Author's Note

            Well, everyone, this is finally the end of this fanfic. I would like to thank you all for reading this, and especially those who reviewed. I've been working on this fanfic for a year!

            When I go back and read this first few chapter' I realize that it's not that great. I also noticed that there are many typos, so I'll eventually go back and edit them. (My spell check is a spaz.) I also like spelling "Noah" with an "h" at the end because that's the way it's spelled in the original manga. I continue to spell it that way 'cause I think it's looks better.

            After reading Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, I realized that there are a number of things in that manga that clash with the TV show. I just wanted everyone to know that the fanfic is based on the TV show, not either version of the manga or the movies. I will admit that I do have some facts wrong (Mirai's father had actually died fairly recently in the TV show, but I wrote the first couple chapters based on memory), and for some reason I had some strong opinions (I now realize that Cameron is not a that bad), so thanks for bearing with me.

Ja ne, minna-san!

Lady Une-chan (a.k.a. Mirai in some circles)

Disclaimer: I've noticed that I've forgot to write this on every chapter. Anyway, Yoshiyuki Tomino created Mobile Suit Gundam. All the random other stuff I stole doesn't belong to me either!

"In Love and War"

By Lady Une-chan

Chapter Twelve

January 16, UC 0080

London, England, The United Kingdom of Great Britain, Earth

The Ritz Carlton Hotel

            It was three days before the wedding. They had moved to the hotel that the ceremony was going to be held. Most of the guests had already arrived. However, Mirai's cousins had yet to show up. She wasn't even sure it they were coming, due to the fact they never called to say so.

            But Bright's uncle and aunt had arrived yesterday with their two sons, Ian and Paul. Ian was seventeen, tall, and talkative. He tried to flirt a bit with Sayla, but of course was rejected. Paul was fourteen, short, and quite. He was apparently shy and stayed by his parents' side.

            Cameron had sent them a personal note explaining that he wouldn't make it until the night before the wedding and was sorry that he miss out on any of the pre-wedding festivities. That's what he called it. "Pre-wedding festivities".

            Right now, however, the festivities were more like a reunion. Most of the former White Base crew had made it there already. Kai still wasn't there, but that was understandable. Frau, Hayato, and kids had arrived, along with Marker and Oscar. They spent many hours reminiscing about the war.

            It was in the middle of the "salt story" that hotel notified Mirai and Bright that there were guests waiting in lobby for them. It turned out that they were her cousins.

            "Kekkon omedetou!" four Japanese girls called to her. Other hotel guests turned their heads and stared.

            Bright cleared his throat and looked embarrassed. "What did they say?" he asked Mirai in a low voice.

            "Oh, they're just saying congratulations," she whispered back. But before Mirai could say "arigato", that two of the sisters, the ones dressed in kimonos, noticed Bright and how good looking he was.

            "Kawaii!" the girls squealed in unison.

            "Ignore them," said a voice behind the giddy girls. An older girl, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, squeezed between them. "I'm Naoko Yashima, Mirai's cousin. I'm the only one who bothered to learn English."

            "Of her cousins?" Bright asked confused.

            One of the middle girls prodded Mirai in the ribs. "Kare wa bishounen desu."

            "I know," Mirai replied in English. To Bright, she said, "Let me introduce the others."  She gestured to the two girls in the kimonos, with long black hair. "These two are twins."

            Bright extended his hand, but the girls bowed. He quickly withdrew his hand and copied them.

            "They don't know much about Western traditions. Anyway, the one with buns in her hair is Megumi, and the other one is Megami," said Mirai.

            " 'Blessing' and 'goddess'," snorted Naoko.

            "Naoko-chan," scolded Mirai. "And the baby of the family, Nikoru."

            Bright turned to the last girl, unsure what to do. Nikoru shyly extended her hand, her other sleeve covering her face.

            "Konnichiwa," she whispered.

            "Er.. konnichiwa," answered Bright, and shook her hand.

            "Ogenki desu ka?" asked Nikoru.

            "Um... Mirai, what did she just say?" asked Bright.

            "She asked 'how are you'," answered Naoko.

            Mirai turned to the youngest and said something in Japanese. Nikoru nodded.

            "Hello," said Nikoru.

            "I thought only Naoko knew English," said Bright, confused once more.

            "Nikoru is learning English in school, apparently," said Mirai.

            "But she doesn't remember much of it," said Naoko.

            "Urusai, Naoko-chan!" exclaimed Mirai.

            "Baka minna-san!" retorted Naoko.

            "Um, can anyone tell me what you're saying?" asked Bright.

            "Naoko's just being a brat," Mirai answered.

            The older cousin gave her a glare. "I'm sure you'll learn Japanese soon enough, Bright-san." Only she pronounced his name "Buraito".

            "Um, my name is Bright, you know, like the adjective. I'm not a burrito!"

            Mirai laughed. "She just was pronouncing like it was Japanese, honey."

            "I'm a not a Mexican food item."

            "Jeesh, gomen nasai," said Naoko, rolling her eyes.

            "If you actually speak English, you would realize that," said Bright, who was becoming quite impatient.

            "I believe the word 'burrito' is Spanish," retorted Naoko.

            "I was talking about my name, you idiot!"

            "Fine, Bright," Naoko said, drawing out each syllable.

            "Um, let's not get hostile," Mirai suggested. Even more people were staring at them. "Why don't we take them to meet the others?"

            Bright gave Naoko an evil glare, but, of course, agreed with Mirai and lead the group back upstairs.

            The others didn't have too much of a problem with Mirai's cousins, though. Both Amuro and Hayato were able to communicate with them in Japanese, which helped to smooth some things. They helped Mirai and Naoko serve as translators.

            But the next day become a bit more chaotic. Those guests that were not part of the White Base crew become bored of the repetition of war stories, excluding Bright's uncle and aunt, who seemed to enjoy them. So Ian suggested to go play a game of doubles tennis because the hotel had an indoor court. Of course, the two he invited were Mirai's middle cousins, Megumi and Megami. They didn't understand what he was asking.

            "Anata wa tenisu ga suki desu ka?" asked Megumi, confused.

            "They don't speak English," said Naoko, rolling her eyes.

            "So, then would you and your other sister attend instead?" said Ian, trying to be suave.

            Nikoru understood and nodded her. "Let's, let's!"

            Naoko rolled her eyes again. "Fine."

            So Ian, Paul, Naoko and Nikoru headed to the tennis court.

            "Gomen nasai, but what is your name?" asked Nikoru.

            Ian paused for a second and then said. "Bond. James Bond."

            Naoko just stared at him. "No... you're not James Bond. He has more sangfroid then you."

            "What in the bloody hell is sangfroid?" asked Ian.

            "You're not suave, nor can you kept calm, nor can you get the ladies."

            "I thought English was your second language," muttered Ian.

            "It is. 'Sangfroid' is a French word."

            "What's his name?" asked Nikoru.

            "Ian Noah," piped up his brother. "And I'm Paul."

            "Ah. PARU desu," said Nikoru.

            "Sure," said Paul, confused.

            They arrived at the tennis court and started there match. Ian appeared to be a fairly good player, but Paul couldn't quite keep score right, and Nikoru couldn't understand half of what was being said. Naoko was just trying to beat Ian.

            Well, the fun and games ended when Paul fell down after being hit in the head by Nikoru's serve. Though he just skinned his knee, Nikoru insisted in very broken English that he was hurt and needed treatment. Ian and Naoko were tired of trying to beat each another, so it was time to return.

            "So, how did it go?" asked Mirai.

            Ian and Naoko gave her strange looks.

            Mirai sighed. "Okay... Nikoru, what are you doing? Nani o shimasu ka?"

            Nikoru had whipped out a bottle of Windex and was aimed to spay it at Paul's skinned knee.

            "Watashi wa....um, I was going to... fix-o kare no, er, fix-o his knee-o!" exclaimed Nikoru.

            "What?" asked Bright.

            "I think she thinks that Windex will 'fix his knee'," translated Mirai.

            "Hai! Hai!" agreed Nikoru.

            Bright used what little knowledge of Japanese he had to disagree. "Iie, iie."

            "Kare wa Windex ga suki janai desu ka?" Nikoru asked.

            "Errr..." Bright didn't know how to answer this, but Mirai came to his rescue.

            "Windex ga suki janai desu. He doesn't like Windex."

            Nikoru gave a little pout and set the Windex down.

            It was at this time that Bright's cell phone went off. "Hello? This is he..." Bright paused to listen. "Right now? Okay, I understand, sir. I'll be right there."

            "Was that the military? Why do they have your cell phone number? Why do they want you?" asked Mirai.

            "Yes, it was the military, I gave them the cell number because it would be easier, and they think that they've figured out why those guys were after me, so they want me to go to the base," answered Bright.

            "Why can't they tell you on the phone?"

            Bright shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

            "Well, I'm coming with you," replied Mirai.

            He was about to disagree but instead said, "I see why not."

            When they arrived at the military base, they were escorted to the office of General Alf Garnett. Bright had never heard of this general, and was ashamed that he didn't know him. Being that Garnett was a general, that meant he was in the Earth Federation Land Force, which used army ranks, instead of the navy ranks used by the Earth Federation Space Force.

            They entered the office to find a short, balding, old man, with wire rim glasses perched upon his nose, sitting in the big "general" chair. The two men exchanged salutes, and Mirai impulsively saluted too. The general cocked his head in confusion, while Bright tried not to laugh.

            "Sorry, sir. Old habit," explained Mirai, blushing.

            Alf Garnett nodded his head and remained silent.

            "Excuse me, sir, but I was called here to discuss important matters," said Bright. Mirai noticed that his voice had changed back to the militaristic way it was on White Base.

            "Yes, yes, yes," Alf Garnett replied. The general then became silent again,

            "Sir--" started Bright.

            "Oh, yes, you see Captain Noah, the men that attacked you and your fiancĂ©e were Earth Elite that favored the Zeon and wanted to kill you and the Gundam pilot, Amuro Ray, so that the Zeon could win in the next rebellion."

            "Er, okay, sir," said Bright, "But, if I may ask, why were they singling out me and Amuro?"

            "Let me be blunt will you.  You're one of the best commanders in the Earth Federation. Those men thought that you and Amuro were two of the most powerful men in the Federation," answered Garnett.

            "Really?" asked Bright, surprised.

            "Now, if you excuse me, I have a a meeting with Colonel Bill Oddie." And with that, General Alf Garnett left the room.

            The two got back in car and headed back to the hotel. At first, Mirai chatted about how silly her cousins were. But Bright could read her like a book and asked if something was wrong.

            "It's just every man whose red thread of fate is tied to mine dies or leaves me," she answered.

            "Well, first of all, you chose to leave Cameron, and second, what is the red thread of fate?"

            "It'd a Japanese thing. Everyone is connected to the people they love and care about by thread," Mirai explained.

            "Okay," said Bright, "but I'm still here with you."

            "I was afraid that our thread was cut when those crazy Earth Elite were out to kill you."

            "Did you ever have a hunch that..." Bright trailed off.

            Mirai smiled. "Actually no."

            "Then there was nothing to worry about," reassured Bright.

***

            It was the day before the wedding. Unfortunately, Bright really didn't understand how exactly the ceremony was going to go.  He knew that it was basically going to be like a normal, Christian wedding, but he had also promised Mirai that they could throw in some Japanese traditions.

            So Mirai decided that it was time to sit Bright down and explain it to him. "Unlike Christian weddings, Japanese wedding ceremonies are fairly short," started Mirai.

            "Uh huh," said Bright, nodding his head.

            "First, the couple drinks sake, then--"

            "Wait, sake?" asked Bright.

            Mirai looked confused. "You don't know what sake is? Oh, well. It's rice wine and the stereotypical Japanese alcoholic beverage. You'll taste it at the rehearsal dinner."

            "Um, okay," replied Bright.

            "Anyway, the groom then reads his vows of commitment, and then the bride reads hers, so that part is similar. That's about it."

            "Really? A very short wedding ceremony indeed."

            "So, I was thinking that it was okay if we added the sake part in our ceremony before we exchanged rings. Is that fine with you?" asked Mirai.

            "Well, I obviously haven't ever drank it before, but I promised you that we'd have something Japanese in our wedding, plus, we've already got that priest from Japan, so sure."

            That priest was Kenji Matsumoto, who was dubbed "The Shinto-Christian Priest" by Kai. He was a strange and quiet man, but Bright approved of him.

            Finally it was time for the  wedding rehearsal. After practicing the ceremony, the group sat down for dinner. It seemed that Mirai's cousins had brought special sake from Japan for the occasion. How they got it through customs, nobody knows. Anyway, this was Bright's opportunity to try sake before the wedding. As he learned during the rehearsal that he had to take three sips of it, so he did so now. Bright decided that he didn't like. Meanwhile, Mirai's cousins presented them a envelope with a check worth 1,000 dollars in it. Bright tried to give it back to them, saying that they had plenty of money, but Mirai told him that it was impolite to refuse the wedding gift.

            In the middle of all this, Cameron finally showed up. But there was not much time for chatter, because it getting late, and Bright and Mirai had to explain to everyone what to do tomorrow.

            They headed up to their rooms. Mirai stopped Bright before he entered his.

            "I just wanted to let you know that there is no reason to be nervous," she told him.

            Bright smiled. "And this is coming from someone who worries all the time."

            "I just have a hunch."

            The two kissed and told each good night.

            "I'll see you tomorrow," said Mirai.

            "And I'll see you then, too, future Mrs. Noah."

            Mirai giggled. "Good night."

***

            Bright looked at his watch. 9:45 am. In fifteen minutes, he was marrying the love of his life. He stood there in front of the altar, decked out in his dress uniform. It was now 9:46. He scanned the crowd of people who were getting seated in the chairs. They had seemed to acquire many friends in their young lives. 9:47. Bright felt a hand on his shoulder.

            "Not nervous, are ya?" asked Amuro, dressed in a tuxedo.

            "No, just wishing it was ten o'clock already," replied the groom.

            "It will be shortly," Amuro, then returned to his spot.

            Finally, it was that time. The little old lady in front of the organ played the opening chords of "Here Comes the Bride".

            Frau and Sayla came down the aisle wearing their light violet bridesmaid dresses.  Kikka, Katsu, and Retsu were the flower "children", being that the two boys complained about not having a part in the wedding ceremony.  Then following them was the blushing bride, however, Mirai wasn't blushing, just smiling.

            The ceremony ran smoothly, even sake part.  After they were pronounced man and wife, the entire group went to the hotel reception hall.

            Amuro had insisted that he had give a best man's speech. Bright was worried that Amuro would bring up those times on White Base when used to clobber the Gundam pilot. But Amuro promised not to bring up those times.

            He stood in front of the crowd and raised his glass for silence. "Everyone, join me in a toast in congratulations for Mr. and Mrs. Noah!" Then he promptly sat down and poured himself some sake

            The party wore on, but all good things must come to an end. Frau ended up catching the bouquet because Sayla dodged it.

            The newlyweds waved good-bye to everyone, then went up to their hotel room.

            "Bright, I've finally found my home."

            "And were is that?"

            "Whatever you are."

Well, how did you like it? Actually, this is not the end, my friends. As you notice, there is an epilogue!