[A/N]: oh my lord, it's been more than a week already! I hope you can forgive me for the delay, I have been quite busy... with... gaming... I can't help it, I've fallen in love with James Vega from Mass Effect 3! Thank you all for the patience, though. I hope you enjoy this last chapter of the 'Tatara and Ayame get married filler arc', before we move on to the introduction of the next arc, followed by more semi-fillers because Haru and Mikoto seriously need to work on that relationship of theirs. So stay tuned, please? :D And thank you for reading!

Carried Away
There's no reason to be afraid, you can't blame yourself for the world's mistakes.
Now it's time to let it go.

~ Two months later ~

Somehow, you made it just in time. On the day Ayame's mother would have turned thirty-eight if she were still been alive – bless her soul – everything was set and the happy couple was ready to get married.

At least, not before visiting her mother's grave.

So here you were standing outside on this beautiful day, at the graveyard. Ayame and Tatara were both kneeling down in front of her mother's tombstone, saying their inner prayers while you and Mikoto stood a small distance behind them to give them some privacy.

Why were the two of you here? Because the almost married couple both wanted to bring an important person from inside HOMRA with them and apparently you two were their first choices.

Glancing at the time on your phone, you noticed you should get going if they didn't want to miss their own wedding. "Guys, we've got to go."

Tatara nodded and stood up, tugging at Ayame's elbow to make her follow his lead as he did so. With one last goodbye, the group made their way back to the bar to get ready.

The bar had been completely restyled just for the occasion. All the tables and stools had been removed and only the chairs remained, having been placed so that they resembled the rows of chairs in church. The plan was for the bride to enter via the stairs and to walk to the other side of the room between two rows of chairs, where the groom and the officiant would be waiting. Afterwards, the tables would be put back so that people could sit during the reception, but there would also be enough space for the guests to dance. Just outside the bar was a spot reserved specially for the smokers, who would have to smoke their cancer sticks there for the day.

In that moment, you were lounging on Ayame's bed upstairs, at least as much as possible with this dress, watching one of her friends from high school who was (conveniently) a hairdresser do her hair. You shivered at the thought of the layers of make up on her face, deciding in that moment you never wanted to get married.

Sitting next to you was Anna and she turned to you, holding up one of her red marbles as she seemed to sense your discomfort. She cocked her head to the side, as if not quite understanding your hate for make-up. She was only nine years old, so you couldn't really expect her to either.

A knock on the door pulled you out of your thoughts and it slowly opened to reveal Munakata standing there, looking quite handsome in his suit. That smile he was wearing on his face was only adding to it, and it was great to see him so relaxed while in the headquarters of his 'nemeses'.

"Hello there," he greeted the bride before his eyes flickered over to you as he noticed the smirk you threw in his direction.

"Thank you for coming," Ayame replied in her soft voice, a blush managing to fight its way through all the powder on her cheeks. She felt a little embarrassed that her brother got to see her like this, but she had wanted him to come in the first place.

You got up from your position on the bed and went to greet Munakata properly, leaning against the wall as he did the same against the door opening. "So, Munakata, how does it feel to see your little sister marry before you could even find a girlfriend?"

"Who says I don't have a girlfriend?" Munakata shot back at you as a smile that matched yours appeared on his face. "Anyway, I am but a year older. You, on the other hand, are two years older. You also know the man you like longer than you have known her and still haven't started anything official with him."

Ack, you should have known that he knew and that he was willing to use it against you whenever the possibility would arise. But your fake-pleasant smile stayed in place as you muttered, "Damn."

"Anyway, the men downstairs are becoming impatient and you know how barbarians can be. I'm afraid they might break something if you're not ready in time," Munakata told Ayame.

Ayame grumbled something under her breath, probably something about still having fifteen minutes till it starts and for once agreeing with her brother about their tempers. You let it pass this once, normally being the one to calm her down whenever they frustrated her but this time you understood her feelings.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" you asked the friend whose name you had forgotten. You could swear it started with a 'T'.

"Not long," she replied as she did something with Ayame's braid, something that looked a lot like magic to you. Not long, she said, but she could be one of those women who claimed thirty minutes was 'not long'.

To prove me wrong, she took a step back to admire her work before smiling and patting Ayame on her shoulders. "There, all done."

While Ayame thanked her for her help, you pulled Anna along to go downstairs and tell the others to be patient for just a few more minutes. Munakata was going to act as Ayame's father and escort her down the 'aisle', so he stayed in the room with her.

"Alright everyone," you yelled at the top of your lungs to quiet everyone down. By some miracle it seemed to work immediately and all the boys who had been running around worked up like mad abruptly sat down in their seats. Even when wearing a dress you had the upper hand over their wildness.

Mikoto was sitting at the front row and it almost looked like he was sending an apologetic smile your way, but you ignored it thinking you were starting to become delirious by all the energy the boys seemed to be emitting. Anna was tugging you along as you gave Misaki, who was looking like he was planning on doing something unwanted, a warning look. Still, you were glad that he was some fun again after Saruhiko's 'betrayal'.

Anna sat down next to Mikoto and you went to sit next to her, her grip on your fingers firm as she obviously felt the exhilaration from the HOMRA-members practically oozing out of their bodies. Thank god Tatara had decided against ushers and bridesmaids, otherwise the whole wedding would have been an even larger chaos than it already was.

"Is it safe yet?" Izumo asked as he popped his head in through the front door. He had been chosen to be the best man, because Mikoto obviously wasn't the right person to do something like that. Make speeches and decorate cars? Mikoto? No… Just no.

You gave him the thumbs up and he disappeared again before reappearing with Tatara and the officiant they had hired for today by his side. A cheer went through the crowd behind you at the sight of Tatara in his suit and you realised all of a sudden that the men looked like they were part of some big mafia group at a meeting.

Tatara and Izumo sat down next to you at the beginning of the row while the officiant went to stand in front of the center, between the innermost rows of chairs to look over the crowd. What he saw was a rowdy red half on the left side, and a calm blue half to the right.

As if a silent signal had been given, someone cleared their throat and all eyes went to the back of the room, to the top of the stairs. Munakata was standing there, tall and proud as he held his hand out to the side, to someone the rest couldn't see yet.

Obviously it was Ayame who was being like Ayame, suddenly too shy to show herself like that. Before her brother could give her a pep talk, she had already given herself one, reminding herself of why she was doing this. She was going to marry the man she loved and live the rest of her life together with him, surrounded by a large family also known as HOMRA.

She stepped out from behind her cover and a sigh went through the crowd as they saw her. Though she may not have been the prettiest girl they had ever seen, somehow she had become just that. Probably because of the occasion, the magic of becoming a wife?

Together with her brother, she went down the stairs, one step at a time. She was wearing their – his – mother's beautiful necklace, which he had given her a few minutes ago. She had wanted Ayame to wear it on her wedding, as 'something old'.

Around her wrists a pair of bracelets was dangling about. HOMRA had bought that as a wedding present and though all pockets were now empty, everyone was glad about it. Plus, now Ayame had something new to wear.

Something had to be borrowed too, of course. You had opted to find something that you could lend to her and after hours of searching through your belongings, you had found the perfect item: a keychain with a picture of your parents on their wedding day, back when everything was still perfect.

And to fit the saying – something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue – Scepter 4 had given her a blue scarf that she was wearing as a decorate belt as she finally reached the last step.

Some kind of hip version of the wedding tune started playing as if out of nowhere, and Munakata and Ayame started their way down the 'aisle', towards the officiant who was standing there with a smile on his face. He almost looked proud.

In the meanwhile, Tatara and Izumo had gotten up and were waiting for the bride to arrive. Izumo was carrying a small pillow on which two rings were resting while Tatara was wearing a huge smile on his face. Anna squeezed your hand and had apparently done so to Mikoto's as well as you both looked down at her in concern and surprise, both relieved to see that she was just completely absorbed in the moment.

It was weird, but also good, to see Anna like that. But it really just meant that everyone had something that could stir something inside of them, even with this little girl who rarely showed any signs of actually having emotions.

Ayame finally arrived at the front, her cheeks red as she shot a small, uncomfortable smile your way before she took her spot standing in front of Tatara while Munakata went to stand behind her, to the blue side.

With a cough from the officiant, all was silent and he stepped forward so that he was standing next to the couple now.

"We have all gathered here today, to celebrate the joining of this lovely couple…" he started, but then he remembered that Izumo had told him it would be best if he didn't make his speech all too long and fancy. The average attention span of a HOMRA-member usually wasn't very long. "And so I would not like to stand in the way of their official bonding any longer."

Izumo stepped forward with the rings, and Tatara picked one of them up with great care, slowly sliding it onto Ayame's finger afterwards. Ayame did the same with the other ring and they ended up holding hands

"I now pronounce thee husband and wife," the officiant announced as he held out his arms to touch the newly weds before turning to Tatara. "You may now kiss the bride!"

And he did so, an enthusiastic cheer coursing through the room as an immediate reaction. Ayame looked rather flustered once more but Tatara held her hand and smiled at you and everyone else while they, just as planned, rushed outside to wait for the couple to come out as well.

Everybody started throwing rice as they walked down the street with a row of people on each side, laughing all the while as it ended up everywhere.

Then it was the photographer's turn and he made loads of pictures, had already made a lot of them inside, but was now making official ones. One with Ayame and Tatara in front of the bar, one with all the men and one with all the women – which was rather awkward, because there were only four of them, including you, and Awashima Seri was reluctant to even step close to HOMRA without a sword in hand. After that one, the photographer wanted one picture of everyone.

Once the pictures had been taken and the mood between HOMRA and Scepter 4 seemed to be getting a little better, Ayame decided to shoulder toss her bridal bouquet. Because there were, like aforementioned, only four women, some of the boys decided to join in as well.

So Ayame threw it over her shoulder and immediately swirled around to see who caught it, and much to everyone's surprise it fell right on top of little Anna, who hadn't even been trying to catch it. Not like anybody had really been trying to catch it, though.

She picked it up and stared at the flowers, even pulled out one of her marbles to investigate them, and when she finally confirmed it was indeed a bouquet of red irises she ran over to the side where Mikoto was standing. He looked down at her in mild surprise as she practically thrust the flowers into her face.

"Mikoto," was all the said as she looked up at him with big eyes, expectant. And with a sigh, Mikoto reached out and grabbed them from her, which made a smile appear on Anna's face.

But then his eyes flickered to you and you could imagine feeling your heart stop beating. As one might have guessed, you hadn't talked to him after the 'dressing room incident', the tension upped even more now. And here he was, his eyes stealing glances at you while holding a freaking wedding bouquet. If that was a sign, then why didn't he hurry up and make the first official move?

There was not much more time to linger on those thoughts as the newly weds announced the start of their reception. Munakata decided to leave with Scepter 4 before everyone drank too much alcohol to play nice any longer and with a sad look Ayame agreed, to which she received a pat on the shoulder from her brother.

Inside, everyone practically started stuffing their faces with all different kinds of food and it didn't take long until Izumo cleared his throat and announced that Tatara was going to hold a speech. Normally both the bride and the groom had to say something, but because Ayame hated attention and had gone through more than enough for her tastes, she had decided it'd be better if she didn't say anything.

So Tatara starting talking to everyone, thanking them for their presence and whatnot, but you couldn't concentrate on what he was saying for much longer – and you felt really guilty for that – because a certain redhead was sitting in front of you, his eyes sometimes going from Tatara to you and you couldn't help but feel a bit pissed off.

He was the one who kept on starting your 'episodes' but he'd never take responsibility for them and now he was giving you the classic signs of being interested in you. In a second now he might put a hand over your knee or start pressing his feet against yours or something.

Everyone stared clapping all of a sudden and for a moment you felt even worse because you had been thinking about yourself throughout Tatara's speech, even though today was his, their, day. Luckily that didn't last long as you managed to grab a hold of a glass of wine and immediately started drinking.

The couple then went to cut the wedding cake they had ordered and it almost hurt to see them cutting pieces out of something so beautiful. It was almost art! Anybody who had been thinking that forgot it the very moment they received a piece too, the deliciousness making them forget everything for a moment.

Once everybody had had at least one piece of cake, Izumo changed the music on the juke box into some more… danceable and a few of the boys – Yo, Rikio, Saburatou and Masaomi – went to rock the makeshift dance floor. Tatara and Ayame joined them, not caring about the rules of who should start dancing first and all that crap.

After a few more glasses of wine, you decided to join in on the dancing, pulling Misaki and Kousuke along with you, who slowly started dancing by shuffling there feet and swinging their arms around a little. Their embarrassment made you roll your eyes as you let the alcohol do the work for you.

By the time you had danced with everybody else – Yo even grabbed your butt because of all the alcohol he had drunk – Izumo came along with some more drinks for everyone. You gladly took two glasses, giving the bartender a cheeky grin when he threw you a fake warning look. Then he put the now-empty tray away and came to dance with you, a smirk on his face as he moved closer to you. You returned the gesture as you rubbed your hip against his.

It was always fun flirting with Izumo, because he usually joined right in without making anything serious out of it. You were best friends, after all.

A house-remix of a tango-song came on and you suddenly grabbed him by his arms, trying your best to be seductive as you moved along. He went along perfectly, even leaning down as if going in for the kiss and licking his own lips with a sly smile. Despite not actually having any feelings for him, you could feel butterflies flutter inside your stomach. How was it that this man hadn't found himself a woman yet?

By the end of that song you were already starting to sweat. From the corner of your eyes you noticed Mikoto's red hair and wondered if he was jealous right now. Izumo seemed to notice and came a little closer. "Still haven't talked, I see."

You glared at him, your flirty mood gone at once. Then you just shrugged and looked away. Izumo sighed as he ruffled your hair and left the dance floor to make sure everyone was happy, leaving you alone again.

When the heat finally did end up getting to you, you decided to go outside for a bit. Because of your luck, Mikoto was also outside though you hadn't even noticed him leave. He was smoking and staring up at the starless sky.

"Hey," you whispered as you sat down next to him. Maybe now was the chance to talk to him?

He hummed in response but didn't say anything, making you smile a little. After all those years, it seemed as if he was starting to talk less to you. Not just to you, but to everyone actually, no matter how hard you tried to push it the other way. And in the end, you just gave up and decided to leave him be, to accept him for who he was: your stupid, sometimes hot-headed King.

You didn't manage to find the courage to finally ask him about what was going on between the two of you but in that moment you didn't mind. You felt quite comfortable sitting next to him, watching the few bright stars that managed to peep through the smog in silence and you eventually stole his cigarette from him, much to his chagrin.

Neither of you said a lot, if anything at all, and neither of you seemed to mind either. Time passed by rather quickly and before you knew it Tatara and Ayame were announcing their departure for their honeymoon.

Everyone cheered and waved as they drove off and somewhere along the line Mikoto's hand became attached to yours, fingers intertwining as you went back inside to enjoy the music a little longer before everyone went to bed.