate of flowers.

Anakin Skywalker was elbow deep in the crate, yelling out flower names and colors.

"Yellow rose!" he yelled, and Captain Rex swooped down to grab it.

"What's going on?" Hero cried.

Lux looked up from the front of the room, where he was desperately trying to assemble his boutonniere. "The florist. The florist didn't arrange the flowers! They just left them in a box."

"Just left them?" Chuchi asked in disbelief, rushing up to the sanctuary. But sure enough, there were a bunch of flowers, just sitting in a crate.

Are you serious right now? Her inner teenager squabbled. The wedding is in two hours, and everyone except the bride, Padme, and the maid of honor are trying to put bouquets together!

"Quick! Tell me what you guys are carrying." Anakin demanded.

"Ah…purple and white daisies." Chuchi said.

"Calm yourself, Anakin." Obi-Wan said from where he and some members of the Council were assembling floral arrangements with the Force.

"Calm yourself, Anakin." Anakin imitated. "Master, I can't calm myself. Why? Because the florist was being a sloth and didn't put the arrangements together."

Hero slid her eyes over to Mina, on the other side of the room.

Mina was furiously arranging the bridal bouquet. It looked like she was simply focused, but the practiced eye could sense she was getting worried.

Hero grabbed Chuchi and rushes them over to help.

"Girls," Mina whispered, adjusting the blooms. "Girls, does Steela know about the flowers?"

Chuchi raised her eyebrows. "No. She's in with Ahsoka."

Mina sighed in relief. "Oh, thank Force. Tandin is worried about her. Something about a second mental breakdown."

Chuchi didn't miss Hero's huge gulp.

….

Padme and Steela had just finished affixing Ahsoka's veil to her head when Anakin walked in.

"Ahsoka, you look beautiful!" he said in amazement.

"Thank you, Master." She said, as Steela and Padme made a quick exit to grab their bouquets.

Anakin was about to tell her how proud he was of her, how honored he was to walk her down the aisle, when the church bells rang.

"Oh, Force! It's time to walk you down the aisle!" he cried, grabbing his apprentice's hand and rushing her down to where the bridal procession was forming.

(A/N: I apologize for the lateness of this. I was at a party yesterday. While we're on the subject of lateness, today marks the beginning of my local county fair. I'm in Junior Fair, which means that 99.9% of my time will be spent at the fair. The last chapter may come on time, maybe not. Per mrbznarutofan's request, it will involve the wedding reception, where things get a little wacky.

Thank you starwarshobbitfics and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. Speaking of reviews, please drop one on the way out!

Until next time,

Lux's Sister