Dream Wedding
Cast: Cure Dream, Yumehara Nozomi - age 20
Coco, Yumehara Kouji - Nozomi's husband - age 27
Cure Rouge, Natsuki Rin - age 20
Rose Vision, Ibara Shou - Rin's boyfriend - age 26
Cure Lemonade, Kasugano Urara - age 19
Syrup, Amai Shirou - Urara's boyfriend - age 18
Cure Mint, Akimoto Komachi - age 21
Cure Aqua, Minazuki Karen - age 21
Myoudouin Satsuki - Cure Sunshine's brother - age 17
Milky Rose, Mimino Kurumi - age 20
Cure Black, Misumi Nagisa - age 23
Misumi Ai - Nagisa's daughter - age 7 months
Desperaia, Itoshiki Nozomi - age 34
Natsuki Ai - Rin's sister - age 10
December, 2012
Nozomi has been looking forward to this event. She has dreamed of it for years. It even feels like a dream, herself wearing a wedding dress and walking down an aisle with all of their friends and family and friends' families on either side, with Coco, Kokoda Kouji, waiting for her at the other end. Viewing the scene through a white veil gives it an especially dreamlike quality.
When they first met six years ago, Kouji was only her teacher. Although she confessed her feelings to him at the time, he rejected her firmly. It was only after years of persistence that he became her boyfriend. Even when they became engaged, Kouji had insisted that the engagement be kept secret until Nozomi's twentieth birthday.
That birthday was seven weeks ago.
A baby is crying.
Nozomi is able to pick out Cure Black, who is frantically trying to shush her daughter as the ceremony proceeds. Misumi Arisa is only seven months old. Nozomi welcomes the baby's cries as confirmation that this isn't just another dream. This wedding is happening in reality.
Cure Black is not the only other PreCure in attendance, nor are the gathered friends limited to just Pretty Cure. Except for Cure Mint, who is married already and eight months pregnant, the rest of the Pretty Cure 5 are participating as bridesmaids. Rin is escorted by her own fiance, one of the late Shibiretta's grandsons. Urara is with Shirou. Nothing has been announced, but everyone expects that those two will marry in the near future. Karen's date is Myoudouin Satsuki, the young master of a famous dojo and brother of Cure Sunshine, who is among the guests. Milky Rose is still in Hawaii, but a long and beautifully penned letter expressing her congratulations has been framed display with the wedding gifts.
Although she is over thirty, Big Nozomi is also participating as a bridesmaid. Due to her former career and the circumstances of her upbringing, she has never been a bridesmaid before. (And she likely won't be again: She plans to wed within half a year.) Although she is obviously older than the other bridesmaids, the joy she feels just for being included is evident in her smile, quashing any negative comments.
The ceremony continues. There are no interruptions, unforeseen or otherwise. Nozomi and Coco say and do what is expected of them, and at the end, he pulls up her veil and they kiss, for the first time as man and wife.
Some rituals remain before they can disappear into their honeymoon. The bouquet toss, in particular, is treated as an imminent train wreck, or possibly a blood sport. It would almost be faster to list those among the unmarried women present who are not forcefully competing for a better chance at the catch. Big Nozomi is content to lurk at the periphery, and Karen has clearly joined the group only for the sake of form. At the other extreme, Urara takes a position near the center and exudes an almost palpable effervescence.
Perhaps it is that aura that prevents her from catching the bouquet. Nozomi's flowers glide through the air above her head, and slip through Rin's fingers to be caught by her little sister. Ai is as surprised as anyone, but faces down a unsettling and lemon-scented aura with a triumphant grin.
The garter is another matter, less hotly contested, though still not a result that anyone would have expected. Coco fires it toward the group of boys and young men lined up to receive it, where it is caught by Rin's fiance. Not to be outdone by the girls, he holds the prize like a microphone and belts out a piercing metal scream.
Afterward, there is cake. It is delicious.