Chapter 28- Anticipation
"No, I don't quite understand what you are saying!"
"Locke, try as you might, you cannot make a wedding theme different colors of the rainbow. You have to stick to one basic color, and go from there. It's tacky..."
"Says who? I think we should go with our own thing...we're cerainly different, right?"
"Arg, I give up, you are too stubborn." Celes turned away from Locke in the bed, and reached over to turn off the oil lamp near her side of the bed. The flame died, and the room fell dark. Celes kept her back to him and snuggled her cheek against the cool pillow. It was hot and humid out that night, and not comfortable at all. Celes was in a tank top and a borrowed pair of Locke's boxers, while Locke was in his usual bedtime attire, a t- shirt and boxers. It was far too hot to wear anything more. Celes' hair was also all twisted into a messy bun so that it wouldn't stick to her in the morning. She and Locke had just spent the past 2 hours in bed discussing more things for the wedding that came to their minds, but the later it got, the more they seemed to disagree. Celes was just about to close her eyes when Locke said her name.
"Celes, are you angry with me?"
"No Locke...I'm just tired."
"You've been like this for the past few weeks, Celes...our wedding...is next week..."
"I know, I'm so sorry. I'm just anxious, I guess. I love planning for everything, and I'm really excited, but then there are times when I just wish it would be all over...and we could settle..."
"I know, I get like that too." Locke said, and wrapped his arms around Celes' waist, pulling her closer against his body. Even though he was warm, Celes didn't mind at all. She continued staring out into space as he kissed her hair and gently ran his hands over her stomach. Celes sighed, and closed her eyes.
He was right, she had been moody and irritable for a while now. It seemed to start ever since that crazy dream. Celes wasn't sure if her mood was caused by that or what, but it still made a good date marker on when the mood swings began. It certainly didn't help that a lot of other things had been going wrong also...July seemed to bring them nothing but bad luck.
First of all, when Celes had finally gotten around to getting fitted for a dress, she found the only person nearby that would take on such a task was a nosy old woman in the southern part of the villiage that made dresses in her spare time. When Celes had went down to see her, the first thing the old lady, Agatha, had demanded was that she strip down to her underwear to get measured. Celes hated this to begin with, but it became worse when she discovered how cold Agatha's hands were, and how she seemed to like commenting about people's bodies.She was old fashioned and bitter.
"You're a very muscular girl." She had said one time.
"Thank you." Celes said, thinking that this was one of the few benefits of being in the Empire.
"That's nothing to be proud of dear." Agatha snapped, tugging the measuring string along Celes' waist. Celes squirmed from the string cutting into her sides, but she didn't complain as Agatha went on.
"If you were any more muscular, you would have the build of a young man." Agatha smirked. Celes rolled her eyes, knowing this definately wasn't true.
"I beg to differ..." Celes said, but Agatha interrupted her again when she moved up to Celes' bust line.
"You have tiny breasts too, did you know that?"
Celes turned red in the face and did all she could not to backhand the old bitch right there. Instead, she replied, "I like to think of them as toned..." Agatha laughed in her face.
"Who are you kidding? You just don't have a real woman's body. You don't have curves." Celes nearly choked seeing that this came from a wrinkly, short, badly aged woman. "But that's ok, gives me less dress to sew...well, maybe not." Agatha's steel grey eyes ran over Celes' body again. "You have pretty big hips. We're going to have to hide those. You don't parade around in tight clothes, do you dear? I'd hope not."
She thought the humiliation was over then, but good old Agatha proved her wrong.
"What's this?" Agatha asked, and poked Celes in the back with a bony nail. Celes screeched, feeling as if the hands of Death himself had just touched her.
"What's what?" Celes cried frantically.
"These pink scars." Agatha said, and snorted. "How becoming." Celes narrowed her eyes.
"Those happen to be from a battle I was in." Celes said cooly, while balling up her fists.
"I don't think lady soldiers are very good people." Agatha commented, and finally told Celes to get dressed again. As Celes was pulling on her clothes, Agatha went on to tell Celes how women soldiers were usually butch women who couldn't get men or couldn't run a household. Just when Celes was about to run out the door, Agatha stopped her.
"Come back sometime around next week, alright? That's when I'll have designs laid out for you to pick from."
"Very well." Celes said, and offered her a short bow as thanks.
"Oh, and another thing, honey. Who did you say you were marrying?"
"I didn't say, but his name is Locke Cole." Celes said, with pride in her voice.
"Locke Cole? That hooligan thief?"
"That's....Treasure Hunter..." Celes replied weakly.
"Hmmph, well, then I'd say you two were made for each other." Celes knew she meant bad things by that, but she ignored it. Agatha wagged her finger at Celes, and when she opened the door to leave, Agatha suddenly laughed. She reminded Celes strangely of Kefka as a woman.
"What now?" Celes snapped, keeping her back to her, with one foot out the door. She was wasting her precious time.
"Can I recommend something, dear? Maybe as say, advice from another woman?"
Celes smiled to herself, thinking that maybe, Agatha wasn't that bad. She turned around and beamed.
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Don't ever let Locke get you pregnant."
"Excuse me?!"
"With a body like yours, the weight will never come off. You'll never fit into another dress again afterwards."
Celes widened her eyes and spun on her heal angirly, slamming the door behind her so hard, the entire house shook on it's foundation. she practically had smoke coming out of her ears by the time she reached Locke's house. She threw open the door, hollared she was home, and locked herself in their room to cry like a baby.
And trips back there just didn't seem to get any better, but at least, Celes had thought, they couldn't get worse. Celes had made her final trip there yesterday, recieved her dress, and hid it in a closet so that Locke couldn't see. It would be a surprise, a nice one at that, she hoped.
Besides the dress though, there were other troubles. There had been the stress of finding a priest to perform the ceremony, which they still had not found yet. They had just barely managed to find a chef who would make food for the party afterwards, but he came at a high price. Locke pointed out that money was getting short, even after selling all those rare relics. Their wedding bands were going to cost a fortune too. Celes got defensive and claimed that he was blaming her for it, which resulted in a small blowout on a previous summer eve that left Locke sleeping on the couch.
But, even after the petty fights, everything still seemed magical and romantic. There had been no threats to cancel the wedding, or anything like that. But for the first time now, Locke had mentioned to Celes that she had been seemingly angry and moody. She knew why she was, but didn't bother enlightening him, especially about everything with the dress. she just let him assume it was PMS, or something crazy like that.
Celes surprised herself the next moment she opened her eyes, for it was morning, and Locke was getting dressed. He pulled up his pants and turned around, smiling at her. He didn't have a shirt on, and Celes couldn't help but practically drool. He didn't bother buttoning the top of them and stuck his thumbs through the belt loops, giving her a wink.
"What do you think Celes, should I just walk around like this all day?" He asked. Celes laughed and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Well, I don't mind at all, but I'm pretty sure that the people here woud throw a fit."
"Well, then, maybe I should just stay here in bed with you all day." Locke said, and Celes giggled. She gestured for him to come over to her, and he did, sitting down beside her on the bed. He leaned in and kissed her softly as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. Celes let all the worries of the wedding leave her mind and body with each gentle kiss Locke placed on her lips. Slowly, teasingly, he ran his hands down her sides to her hips, as he began to kiss her neck, briefly leaving leaving his lips pressed on her colarbone. Celes moaned and leaned back into the pillow, continuing to hold him as his lips then travelled down to her cleavage. Celes closed her eyes for a moment and whispered how much she loved him, and how sorry she was for being so rude. Locke kissed her one last time and embraced her, gazing down at her tired blue eyes as she opened them again.
"Celes, I love you no matter what." He said, and she smiled. "After all of this is over, we'll both be at our best again. We'll be together without any interruptions or worries...life will be perfect. and if it's not, I'll make it perfect, for you."
"Oh, Locke..." Celes murmured, and he kissed her again, this time on the lips, with full passion and forgiveness. She returned it greatfully and allowed him to resume to his kisses on her chest. Celes felt the heat rise to her face as he tenderly nuzzled his face further down her shirt and let his tongue trail down the cleavage line. But for once, Celes didn't have anything else on her mind but him. All she could find herself concentrating on was the undescribable sensations his lips left running through her body, the fire that was left on her skin after every sweet touch.
Suddenly, the clock in the living room began to bong loudly, 7 times. Locke moaned softly and sat up, pushing his hair out of his face. Celes blinked and sat up also, tugging her tank top straps up a bit.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." Locke said, and placed his hand on Celes' cheek. "I have an appointment this morning that I have to get to."
"Appointment?" Celes asked worriedly. "Like, a doctor?"
"No, angel, nothing like that." Locke said, and laughed lightly. "I have an appointment with the man making my tuxedo. Can't go to my own wedding nude, right?"
Celes giggled and shook her head. "I guess not!" Locke smiled and kissed her forehead before dropping his hand and standing up. Celes watched him finish dressing and got out of bed herself when he walked out the room. He gave her another kiss good-bye, and promised to return home as soon as possible.
Celes gazed out the window after him and let out a soft sigh. For her, even a few moments without him would seem to be an eternity.
"No, I don't quite understand what you are saying!"
"Locke, try as you might, you cannot make a wedding theme different colors of the rainbow. You have to stick to one basic color, and go from there. It's tacky..."
"Says who? I think we should go with our own thing...we're cerainly different, right?"
"Arg, I give up, you are too stubborn." Celes turned away from Locke in the bed, and reached over to turn off the oil lamp near her side of the bed. The flame died, and the room fell dark. Celes kept her back to him and snuggled her cheek against the cool pillow. It was hot and humid out that night, and not comfortable at all. Celes was in a tank top and a borrowed pair of Locke's boxers, while Locke was in his usual bedtime attire, a t- shirt and boxers. It was far too hot to wear anything more. Celes' hair was also all twisted into a messy bun so that it wouldn't stick to her in the morning. She and Locke had just spent the past 2 hours in bed discussing more things for the wedding that came to their minds, but the later it got, the more they seemed to disagree. Celes was just about to close her eyes when Locke said her name.
"Celes, are you angry with me?"
"No Locke...I'm just tired."
"You've been like this for the past few weeks, Celes...our wedding...is next week..."
"I know, I'm so sorry. I'm just anxious, I guess. I love planning for everything, and I'm really excited, but then there are times when I just wish it would be all over...and we could settle..."
"I know, I get like that too." Locke said, and wrapped his arms around Celes' waist, pulling her closer against his body. Even though he was warm, Celes didn't mind at all. She continued staring out into space as he kissed her hair and gently ran his hands over her stomach. Celes sighed, and closed her eyes.
He was right, she had been moody and irritable for a while now. It seemed to start ever since that crazy dream. Celes wasn't sure if her mood was caused by that or what, but it still made a good date marker on when the mood swings began. It certainly didn't help that a lot of other things had been going wrong also...July seemed to bring them nothing but bad luck.
First of all, when Celes had finally gotten around to getting fitted for a dress, she found the only person nearby that would take on such a task was a nosy old woman in the southern part of the villiage that made dresses in her spare time. When Celes had went down to see her, the first thing the old lady, Agatha, had demanded was that she strip down to her underwear to get measured. Celes hated this to begin with, but it became worse when she discovered how cold Agatha's hands were, and how she seemed to like commenting about people's bodies.She was old fashioned and bitter.
"You're a very muscular girl." She had said one time.
"Thank you." Celes said, thinking that this was one of the few benefits of being in the Empire.
"That's nothing to be proud of dear." Agatha snapped, tugging the measuring string along Celes' waist. Celes squirmed from the string cutting into her sides, but she didn't complain as Agatha went on.
"If you were any more muscular, you would have the build of a young man." Agatha smirked. Celes rolled her eyes, knowing this definately wasn't true.
"I beg to differ..." Celes said, but Agatha interrupted her again when she moved up to Celes' bust line.
"You have tiny breasts too, did you know that?"
Celes turned red in the face and did all she could not to backhand the old bitch right there. Instead, she replied, "I like to think of them as toned..." Agatha laughed in her face.
"Who are you kidding? You just don't have a real woman's body. You don't have curves." Celes nearly choked seeing that this came from a wrinkly, short, badly aged woman. "But that's ok, gives me less dress to sew...well, maybe not." Agatha's steel grey eyes ran over Celes' body again. "You have pretty big hips. We're going to have to hide those. You don't parade around in tight clothes, do you dear? I'd hope not."
She thought the humiliation was over then, but good old Agatha proved her wrong.
"What's this?" Agatha asked, and poked Celes in the back with a bony nail. Celes screeched, feeling as if the hands of Death himself had just touched her.
"What's what?" Celes cried frantically.
"These pink scars." Agatha said, and snorted. "How becoming." Celes narrowed her eyes.
"Those happen to be from a battle I was in." Celes said cooly, while balling up her fists.
"I don't think lady soldiers are very good people." Agatha commented, and finally told Celes to get dressed again. As Celes was pulling on her clothes, Agatha went on to tell Celes how women soldiers were usually butch women who couldn't get men or couldn't run a household. Just when Celes was about to run out the door, Agatha stopped her.
"Come back sometime around next week, alright? That's when I'll have designs laid out for you to pick from."
"Very well." Celes said, and offered her a short bow as thanks.
"Oh, and another thing, honey. Who did you say you were marrying?"
"I didn't say, but his name is Locke Cole." Celes said, with pride in her voice.
"Locke Cole? That hooligan thief?"
"That's....Treasure Hunter..." Celes replied weakly.
"Hmmph, well, then I'd say you two were made for each other." Celes knew she meant bad things by that, but she ignored it. Agatha wagged her finger at Celes, and when she opened the door to leave, Agatha suddenly laughed. She reminded Celes strangely of Kefka as a woman.
"What now?" Celes snapped, keeping her back to her, with one foot out the door. She was wasting her precious time.
"Can I recommend something, dear? Maybe as say, advice from another woman?"
Celes smiled to herself, thinking that maybe, Agatha wasn't that bad. She turned around and beamed.
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Don't ever let Locke get you pregnant."
"Excuse me?!"
"With a body like yours, the weight will never come off. You'll never fit into another dress again afterwards."
Celes widened her eyes and spun on her heal angirly, slamming the door behind her so hard, the entire house shook on it's foundation. she practically had smoke coming out of her ears by the time she reached Locke's house. She threw open the door, hollared she was home, and locked herself in their room to cry like a baby.
And trips back there just didn't seem to get any better, but at least, Celes had thought, they couldn't get worse. Celes had made her final trip there yesterday, recieved her dress, and hid it in a closet so that Locke couldn't see. It would be a surprise, a nice one at that, she hoped.
Besides the dress though, there were other troubles. There had been the stress of finding a priest to perform the ceremony, which they still had not found yet. They had just barely managed to find a chef who would make food for the party afterwards, but he came at a high price. Locke pointed out that money was getting short, even after selling all those rare relics. Their wedding bands were going to cost a fortune too. Celes got defensive and claimed that he was blaming her for it, which resulted in a small blowout on a previous summer eve that left Locke sleeping on the couch.
But, even after the petty fights, everything still seemed magical and romantic. There had been no threats to cancel the wedding, or anything like that. But for the first time now, Locke had mentioned to Celes that she had been seemingly angry and moody. She knew why she was, but didn't bother enlightening him, especially about everything with the dress. she just let him assume it was PMS, or something crazy like that.
Celes surprised herself the next moment she opened her eyes, for it was morning, and Locke was getting dressed. He pulled up his pants and turned around, smiling at her. He didn't have a shirt on, and Celes couldn't help but practically drool. He didn't bother buttoning the top of them and stuck his thumbs through the belt loops, giving her a wink.
"What do you think Celes, should I just walk around like this all day?" He asked. Celes laughed and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Well, I don't mind at all, but I'm pretty sure that the people here woud throw a fit."
"Well, then, maybe I should just stay here in bed with you all day." Locke said, and Celes giggled. She gestured for him to come over to her, and he did, sitting down beside her on the bed. He leaned in and kissed her softly as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. Celes let all the worries of the wedding leave her mind and body with each gentle kiss Locke placed on her lips. Slowly, teasingly, he ran his hands down her sides to her hips, as he began to kiss her neck, briefly leaving leaving his lips pressed on her colarbone. Celes moaned and leaned back into the pillow, continuing to hold him as his lips then travelled down to her cleavage. Celes closed her eyes for a moment and whispered how much she loved him, and how sorry she was for being so rude. Locke kissed her one last time and embraced her, gazing down at her tired blue eyes as she opened them again.
"Celes, I love you no matter what." He said, and she smiled. "After all of this is over, we'll both be at our best again. We'll be together without any interruptions or worries...life will be perfect. and if it's not, I'll make it perfect, for you."
"Oh, Locke..." Celes murmured, and he kissed her again, this time on the lips, with full passion and forgiveness. She returned it greatfully and allowed him to resume to his kisses on her chest. Celes felt the heat rise to her face as he tenderly nuzzled his face further down her shirt and let his tongue trail down the cleavage line. But for once, Celes didn't have anything else on her mind but him. All she could find herself concentrating on was the undescribable sensations his lips left running through her body, the fire that was left on her skin after every sweet touch.
Suddenly, the clock in the living room began to bong loudly, 7 times. Locke moaned softly and sat up, pushing his hair out of his face. Celes blinked and sat up also, tugging her tank top straps up a bit.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." Locke said, and placed his hand on Celes' cheek. "I have an appointment this morning that I have to get to."
"Appointment?" Celes asked worriedly. "Like, a doctor?"
"No, angel, nothing like that." Locke said, and laughed lightly. "I have an appointment with the man making my tuxedo. Can't go to my own wedding nude, right?"
Celes giggled and shook her head. "I guess not!" Locke smiled and kissed her forehead before dropping his hand and standing up. Celes watched him finish dressing and got out of bed herself when he walked out the room. He gave her another kiss good-bye, and promised to return home as soon as possible.
Celes gazed out the window after him and let out a soft sigh. For her, even a few moments without him would seem to be an eternity.