Perfection

Chibi Tsuki

A/N: This one came out much sooner too! Yay! I decided to put these ones out sooner because I'm sorry to say that the next chapter or both this story and my other stories will be coming out late because of stupid yearly exams which are quite more or less a disaster. My grades aren't anything near high and so, that adds to another factor to the reason of the lateness… I stop blabbering on now ^.^;;

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 6

The Wedding Day

Lucretzia gazed at her sister, her beauty had amazed everyone especially in the glamorous white wedding dress with the veil hanging neatly over her face. Beside her was her bridegroom, quite a charming and dazzling fellow too without the thick accent. Next to each other, they looked like a pair of lovebirds, standing out more brilliantly than other couples. Lu couldn't help but beam with pride as she continued watch in admiration, but then she turned towards her father and studied his expressions. He was grinned uncontrollably and proudly, it was like he had never been so proud before in his entire life up 'til now. If he was proud at a wedding then Lucretzia had a major problem to deal with soon… unless… unless she acted up again. That way there would be no way he could send her off to some foreign country like mail. Duo was somewhere within the crowd and Lucretzia was trying her best to spot him but unfortunately there were too many heads and they found her as a distraction because she sat at the very first row. The climax of the wedding was finally taking place; there was the kiss, then the bouquet and the reception afterwards. This was going to be over with soon enough and she could possibly pig out without her family noticing within the large crowds. Changing back into some jeans would be nice too. While Lucretzia was thinking to herself, everyone was applauding the pair, sniffing was heard which was expected.

Aleena chuckled softly to herself, noticing her younger sister in thought, rather quiet and uncomplaining for once. She loved her dearly and was quite upset to think that they would have to separate for a longer period of time now that she had moved to live with her new husband. They wouldn't see as often in the holidays, perhaps at Christmas and other occasions. Gently, her husband squeezed her hand and gestured to the waiting ladies. Nodding back, she tossed the bouquet randomly towards the group, watching as they eagerly reached out for it with a little difficulty in their elegant dresses. Lucretzia glanced up and noticed the bouquet flying at her and hurried to get off the pew, not wanting it to land misfortunately on her. A pair of arms reached out and caught it just in time before it landed on the girl's head. Her sister was definitely throwing it to her on purpose. Slowly Lucretzia darted her eyes towards her saviour, noticing a young woman, not much other than her carrying the bundle with a triumphant look on her slightly plump face. Her face was painted in make-up and the false eyelashes certainly fluttered a lot. She pranced towards a young gentleman standing with a rather disgusted look on his face as she presented him her prize. Poor girl. These days, girls were trying too hard to impress their men, when will they understand that men want simplicity and not caked layers of make-up? Lucretzia let out a held breath and exited the church, following some of the other guests out to the garden where they were to hold a rather light reception. Actually it wouldn't seem light to a little girl with a poor family, it was magnificent, piles of food for bundles and bundles of visitors. It had taken her quite a while to convince her parents to let her wear something simple to her sister's wedding, something as simple as a black mid-length skirt and a sleeveless white shirt. Surely people didn't have to be fancy to attend a wedding. Especially since it was rather pointless to have a sparkling competition and see who wore the most sparkling attire. When she found her cousin helping himself with the chocolate cake, she stealthily crept towards him which she wouldn't have been able to do if she wore those puffy dresses that several old-fashioned ladies adored. "Duo!"

"Ah!" the braided boy yelled, jumping up in shock when he heard his name whispered right beside his ear. The piece of cake flew off his plate and in the air, landing onto the plate again looked rather splattered. Everyone glanced at him, staring at his startling behaviour. He apologised in crimson colours and when his audience turned away he looked around for the culprit who had ducked underneath the table. "Come on out Lucretzia Noin," he hissed softly as he placed his plate on top of the table along with the food. She couldn't have gone far and he was certain he knew where she had hidden. Suddenly, he lifted up the table cloth and stared into the eyes of a glaring girl. He yelled away, much softer this time and fell in an undignified way; on his rear.

"Gotcha Duo," she giggled as she crawled out while the guests were busily chatting with themselves to notice the pair. Before Duo pounced on her, she gestured towards the food on the table and the large silver plates. Duo caught on easily and selected the food off the table while his cousin fetched the plate that seemed rather suitable. Once the food was piled on, the dashed off with an entire plate of goodies.

"Duo," Lu uttered, calling for his attention. "I've given your girl the letter. She seemed polite and was rather attractive, I must admit." When she looked at him she burst into fits of laughter. Duo's face was entirely red including his ears. "No need to be that embarrassed kid." She laughed again. After she had given some time for Duo's face to revert to normal again she lay down on the grass and looked up at the clear blue sky and listened to the birds.

"Hey Lu, did you ever realise that somebody was and still is chasing after you?"

"What do you mean?" she demanded, sitting back up in a flash.

Sniggering at his cousin's reaction, Duo decided to take this a bit further to 'repay' her. "Well haven't you ever noticed the pair of eyes watching you from afar? Actually there may have been more..." He was about to say, 'but I've only noticed one', but stopped in time before it ruined the entire joke.

"Who are they?" Lucretzia was speaking through bared teeth.

"Some people…"

"Who are the some people?"

"Someone who's madly in love with you." He grinned mischievously at his cousin's reaction, it was going according to his plan which he was making up as he went along.

Abruptly, she rolled her eyes and fell back onto the grass again. "Don't say the name actually, I don't want to hear about it."

Duo couldn't believe what he had heard, his cousin wasn't going to pursue this topic anymore? Usually in such things that involved her romantic life, she would be rather eager to hear it and let the fool know that there was no way she was going out on a date with him or anybody else to be precise. She didn't believe that dwelling on someone who wouldn't love you was a waste of time and the longer one loved, the harder it would be to accept the fact. "But it's the really, really popular gentleman of your year, Zechs Merquise." He couldn't help but blurt it out.

"No, no, no, no. No way, that is totally not going according to my plans. The less he knows about me, the better. What about my basketball career!" Lucretzia had her face hidden with her hands.

"Did you really decide to become a basketball player? I don't think your pa would be happy at all."

Turning to face him, Lucretzia sighed. "Silly Duo, of course I'm not going to be a basketball player. You know how everyone feels about females and physical sports that don't include tennis and swimming. Perhaps volleyball and ice skating, and no Duo, ballroom dancing isn't really classified as a sport." Duo closed his mouth again, hanging onto his cousin's every word.

"So what shall we do about Zechs?"

"I don't know…"

The two enjoyed the silence, listening to the birds sing their songs of joy and happiness.

"If only I could be like the birds, free and easy. Away from the busy world of human kind, away from people who judge you on everything you do and everything you work so hard to do to please those who expect a lot from you." She suppressed a sigh and lightened the depressing mood instead. "Come on Duo, let's get back to the wedding. Perhaps there are some young ladies wanting for your appearance." Lucretzia grinned and finished the last of the cheese and biscuits.

"Oi!" he yelled and got up after the running girl, turning back to collect the forgotten plate.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Noticing her younger sister approaching, Aleena smiled and waved to her, noticing that Lu had gained height within the short term they were separated, she was nearly as tall as her. This was definitely a happy day. "Lu, where have you been?" she asked, gleaming at her sister. "I haven't properly introduced you to Matthew yet since Pa and Ma were too busy preparing for the wedding, fussing around on assorted issues and we were busy with them."

Lucretzia's eyes darted up towards her sister and then towards her sister's bridegroom. He was smiling cheerfully just like Aleena. "Pleased to meet you Mr Parkes," Lu greeted bringing out a hand.

"Just call me Matthew, Lucretzia," he replied and shook her hand firmly. Aleena placed a hand on her husband's arm and whispered,

"She prefers to be called Lu."

"Oh, I'm sorry Lu," he uttered, raising an eyebrow to produce a clueless face on purpose. Both girls chuckled.

Walking up to the group, Duo glanced at the trio, "What's going on? What did I miss out on?"

"Nothing Duo, nothing at all," Matthew replied, ruffling the younger boy's hair into a mess.

Slowly approaching with the bridegroom's parents and his wife, Antonio Noin smiled cheerily at his older daughter and then glanced quickly at his younger daughter as if he hadn't noticed her at all. He spoke in his firm voice but with a little happiness that rarely surfaced when Lu was present, "I'm glad you youngsters are getting along." To his friends, he introduced Lucretzia who stood silently until the Parkes shook her hand and greeted her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day, everyone departed to their next destination and Lucretzia back to school. She entered the school gates once again, much alike when she first came to the school except this time she was by herself, no father to tell her to fix up her collar, no maid to bustle her, only the silent companionship of the chauffer. When she had arrived at the closest airport to her school, an air hostess had given her a gift-wrapped box with a beautiful cobalt blue ribbon and light blue wrapping paper. The lady had told her to open it once Lucretzia had left the airport and now it sat on her lap, still unopened.

"Perhaps you want to open that box soon Miss Noin," the chauffer suggested, indicating at the box. Lu nodded in response and looked at the card that had been be carefully clipped onto the ribbon. It was from Aleena and Matthew. Raising her eyebrows, she pulled the ribbon, releasing the bow that had been neatly made. To her shock, something inside the box was pushing against the lid with hopeful force. Once the ribbon had been pulled through, the lid popped open and inside the box was a little fluffy creature crying for comfort. Lucretzia beamed and lifted it up at its arm pits and placed it on her lap. It was just too adorable! This thing is just waayyy too cute to abandon. She stroked the kitten softly as it made little sounds, indicating that it was comfortable. "What shall I call you?" It had three white socks and a blazing white stripe down its navy-black body. The ears were also tipped with hints of white and if one looked closely, they would notice the few amber furs overlapping the white. It mewed in reply as if it understood. "Are you a little boy or girl?" She lifted the kitten up and surprisingly the sharp feline claws didn't come lashing at her like she had first expected. "A girl," Lu said in a contented voice, hugging the kitten.

The car halted near the bottom of the stairs to the school, the chauffer hurrying to open the passenger door before Lu stumbled out with her extra baggage. She glanced at the school and trudged towards it, her skirt fluttering in the air. It was nearly lunchtime which meant that she would have to attend the classes after lunch, unless… unless she made some excuse that she wasn't feeling well after the aeroplane trip. Smart thinking… Placing the kitten onto the ground, she went to retrieve the small suitcase that she had taken with her and entered the school, the kitten instinctively followed her. Watching her, the chauffer shook his head and sighed; this noble was definitely much different that the young ladies he had driven around. Behind Lu, was the kitten, clambering up the stone steps, claws scratching the last step, supplemented with a distressed mewing. Lu chuckled to herself and bent down to pick up the creature. She checked into the school reception, claiming that she was feeling rather sick after the flight. Although the receptionist thought it was rather suspicious, she made no comment and simply let the girl stay in her dormitory after lunch, with a signed white slip that was to be given to the class teacher.

Frolicking happy, the kitten amused itself with the vastness of the building and investigated the rubbish people had dropped on their way around, but when her new owner disappeared around the corner, she dashed after her; running in pure excitement. Soon they had arrived at Lucretzia's room and she had more or the less realised that her roommate's belongings had disappeared; the bed lay empty, just like the cupboards. It was probably a room change. I wonder who's going to be my next roommate. She looked around and left her suitcase lying on its side on the pale-coloured carpet. "Lunchtime!" she squealed with delight and rushed out the door, nearly forgetting the black and white kitten, hidden underneath the bed. She sighed and kneeled beside the bed, calling for the kitten to come out. It playfully poked its head out and pulled its head back under, like a turtle but much faster. It dared itself to dart across the room to the opposite bed, hoping that Lu wouldn't be able to catch it, but unfortunately it was captured and was taken out of the room, away from the mysteriously exciting place; under the bed. Sighing with defeat, it climbed up onto her shoulder and decided to settle there, feeling cosy next to the warm pulse and neck.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Ooo… Noin's got a little kitten now, something which I randomly decided to put in ^.^;; Don't know why… Strange aren't I? Well I need help here, this is the Naming the Kitten Contest. Each contestant/reader needs to send in a name or two… or three and then I'll pick one from the bundle. How's that? Just as long as they aren't sophisticated to pronounce then I'm fine with it.

Wish me luck for the exams! Bai Bai~