Disclaimer: Same as always.

Chapter 3: Her wedding

So, we all remember when we were little girls, and we used to parade around our rooms with a napkin over our heads pretending we were the blushing bride to be. For me, it was those long afternoons spent inside involving the utmost precision lining up my stuffed animals on two sides making way for my aisle in the center. I had my pace perfectly set in rhythm with the music from Canon in D. My beloved Peter Cottontail doll stood at the end of the room acting as the minister ready mediate over the exchanging of vows. Everything was perfect. The groom, usually some vague image of whomever I had developed a childhood infatuation on, waited patiently at the end of the long walk waiting to grab my hand in his and whisper, "I love you."

Now let's get back to reality.

My wedding day. Well, let's just say it was interesting in the broadest sense.

-----------------------

"Chiba Mamoru? Hi. My name is Tsukino Usagi." I tentatively extended my hand. "I'm your new wife."

Nervous would be the nicest way of putting how I felt at that moment. Those few seconds before the door swung open, every single fear of being stuck with a total freak for seven days flashed through my mind. I tried to reassure myself that Minako wouldn't pick the worst out of the barrel on purpose. The guy had to be somewhat decent for safety reasons, right? What I saw when that door opened was actually quite pleasant.

"Nice to meet you," his deep husky voice replied taking my hand.

Standing in front of me was I guess every woman's fantasy, tall, dark, and handsome. I did love Seiya and all, but hell, I can't help if this male specimen in front of me was very pleasing to the eye. What really caught my attention were those dark blue eyes that seemed to be some shade of blue unknown to man. They pierced right through me sending chills down my spine. His dark raven locks fell over his face at just that right angle that would give any girl the vapors. I had to crane my neck upwards just to meet his face seeing as how the large height difference caused him to tower over me. He must have worked out from the way his white dress shirt hugged his chest and revealed a bit of the shapely chest underneath. His fashion sense wasn't all that bad either dressed in a simple white shirt and black slacks; although, I did notice a rather hideous green jacket hanging on the coat rack behind him.

Note to self. Must wear heels around this man at all times to avoid any further neck injury. He continued to stare at me almost looking right through me. I couldn't really detect the look on his face considering the fact that we had just met. We continued to stand in the doorway taking in each other probably making our first impression assumptions.

"Why don't you come in?" a voice called out from behind my future husband. A head popped out from behind him, and grabbed my arm to pull me inside. The door behind me clicked closed and I was lead to a couch to be seated. I placed my half full cup of coffee onto the coffee table quietly surveying what would be my home for the next few days.

The color scheme wasn't too bad with its neutral tones. He even had all the latest entertainment system equipment ready for my viewing pleasure. For a bachelor, he lived in a pretty swanky place. That means he must be rich. No pictures. Hmm... he must be very private, or he's not very sentimental. Geez, is this guy freakishly clean. Not one spot of dust in the air.

"Excuse me."

"Huh?" I jolted out of my silent musings. "What did you say?"

"I said my name is Furuhata Motoki. I'm Mamoru's best friend."

I leaned back having the information dawn on me. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just spaced out for a bit there. It's been a hectic morning." I fumbled with my words feeling rather stupid for zoning out on the poor guy. "It's nice to meet you Furuhata-san. I'm pleased to meet you. I'm Tsukino Usagi, but you probably would recognize me under my pen name of Tsuki. Just call me Usagi."

He leaned forward laughing and shook my hand. "Well, since we're on a first name basis, just call me Motoki." His eyes roamed up and down my body. "You certainly do know how to make an entrance."

I could feel the heat rush up to my cheeks.

At that moment, I felt like a total slob compared to these two dashing men. Even the blonde haired guy in the jeans and t-shirt was having a better hair day than me.

"I didn't mean to show up quite looking like this," I pointed down to my t- shirt, a gift from my last birthday from Minako.

She always did say that I was an angry little Asian girl. That's beside the point right now.

"I've been having one of those mornings. First, I couldn't get the roof of my car down so, I had to speed through traffic with nothing to save my hair. Next, I had a little run in with my coffee. I must say that driving at 70mph down the freeway and trying to take a sip of hot coffee isn't a good combination. I think I might have some bad burns. I didn't want to be late, so I dug through my car looking for a spare change of clothes finding this. It was a good thing I had some old dry cleaning I forgot about in the trunk to change into. Suffice it to say, finding something to match proved to be difficult. Of course, I had to change in my car only to have a cop come by and give me a ticket for indecent exposure while changing in the privacy of my own car. How is it my fault that the guy had to be a perv and check inside the car to catch me with my head stuck in my shirt over my head with my half naked self, defenseless to his leering eyes? It's just not my morning. I knew it when I ran out the car and my heel got caught on a crack on the curb. If you go outside later and you see a very nice Manolo Blahnik shoe that would be mine. I think that about sums up my morning. At least I made it here in one piece."

Okay, I had to admit it wasn't my finest moment. In all seriousness, I did want to make a good impression. How was I supposed to know God had it in for me? I think we all just have to accept the fact that the one day we try to look good in front of someone, we'll always end up looking like something that escaped from the zoo in the end.

I must do further scientific inquiry into this.

It's like when you have one of those days when you know you look good, but there's no one around to see it. You walk around the entire day hoping someone will notice your hotness, but no one does. Then the next day, when you roll out of bed, slap on the first clean thing you find, and step out of the apartment to pick up the morning paper the hot next-door neighbor you've been eyeing decides to walk out of his place at the same time seeing you in all your morning horror. Why couldn't he have just seen you yesterday?!

The cruel irony of it all.

Motoki's lips pursed into a thin line. His face turned downcast hiding the expression on his face. Then, it happened, Small ripples resembling a snort fell from his lips before he burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "This is just too much! I always thought the mishaps were staged, but now I can see how it happens."

I lowered my shoulders and my head staring down at my ratty pair of gym sneakers that found themselves under the seat of my car it the search for another pair of shoes. My saved shoe and ruined dress now lay in a heap in the monstrous tote bag I tossed it into after dragging it up all fifteen flights of stairs because his stupid elevator had to be out of service forcing me to run up all those flights of stairs. I was pissed.

God give me the strength not to knock this fool upside the head for laughing at me.

His laughing only increased when he looked up at me teary eyed. He glanced up and turned towards the figure still sulking by the hallway." Come over here, Mamoru. It's rude to ignore your new wife."

"Uh, yes," Mamoru grunted. He stiffly walked to the couch preferring to sit at the far end away from me. The poor guy was probably scared that some of my bad luck would rub off on him or something.

Being the trooper I am, I gathered myself taking deep breaths. "So..." I would have finished my sentence if not for the chime of the doorbell.

"Excuse me."

So much for friendly conversation. I glanced down at my watch realizing that in about two hours we were to meet up at the Hikawa Shrine for the wedding ceremony. Silently, I sat there clenching my fist glaring at that guy, Motoki, putting him on my list of people to kill when the time comes.

Dude, you are so going down later.

"Sorry, Usa!"

My head snapped backwards at a painful speed sending a shock to m sore neck. Aloud crack registered, and my hand shot up to massage the kink there. "Naru?" It was really odd that Naru would be the one to get here after me considering she was always the more conscientious one. Her hair was messily out of place flying in all directions much like my own, and a large bloody scrape smeared across her left knee. She heaved under the pressure of the many bags of camera equipment and whatnot. "What happened to you?"

"Some idiot jammed their shoe in the sidewalk." She pulled a shoe from her pocket showing the culprit to her predicament. "I tripped over this sucker on my way up here!"

"Oh my god! I thought I'd lost you forever." I jumped up from the couch and snatched my precious shoe hugging it to my chest while lovingly stroking it. "Mama will never leave you again."

"Oh geez. I should have known it was you. Rei doesn't pay me enough to tag along behind you." Naru dumped all her gear onto the ground, and marring the perfectly clean space of the living room. "One of these days, I swear, you're gonna get me killed." She mechanically moved about the room opening the curtains to the windows letting more light in. Every once in awhile, she would pause to think about what angle would be best for the shoot. Pulling out her camera, she hastily loaded up the film. "Crap," she muttered to herself. "Rei is going to kill me for missing the first shot of the day. I was supposed to catch you two on your first meeting."

"Sorry," I mumbled in return. I gingerly placed my shoe into the bag, and placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her tirade. "Don't worry, we can just do a mock shoot of how we first met. I am a very good actress you know. Look, I'm surprised!" I contorted my face into what I thought would be surprise, but earned only laughter from Naru.

"That is what you call surprised? I think it's more like constipated."

"Not funny." My hand flew out and slapped her on the arm. "Forgive this poor uncoordinated woman and her awry pump?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She dismissively waved away the apology. "I might forgive you faster with a pair like those in a size 7."

"Deal."

"Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!" a nasally voice yelled jumping out from the kitchen.

"Who the hell are you?!" four voices screamed in unison.

The rather dowdy looking fellow stood up from his crouched position on the floor with his camera strapped to his face. He looked liked the kind of guy we all fondly remembered as the high school nerd. By the looks of his glasses he was quite myopically challenged. All he was missing was the jocks flipping him upside down dunking him into a urinal to complete the picture.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Mamoru growled scruffing him by the neck. The poor guy cowered under the quick assault flailing his arms up and down while trying to save his video camera before Mamoru snatched it from his hands.

"I'm with her! Rei sent me." he squealed like a pig.

Mamoru's grasp loosened allowing him to fall in a mangled heap to the ground. "You should have said so sooner." He slumped back onto the couch clutching his head rocking back and forth muttering to himself.

Oh great, it hasn't even been an hour and this guy is cracking under the pressure.

I released my hand across my chest stabilizing my erratic heartbeat from that weird guy popping out and scaring the crap out of me. "I don't understand. Why would Rei send an extra camera person if I've got Naru?"

"Yeah," Naru added with a twinge of resentment in her voice. "I've worked with Usa since the beginning and not once have I needed back up."

"Well," he began taking off his glasses revealing his squinty eyes beneath and rubbing them with a lens cloth from his pocket. "Rei hired me not as a photographer. She wanted me to film this experience for future use."

"Future use? Why would you need to film for a magazine." I massaged my temples preparing for the oncoming migraine. "What's your name anyway?"

"Umino Gurio," he cheerily replied extending his hand. "Don't mind me. I'm just here to do my job for the TV station. From what I've gotten so far, it'll surely get me that raise I've been wanting. This stuff is gold. Plus, it's not to shabby that a guy like me gets to follow a pretty woman like you all week long." He patted his camera, which was currently still running at the moment.

"How long have you been following me?"

"Since you got in your car this morning."

"You were following me in another car that whole time."

"No. I was hiding in the back seat with the camera set in the front filming you. Rei and that woman, Minako I think it was, nice lady by the way, got me a copy of your car keys so I could set up my equipment this morning."

Oh god. They have hit all time lows sending this creepy stalker guy to follow me.

"I don't like this one bit!" Naru snapped. She ran forward poking and angry finger in his chest. "Listen here, you weirdo. I'll do my job and you stay the hell out of my way. Got that?'

"Okay," he stuttered clutching his chest where Naru's finely manicured finger had prodded him. "If you want the shots of their first meeting, you can just take some still shots from my film."

"Thanks," she grunted.

I threw my hands up in the air clearly confused by what was going on. "That's it. Everyone calm down. I'll call Rei and see what is going on here." I dove for my bag on the floor and began pulling out all the odds in ends inside. It was like a never-ending pit of junk. It never ceases to amaze me what kind of stuff I find in my purses. I tugged at the bottom pulling out a very stubborn rolling pin that had lodged itself into the corner.

"I've been looking for this all over the place."

"Usa?"

"What?"

"Why do you have a rolling pin in your bag?" Naru asked perplexed by the off array of items that exploded from my bag.

Exasperated, I sighed. "Well, how else can I make cookies?"

"Yeah, just checking."

"Got it!" I scrolled down the winding list of names falling onto Rei's personal cell phone number. Punching in the send call button, I tapped my foot against the ground waiting for someone to pick up.

"Hello."

"Look here, woman, why did you send this weird guy to trail me? What is this about a TV deal?"

"Damn! I told him not to be caught" came a muttered reply. I could hear fumbling with the phone. "Well, I was going to tell you about this later, but Mina knew someone at one of the local television networks. She was telling him about her next column including you and he flipped for the idea of making it into a TV special. The broadcast is supposed to take place the same day as the release of the article."

"No way. Uh nuh, I'm not doing this. Nowhere in my contracts does it say I'm responsible for doing this." I violently shook my head not realizing that she had no idea I was doing that at the very moment. "Have you seen this guy? He hid in my car. He kinda freaks me out like a stalker or something."

"Hey, I resent that. I am not a stalker. I am a paid professional."

"Sorry, Umino-san, I didn't mean it that way. Anyway, this is too weird for me."

"Nope. Not gonna let you back out of this. You should have read the back of the contract before you signed."

Crap.

"What?! Who the hell puts stuff on the back?"

"I do."

"So same conditions apply, huh? I should sue you for endangerment on the job."

"How is that?"

"I'm emotionally abused all the time."

"Whatever, Odango Atama."

My grip on the phone tightened. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Odango! I'm so gonna find you after this is done and rip you a new..."

"Excuse me, Tsukino-san." A warm hand tapped me on the shoulder knocking me out of the sadistic thoughts of pain I wanted to inflict upon my editor. "Before we got interrupted I was about to explain the fact that I can't do this. I'm sorry, but you've got to find someone else.'

I wanted to kiss the man.

"Did you hear that Rei?" I cackled. "Chiba-san doesn't want to do this either. That means I'm out. Kiss my butt goodbye because since he's not doing this there is no one else."

"What?!" a screech echoed out from the phone. I pulled the receiver away from my ear. "He is not going to pull out that easily! Put him on the phone with me right now."

"You got it." I tossed the phone to my "husband" happily taking in the fact that I might not have to go through with this stunt. A satisfactory smile curled on my lips as I took a seat on the couch, stretched my legs out, and took a long sip of my now lukewarm coffee. I gagged on the gooey bottom, which I presume was the remnants of the syrup used for my double.

A few minutes later, I heard the door to the room Chiba-san had retreated into for the private conversation. I whipped my head around to find his face quite ashen with his mouth moving at a rapid pace muttering to himself as if he had been hit with a tornado.

I knew it was too good to be true.

I squared my shoulders, and punished myself off the couch to take back my phone form his shaky hand. Seeing as how his body apparently wasn't in the mood to function properly, I directed him towards the couch letting him fall with a thud. "So, is there anything you need before we head off for the church?"

"Lawyers. Scary. Woman," he muttered to himself in a daze.

"Hey, Mamoru! Are you okay in there?" Motoki shook the poor incoherent man trying to get some response, but failed miserably in the end. "What happened?'

"You didn't tell me Rei was in charge of this entire thing," he snapped glaring in Motoki's direction. His incoherent stupor disappeared quickly replaced by a flash of anger. He raised his head peering through the awry bangs that fell over his face. "Yuuichiro's Rei of all people. You two pulled some strings, didn't you?"

Motoki stood up and backed up slowly towards the door in case he needed to make a quick exit. His hands were raised in front of him pleading innocence, although his guilt was obvious. "Of course not. I entered your application in like everyone else. It wasn't even Rei who picked you. I heard it was some other columnist who was the final judge." He let out a nervous laugh when he saw the look of disbelief in friend's face. "Okay, maybe Rei had a little to do with making sure your application was put in with the final batch, but she made no guarantees that you would get it."

"Oh, so it was a conspiracy all along," I laughed. For once it felt good to not be the only one duped into something crazy. I stepped in between the two larger men before nay blood was shed. It was an act of kindness on my part, and partly due to the fact that whatever Umino had filmed probably was supposed to stay G-rated. I gently placed my hand on Chiba-san's arm and felt his body relax under the firm pressure on his arm. "Don't feel so bad. This will be over sooner than you think. If I know Rei she pigeon holed you to stay in this with her legal team behind her. We're in the same boat, and we might as well start this thing. The sooner we do this, the sooner we get this done."

The anger in his eyes subsided with my soothing voice and he complacently nodded his head in defeat.

Motoki took this as a moment to dart out the door. "I'll see you at the ceremony. I am your best man after all!" With those few words said, the man made a mad dash out of the building probably thanking god he made it out in one piece.

"Coward," I muttered underneath my breath while shaking my head.

"I agree," a deep voice concurred from beside me. "Motoki has always been the one to rush into battle, and leave everyone else to fight the fight."

I turned to my side, finally noticing my hand had not yet left his arm. I quickly snatched it back nervously laughing along. Trying to find some way to smooth out the awkwardness of our beginning I put on a big smile, and looked up at him. "Since we're going to be together for the next week, how about we start things the right way. My name is Tsukino Usagi, but you can call me Usagi. It's very nice to meet you. I look forward to being your wife." I stepped back and formally bowed.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Usagi. I'm Chiba Mamoru, but just plain Mamoru will be fine." He played with his hands not quite knowing how to follow up. "Umm... I look forward to being your husband, too."

I lifted my head up letting my gaze fall upon the small smile on his face. It was the first time I actually saw the man smile, but it was enough to tell me that things would work out just fine. I linked my arm with his, and pulled him out the door. "Let's go. We have a wedding to get to."

-----------------------------------

"Ow! Hair! Minako!" I screamed for the fifth time. I felt the offended locks fall down my back, and rubbed the sore spot on my scalp. "I think if you help me get ready any more I won't make it to the ceremony. Let me finish up the rest."

"Fine. Just don't blame me when your wedding photos don't come out fabulous," she pouted crossing her arms over her chest. Her long, blonde locks had been curled slightly and left in waves cascading down her back. A simple ribbon tied it all back keeping her bangs out of her face. As my maid of honor she had taken it upon herself in choosing a long peach gown bordering more on the golden orange tones.

I never liked orange much. A color that is named after a fruit is never right. Then again, it does compliment Minako.

"Uh huh," I grunted as I tucked the last curl up into the mess of curls on top of my head. I reached for the can of hairspray spraying enough to seal my untamable hair with a fine thick coat of the spray. The hair was practically spackled onto my head. I turned around in my chair and looked around the room, which I suspected to be Rei's childhood bedroom with the outdated posters of J-pop idols long gone. "So, this is where the demon spawn known as Rei inhabited? How about we snoop around a bit? I could always use some blackmail for future use. A diary would be a goldmine of info."

"Don't even think about it, Odango," Rei triumphantly yelled from the doorway. "Don't you know by now I'm always one step ahead of you?"

"Damn it." I rubbed my temples trying to push out the head ache from my hair being stretched so taught against my scalp in the intricate weave of curls and knots. "So, What's next on the agenda? Please tell me there aren't going to be anymore surprises like this guy over there." I jabbed a finger in the direction of Umino, who was now sporting a rather large lump on the side of his head courtesy of Naru.

Hey, the guy deserved it. I would have done the honor of knocking him upside the head for trying to follow me into the room to change, but Naru had the faster hand to scruff him by the back of the neck dragging him back outside. From the stupid look on his face bordering on a goofy smile and the lame excuse for being paid to capture every moment, he never had a chance. Naru had a mean right hook.

"Idiot," Naru grumble underneath her breath.

Rei shook her head, and placed her palm in her hand as if wondering what she had done in a past life to deserve being stuck with these people. "Nope. No more surprises. Umino, remember to keep your film at a general audience level. Naru, you have full access as always, and please refrain from trying to kill him. As for you Usagi, we've hit a small bump in the road. Your parents haven't arrived yet and no one can get in contact with them. We were counting on having your father walk you down the aisle, but since he's not here and we can't kept the shrine closed off for much longer I decided to have my husband do the honor."

"I never said I would go along with this," a man yelled sulking from the doorway. His straggly brown hair fell over his eyes shrouding his face from view much like a shaggy dog's face.

I always wondered what a nice guy like Yuuichirou ever saw in a crazed woman like Rei. From first glance, it's obvious they're polar opposites. Rei's the typical uptight corporate climber with the blood red power suit and black steel tipped Prada shoes, which probably could have been used to stab through a man's heart if necessary. Her personality matched the look. She was argumentative, stubborn, hot-tempered, obstinate, power hungry, dominating, and the list could go on. The first time I met Yuuichiro, I almost gave myself an aneurism trying to figure out what he saw in her. I think it was an office Christmas party when I was still just the newbie that I met him. She showed up decked out in a her Vera Wang evening gown and her hair down up in a perfect tight bun not letting a single strand of hair escape. He showed up in a pair of slacks and an untucked dress shirt sloppily buttoned up with the top two buttons left open revealing his exposed chest. His hair was in its normal style of a shaggy mess, and he looked like he really needed a good shave, which I later found out was his perpetual five o'clock shadow. Putting a Type A personality with a Type B should have lead to disastrous results, but they worked well together in some odd way. With his arm around her waist the entire time, there was only one thing obvious in their relationship. They were in love.

"Hey, Yuuichirou," I meekly waved. "I see you got dragged into this ordeal, too."

"Yo, Usagi." He turned his attention towards his wife who was now busy on her walkie talkie screaming at the florists to hurry up. "Rei, I never said I would go along with this. I don't want anything to do with it. This thing is crazy. No one wants to be here. Mamoru doesn't want to be here. I was just talking to him, and he is really not comfortable with this. Honey, just let it go. Why not just try another idea?"

Rei's face twitched as her mild mannered husband tried to persuade her out of the wedding mess. "What's crazy? Are you saying I'm crazy! I did not just hear my husband tell me I was crazy!"

The poor man who should have been prepared for his wife's backlash stepped back cowering a bit. "I didn't say you were crazy. I was just saying maybe this marriage thing isn't a good idea. Mamoru is a busy person, too. What you and Motoki did was really underhanded. Did you even think about his patients before you had his secretary cancel all his appointments this week?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," she hissed pulling him aside. "This is a good idea. You are going to walk Usagi down the aisle because I say so. You will button your shirt, take her arm, drag her down that aisle, and if I don't get the article I want you can be sure that it will be a few months before I forget about your betrayal. You know what that means. As I recall your back hasn't healed completely form the last time you camped out on the couch."

He nodded his head and sighed. "Fine. Don't come to me when I warned you from the start."

As if nothing had happened, she broke out into a wide grin and hugged his arm. Her voice rose a few pitches into a sign-song tone. "Nothing can go wrong. Thank you for doing this for me."

"Don't think I won't make you sleep on the couch the next few months," he grumbled. "I can't believe I'm doing this for you. I run a multi-national corporation with a few thousand people beneath me and I can never get my own wife to listen to me."

She ignored his last comments, and turned back on the headset she was wearing screaming for everyone to get into their places. "Let's get this show on the road. We're losing precious daylight."

Everyone rushed out of the room getting to their respective places for the ceremony. From inside the room, I could hear the screams of people running around like chickens with their heads cut off to do whatever they were supposed to do for the ceremony. I got up from my chair, and smoothed down the wrinkles in my wedding gown. Standing in front of the long vanity mirror, I stood back and admired myself for a bit smiling.

I did actually look nice. Mianko had impeccable taste I had to admit. The simple silk slip dress clung to my curves while the rest of the fabric flowed smoothly down the other parts of my body. I wonder if the day I marry Seiya will be like this. I know one thing for sure. Rei will not be planning it.

"Usagi?"

"Huh?"

Yuuichirou scratched the back of his head smiling awkwardly. "We got our cue to get out there."

I nodded my head and linked my arm around his. "I'm ready."

As we walked down the hallway towards the door leading outside, I could feet that slight churning in my stomach as if something bad was going to happen. I pushed them down to the bottom of my list of worries and focused on the task at hand. Maybe I was better to not worry about the future, but at the present. When we stepped out into the daylight I looking straight ahead to see Rei standing at the end of the aisle. Mamoru was to her left wringing his hands rather nervously. He seemed to feel completely out of place as opposed to Motoki who was grinning like the village idiot. I noticed his eyes seemed to stray towards my Maid of Honor who was also, sneaking surreptitious peeks at him. Mamoru looked up for a second when he heard the music begin to play, and for a moment his body seemed to completely still. His previous nervousness disappeared in the flicker of an eye.

"You look stunning, Usagi," Yuuichirou whispered into my ear.

I smiled, and whispered back, "Thanks." We walked arm in arm while the familiar strains of Vivaldi's Four Seasons played in the background from the speakers strapped to the nearby trees. I noticed most of the office had been invited and a few other unfamiliar faces, but the trip down the long aisle came to a quick stop all too soon and I found myself face to face with my future husband.

Yuuichirou released my arm, and tucked my hand into Mamoru's. "Good luck."

We both nodded out heads and waited for Rei to begin our vows.

"We are gathered here to today to join two join this couple, Chiba Mamoru and Tsukino Usagi, in holy wedded matrimony. Marriage is a sacred union not to be taken lightly."

Yeah, right. Then why the hell am I marrying some stranger in a scam marriage.

"It is a bond based on trust, loyalty, faith, and above all love. For a man and a woman to come together like this in a ceremony of eternal bonding, it is the ultimate symbol of their love and fidelity. The road ahead of them is long and arduous, and will be filled with happiness as well as sorrow. Both to be experienced together as one."

Yadda, yadda, yadda. It's a good thing that a long journey is really one week.

By this point I sorta zoned out on whatever it was Rei was babbling on and on about. Love, love and more love. If she would have just got on over the poetics maybe we could get on with the show.

My feet shifted under the boredom while I listened to the lecture going on in front of me. A small group had shown up, but not too many. Most were familiar faces from work, and the rest were either strangers dragged in as filler or Mamoru's friends. Mamoru did look rather handsome in his tuxedo. It was simple, and classic, a black tux. He looked like the type of guy who could pull of something like that. Add a top hat and cane, and whoa. Someone would be getting some action.

Rei stretched one of her feet out and stomped very harshly on the ground. Normally I wouldn't have cared except for the fact that her foot hit my foot dead on.

"Ow!" I winced in pain muttering a few unholy words under my breath.

"Pay attention," she hissed at me. Reverting back to her proper officiator demeanor, she went on with her script. "I would now like to take a moment and ask if anyone has an objections to the union of this man and woman. Speak now or forever hold your peace."

I was about to open my mouth, but the look of death on Rei's face made me shut it quickly. Thoughts of how I would one day dump her dead body down one of the many accessible ravines nearby danced in my head. However, now was not the time to let the sadistic pleasures take over.

Mamoru just stood their grim faced as if he were about to be set in front of the firing squad. For a guy, who seemed so uptight and proper, his face was turning a few shades whiter than I cared for. He could have been mistaken for one of those zombies or night of the living dead characters. I assumed that it was typical for a man to be scared of commitment, even in the fictional sense.

Rei took a quick glance around the group before resuming the ceremony, but for some odd reason when she opened her mouth no words came out except for some choked garble. "Uh..."

It wasn't until I heard the gunshot that I turned around to see what all the fuss was about.

"I object! Who's the bastard that dares defile my sweet daughter?!"

There he was in all his rifle toting, maniacal glory. A fresh string of ammunition was wrapped around his shoulder while his shotgun pointed dead ahead at Mamoru.

It seems he got a new model. Oooh! He even got the laser attachment to perfect his aim.

Motoki pretty much freaked out and screamed like a girl when the little red light grazed over his chest on its way towards Mamoru. He ran for cover cowering behind Rei probably thinking the gun-wielding maniac wouldn't shoot a woman.

"Uh... who are you?" Mamoru asked rather nervously. He stepped to his right away from me, but to his shock and horror the small red light followed his every movement. He lifted his hands in surrender while beads of sweat seemed to form on his forehead.

Another shot rang through the air as he unloaded a bullet into the sky. A loud squawk followed the blaring bang, and a dead crow fell to his feet.

Poor crow. He never had a chance.

"Usagi! Take care of him before he really kills someone!" Minako hissed into my ear.

I shrugged my shoulders and did as I was told. "Fine." I cupped my hands around my mouth making the shape of a megaphone, and yelled as loudly and slowly as possible. "Otou-san! Put the gun down!" I frantically waved my hands in the air trying to draw his attention away from Mamoru who really wasn't looking too good, but then again I would be a bit worried if a rifle was pointed right at my 'manly area'.

"For the love of Kami! Put the gun down, dear," a woman screamed finally making it to the top of the shrine's stairs. She hitched up the bottom of her gown storming towards my father. Her long graying blonde hair had been put up into a bun, which now had fallen apart. "This is Usagi's wedding day. I'm so happy for you, honey," she squealed like an overly hormonal teenager. Her mood shifted as quickly as the direction of the wind. "Although don't think I'm not angry at you for telling us at such short notice. I barely had time to find a dress when we got the invitation yesterday. Really?! A daughter waiting until the day before to tell her parents she is getting married. You should be ashamed. What will our relatives think when they hear our daughter eloped without any notice to her parents? You could have at least introduced the young man to us before the ceremony. He's quite the catch from I see so far," she winked. "Hello!" her hand overly enthusiastically waved to Mamoru.

"Hi," he weakly waved back. The look of horror on his face now intermingled with confusion.

"We'll talk about this later. I was a little busy," I growled. "Can you please tell otou-san to put the gun down, okaa-san?"

"Hey, did I miss anything?! When do I get to shoot my gun?!" a man screamed running behind my mother. His tousled brown hair was a mess and slightly damp from the perspiration running down his face.

"There will be no more gun shooting!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Aw! I missed all the good stuff."

"Give me that!" I grabbed his rifle from his hands, pulled the safety on, and empty the barrel out within a few seconds.

All those years of following my father around on his hunting expeditions wasn't exactly put to waste. The same was done to my poor father, who sadly enough couldn't put up enough of a fight against me. Well, it wasn't exactly fair advantage considering my mother had smacked him a few good times in the back of the head to knock some sense into him.

I tossed the guns to Mamoru, who seemed less than enthusiastic to be holding a weapon of destruction and death in his shaky hands.

My father ran forward and clutched his hands over mine staring at me with a pathetic pleading look in his eyes. "Please, tell me that you are marrying HIM!" he shot a glare at Mamoru that only promised hours of painful torture if my answer was his worst fear.

By now, the entire audience was captivated by my family's wonderful show. I sighed and dropped his hands to slap my own hand to my forehead. "I bet Minako forgot to include the small explanation about the specifics concerning my wedding, huh?"

"No, dear. We just got this rather lovely card yesterday," my mother smiled cheerily.

I spun around and looked at Minako who seemed to be finding the sky extremely intriguing at the moment. Rei was also quite immersed in the clouds floating by.

I ground my teeth fighting back the urge to kill them. "This wedding is pretend. Mamoru and I are just pretending to get married for an article I'm working on."

"Oh," two voices both spoke in unison. One was an 'oh' of relief while the other was out of disappointment. There need be explanation from which persons they came from.

"Well, then go on with the ceremony." My father turned to his left and right searching for their seats before dragging my mother and brother to the three empty reserved seats in the front row.

"Now that the little disruption ahs been handled, how about we continue with the ceremony?" Rei asked.

Mamoru and I both nodded our heads.

------------------------------

So, twenty minutes later, one attempted homicide, and a funeral for that poor crow later, I was married.

We sat in our small private table enjoying our so-called reception. The food was nice I have to admit. At least Mina and Rei didn't skimp on the food. That would have been blasphemous.

"Uh...Usagi?"

"Yeah," I answered swallowing down hard on the last forkful of food I had shoved into my mouth.

"Maybe you should slow down. You don't want to get indigestion or anything."

"Naw, I believe in the five minute rule."

"Five minute rule?"

"Yeah. You must east all the food on your plate in five minutes to make it a good meal."

Mamoru cringed slightly at the sight of my empty plate, and returned to his own food. "I'll remember that next time."

Okay, so maybe I did inhale all that pasta, chicken, and cake like there was no tomorrow. In my defense, you would be hungry too if you hadn't eaten a thing since the early morning, gotten into one too many verbal spars with an annoying editor and best friend to last you a lifetime, and saved your husband's life from your crazed gun-wielding father.

I glanced over at the wedding party watching the couples gracefully glide across the small dance floor set up outside. My father was too busy showing off his special attachments to the other guests' horror.

I would be horrified too if he was pointing the barrel at me too, while grinning like a maniac about its special rapid reload options.

My mother had dragged my brother, Shingo, out onto the dance floor with her fake tears. Mina and Motoki seemed to be getting along rather well. Well, as well as sneaking away into the bridal tent half an hour ago and returning with disheveled hair and clothing can get. Rei and Yuuichirou had finally come to some sort of compromise while dancing, which really meant he had somehow got her to shut up.

It was a picture perfect wedding.

"Do you want to dance? We never had out official first dance." I offered a hand. As I felt his larger warm hand fall into place with mine, I allowed him to lead us out onto the makeshift dance floor. The group of dancers cleared the way for the blessed couple.

"It's a nice night out."

"Uh huh," I murmured sinking into his arms letting him take the lead. My head peeked out from over his shoulder observing the many lights strung up for the occasion to light the party. The night sky sparkled with a few tiny sprinkles of stars lighting the dark canvas. A small content sigh escaped my slightly parted pink lips. "This is exactly how I want it to be."

"Want what to be?" His husky deep baritone voice sent shivers down my spine with the low tremors and power in his timbre.

"My wedding. This is what it's all about. You go through all the insane friends, family, and planning to get to this. In the end, all that matters are the two people involved. The madness is what makes it what it is. I like the rush of not knowing what will happen. The best part would be waking up late the next morning resting from all the craziness in each other's arms enjoying the rest of our lives."

I could hear the faint sound of some unknown instrumental song seep through the cool summer air. I never really learned the name of the song or considered asking Rei or Mina what is was. For some odd reason, I felt it was better left a mystery, one that I would never figure out. I wanted to be that little old woman listening to her radio, and when the song comes on I'll smile and think of him and our song. It would be a song all our own, and no one would ever know it was ours.

The idea was cute and all considering I had no real personal attachment to the man I was dancing with. I chalked it up to my overly profuse use of flowery poetics, the curse of a true writer. However, I wasn't completely opposed to the idea in general, the whole secret love type of thing. Maybe I would hear that song one day and feel something. Not love, but maybe some sort of familiar sentimentality.

That was what the next six days were going to be all about. I was supposed to be the wife of Chiba Mamoru for better or for worse or rather when the article was done. I still knew absolutely nothing about the man, and he knew absolutely nothing about me.

I felt our bodies come to a stop at the end of the song, and I tilted my head up to look into his face. Bathed in the moonlight, his feathery black bangs fell over his face hiding his almost blackened blue eyes that I fondly recall having a sort of fine sparkle in them during the day. He offered a weak smile, and it almost took my breath away.

"I don't really see it like that. I would never tolerate the madness. Things should be organized, timed perfectly, and set up so no mistakes will occur. That's why I plan on having a simple civil service wedding followed by a nice dinner with the guests at a respectable restaurant. We'd be done by eleven, and still have enough time to get an early start on the next workday."

And the perfect image was shattered. I wanted to cry at how this model of masculine perfection could be so.... absolutely boring beyond tears.

Something was nagging me to say that Mamoru and I would be disagreeing on a lot more things to come.

Six more days and counting...