A/N: So here we are with the very last chapter ... this is it. The very end! I am most probably not going to write a sequel, I'm sure nobody wants me write a sequel, cos if I do I will most probably kill John, mwahahaha ... and yeah I'm gonna move on get started with the LJ (LilyJames) that I am writing with Sammy, if you're interested in that it will be up on another account, one with the penname Mastermind Youkai.

Thank you to: Mage Light (you will NOT find out the other part of the punishment in this chapter. you shall all have to guess, mwahahaa), EllaFreak (The necklace ... hmmm ... well, actually the idea came to me in the oddest place ... the shower ... isn't that odd? i was thinking about the ending of my story and the idea of the necklace came to me so i decided i need an introduction to it before the last chapter. And yeah you're right i think i do need break! And I did take one a looong one!), rojay (er ...), b2okworm1 (you don't know who leo has a crush on? I made it pretty obvious! But ah well you shall find out me dear!), l'ilmissnitpick (I'm sorry if you aren't quite satisfied), Soulist21 (AAAH! I know I hate it too ... yeah Gail Carson Levine should sue!!!), SavvyKiwi (You are much too kind!!!!!), outlawed-little-angel (Beams), and Anywien (Hi to you too!!! lol). I can not thank you all enough! Thank you!!! Your reviews have been so supportive!! I could not have done this without you all! I love you!!!!! Byeeeee ='(

B/N: -to Atiya- Why must thou inflict such torture upon me? Thou shalt most certainly be punished for such a heinous crime! -grumbles- No ever even reads the frickin' B/N. What's the point?! Anyway, now that I'm here, I should probably mention that the song I'm listening to, No More Words by Ayumi Hamasaki, ish very purdy. Also, thank you to everyone who ever reviewed this story, it's only because of you guys, and my rather annoying begging, that Atiya decided to finish this fic. Thankees! Also thanks to anyone who read, but didn't leave a review. I'm pretty sure there are at least some that, like me, are generally too lazy to review. U Well, goodbye to everyone, and please give our upcoming LJ fic a shot. One last thing, if you do read this B/N, could you be so kind as to say so in your review? It'd make me happy ... = )

Chapter 22:

The wedding day had finally arrived. The women who continuously entered Isabella's room had finally made the young princess "beautiful".

The decorators, however, were still not finished. They were rushing about, trying to put up last-minute decorations up as fast, yet carefully, as they could, while the exasperated wedding planner, Jennifer, shot instructions at them. Jennifer had obviously never been told to plan a wedding in two weeks, let alone a royal wedding. Day after day her bun had gotten more loose and less tidy, her eyes gave the impression that she had lost sleep, and her patience level had reached it's maximum. Today she looked even a bigger mess than usual and drank continuous cups of Mandy's special coffee, as if in an effort to not drop asleep on the spot.

However, nobody could deny that she had done a wonderful job and of course she was being paid very fairly. The royal Ballroom, where the wedding and ball would be, hung heavily of the best wedding decorations with fantastic baby colours. Since there was no baby shower the things at the wedding would be coloured in baby colours. She had also taken time to plan out the appetizers and beverages with the help of Mandy. For drinks there would be Champagne, Apple Cider, Water, and Lemonade. For appetizers they would have a pixie-style salad containing only fried baby corn and chick peas (another substitute for no baby shower), garlic bread, tomato-cheese soup and fairy cakes (which were extremely light, tasted sweet and slightly sour and made you hungry after you had devoured them.).

For entertainment, one of Kyrria's most popular bands had been hired. This band was extremely expensive to hire so only the very wealthy could afford hem.

The woman who had tailored Isabella's dress had designed most of the clothes for the wedding.
Ella's friend Areida and her younger sister Isti (the third bride's maid) had arrived for the wedding. Isti was much younger than Areida; they had an eleven year age difference. Isti and Isabella also had a fair age difference but they got along finely.

Isti and Areida, who came from a not-so-wealthy family had been overwhelmed when maids had started pinning on their clothes for the wedding.

"I wish you could have arrived earlier, we would have had much more time to make this dress, and a bride's maid's too! Your gown needs to be very well done!" The tailor had sighed in frustration at Isti while giving instructions to the maids.

However, the tailor and Jennifer were not nearly as winded as the bride. Indeed, Isabella could be seen running through corridors and having outrageous rows with a variety of people.

"... and it is so white! I mean it's so white that it's boring! Why couldn't it be yellow? Or green?" Isabella was giving the crowd of people that were on her bed a long, negative speech about her wedding dress.

John, Elizabeth, Leonardo, and Anna each raised an eyebrow.

"Er ... honey ... Wedding dresses are supposed to be white ..." John put in quickly as hurt spread over his fiancée's face from the reaction of her audience.

"So are you saying that I am insane?"

"No, no!" John assured her, although under his breath he muttered, "Though it wouldn't hurt to add that thought ..."

Elizabeth, Leonardo and Anna howled with laughter but stopped abruptly as they caught Isabella's eye.

"All of you do think I'm mad!" Isabella yelled, thrusting the dress back into the wardrobe.

"No, sweetie-" But it was too late.

"YOU THINK I HAVE GONE MAD! TALKING ABOUT WEDDING DRESSES THAT SHOULD BE YELLOW! WELL, I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I LIKE THE COLOUR YELLOW!"

"Isabella!" John got up. "You will make the dress look beautiful, white really looks good on you and yellow doesn't ..."

"Why thank you sweet heart!" Isabella beamed. "I look good in white! That is so kind! But ... I don't look good in yellow? Be honest John, do I really not look good in yellow?"

"Er ... well, yes, because you see some colours suit you very much while others don't ..."

"So I look ugly in it?"

John cursed himself for bringing this up, and all the other people in the room gasped at the word he had just uttered. Even Isabella dropped the subject-

"John! Not in front of them!"

"Oh ... I ... I am sorry ... it just slipped ..."

There was silence.

Isabella at down on a chair and then she said, "So Leonardo, did you give that flower to that special someone yet?"

Leonardo blushed deeply, Elizabeth on the other hand burst out laughing.

"He ... he ... he got ... got ... he got her a ... a ... flower?" Elizabeth managed to gasp through a fit of laughter.

"Ummm .. what are we talking about?" John asked raising an eyebrow.

Leonardo muttered something about going to find Char and left the room, blushing ferociously.

"Leonardo I'm sorry! I did not mean to!" Isabella rushed after him.

"I have to hear all about this situation!" Elizabeth toppled off after them, smirking widely.

"What were they talking about?" Anna asked her brother slowly.

"Oh I think I know ... but you probably don't really want to."

"Well, I guess I don't then ... John?"

"Hm?"

"I was wondering don't you ... don't you miss ... miss them?"

"Who?"

"You know ... mother, and father ..."

" Um ... Well, yes ... I do ... sort of ... I don't really want to but I ... I do ..."

"I miss them too."

"But ... but you never really knew them ..."

"I know but ..."

John waited for her to finish but she left her sentence hanging.

"I never asked you Anna ... but I will now ... Do you want me to marry Isabella?"

"Of course!"

"You might feel a bit left out ..."

"But I am!"

"What ... what do you mean?"

"I am left out." Anna told him casually.

"How so?"

Anna shrugged. "Everybody else has parents ... I don't."

"You have me ..."

"No! It isn't a foul thing that I have no parents ... I have you! And I would choose you over our parents anytime ..."

"Thank you, but what I meant was when I'm married I will have less time for you."

"Yes, that is true, you will spend your time making beds." Anna snorted.

John blushed.

There was silence and they both stared in different directions.

"Do you want them to be at the wedding?"

"Mother and father?"

"Yes."

"Well, not really. No I don't."

"Why not?"

"They ... they would not have wanted to come."

"Oh." Anna got up. "Well, I had better go find Elizabeth."

"Alright then."

Anna left the room.

A few minutes later John found himself in the corridors searching for Isabella.

She was not with her mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, friend, or uncles.

Annoyed, John decided to check the kitchens, and there she was.

"I have been looking everywhere for you!" He exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! Mandy here offered me some tonic and so I came here to drink it."

"Er ... right ... should you not be getting ready for the wedding now?"

"Perhaps, what time is it?"

"It's noon."

"Oh no! Yes, I think I'd better go! I was supposed to start getting ready half an hour ago!"
Isabella hurried away.

"The tonic will make her temper much better." Mandy told John as she washed the goblet that Isabella had been drinking from.

"Is it fairy made?" John asked eagerly.

"No ... well yes ... partly ... master John I think you ought to start getting ready. I daresay the groom still has to be groomed." Mandy gave a light chuckle at her own joke.

"Er ... I suppose so ..."

It took six hours for everything to be perfect. The decorations had finally been hung, the food was prepared. Everybody in the palace had finally finished dressing for the wedding.

John and the tailor had pridefully taken credit in designing Isabella's dress. It looked wonderfully white, and she had inherited a necklace from her mother that had been worn on weddings since Isabella's maternal great grandmother's.

"I want to go and see John now!" Isabella whined, trying to tug away from a woman who was attempting to fix up her hair.

"No!" Ella and Cecilia practically yelled

"But why?"

"Because, as we have repeatedly told you, the bride and groom are not supposed to meet each other for an entire hour until the wedding ceremony." Ella sighed in annoyance.

"That is insane!"

"It's tradition!"

"How much longer until the ceremony?"

"Fifteen minutes." Cecilia replied, checking the clock hanging on the wall.

"So I suppose all the guests are here then?"

"Yes, I suppose so ..."

"Well I had better go now." Ella announced and rushed out of the room.

The door opened again and in came Elizabeth, Anna and Isti.

"Oh good!" Cecilia took a deep breath. "You are finally here! You were supposed to come earlier."

"Well, we are here now are we not?" Elizabeth drawled in an extremely un-princess-like manner, rolling her eyes.

"Yes ... yes ... Oh Anna! What a pretty flower!" Cecilia smiled at a beautiful pink rose nestled in Anna's hair.

"Thank you." Anna blushed cutely.

Isabella gave Anna a warm smile, so she had been right about Leonardo's little infatuation.

"You all look so marvelous in your clothes!" She beamed at them.

"We are nothing compared to you!" Isti retorted, laughing. "Your wedding dress is just ... amazing!"

"Really Isabella! It looks beautiful!" Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's not yellow enough." Isabella muttered.

"What?" Cecilia raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing."

There was silence and then -

"Sweet, your hair is done!" From the hair stylist.

"How does it look?" Isabella bit her lip and walked over to the mirror.

"Ooh! It's beautiful! Thank you!"

She saw the woman's reflection curtsey and exit the room.

Suddenly Isabella closed her eyes and put a hand on her stomach. She was not going to vomit. Not now! She couldn't!

She felt an arm around her shoulders. "Are you nervous?"

"Y-yes." She stuttered.

"Trust me, you are ready to be married." Cecilia assured her.

"No, I am not nervous about that. I think I am going to vomit."

"Isabella, you will be fine. It feels like it was yesterday when I was consoling your mother on her wedding day."

"But ... I don't need consoling ..."

"Oh but Ella did. She was crying."

"Mother was crying on her wedding day?!"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Nervous ... confused ... and she missed her mother."

"Grandmother ..."

"Yes, your grandmother.

Are we ready then?" Came a voice.

"Char!" Cecilia rolled her eyes. "I didn't hear you come in ..."

Char ignored her. "Alright, Anna will lead us. Do you have the basket, dear? Alright, good. And then Elizabeth, Isti, Cecilia and last but certainly not least, me."

Isabella cleared her throat.

"Oh yes, me and Isabella, of course."

Anna opened the door and all the people in the room filed out after her.

They stood at the entrance of the ball room and the band started to play.

Anna walked onto the aisle, steadily throwing the petals on the ground. Elizabeth, Isti and Cecilia followed.

Then finally Char and Isabella followed, arm in arm.

Isabella bit her lip, feeling slightly scared, but she could not remember ever being so happy.

All too soon they reached the front of the aisle and Isabella stood facing John.

The grand chancellor said some words that the princess didn't really absorb, because she felt so lost in John's sky blue eyes.

John smiled, and Isabella could sense the happiness in his eyes as he spoke. "I do."

Some more words and it was Isabella's turn to say 'I do'. She searched her body desperately for her voice, it had seemed to have disappeared. Then suddenly she heard herself say "I do."

"Jonathan, you may kiss your bride."

John leaned in and his soft lips covered Isabella's mouth. They kissed, and in the distance there was applause.
Pulling apart, Isabella saw the smiling and tear-stained faces of her parents and the rest of her family.

John put an arm around her and pulled her close to him.

"I love you." he muttered in her ear.

"I love you too." Isabella grinned.

Suddenly, there was a scraping of chairs and arms were being thrown around the couple's necks, and kisses were being planted on their faces.

It was difficult, but Isabella and John were somehow able to break out of the crowd.

Everybody went into the dining room for dinner, and before anyone had a chance to make a toast, Isabella rose from her seat, raising her glass and using a spoon to make loud clinking noises.

"Umm ... good evening ... I ... I have an announcement."

Heads turned to looked up at Isabella, some had eyebrows raised, and all looked slightly shocked, including John.

"Today is most probably the best day of my life, " Isabella paused. "I have everything I need now, including the best husband in the world ... but I also have some things that I do not need. As you all know, I am first in line to the throne. And I ... I ... I do not want to be. This is supposed to be an honour. So why not give it to somebody who will be honoured."
Isabella paused once more. Only one person in the audience was not shocked by the words Isabella had spoken, and that was her husband.

"What ... what I am trying to say is that. I am resigning from the position of heir to the throne. I am passing down this position to the person who is second-in-line. A person who needs it far more than I do. And that person is my younger brother Leonardo." A chain appeared on Isabella's neck, she put her hands around her neck, un-locked it and took it off as a blushing Leonardo approached his eldest sister.

"This necklace is worn only by the person who is first in line to the throne, and now it is my brother's." Isabella put the necklace around Leonardo's neck and smiled.

Leonardo seemed lost for words. He gave a weak smile and suddenly his eyes seemed overly bright, as though glistening with unshed tears.

Soon, after all had eaten, although Isabella and John had spent most of that time kissing, and many toasts had been made, it was time for the ball. The band started to play again as John and Isabella led the dances, followed by Char and Ella, and then Jerold and Daria.

A beaming Leonardo put his arm around the waist of his dancing partner, Anna. Cecilia smiled as she took the hand of a palace knight. Jakyll offered Isti his hand as his brother, Thomas, offered his to Areida. Elizabeth frowned but accepted Benjumin's offer to dance. Benjumin was John's age, being his best friend. So the age difference of nine years made Elizabeth and Benjumin the most hilarious couple, although Char would describe it differently.

It was hard for Isabella to decide whether the second best moment of her life was talking and laughing with her family and guests until midnight or whether it was being shown her and John's (and the baby's) new bed chamber which was beautiful and huge, and all of the things in it (including a crib) were presents were the wedding gifts, or spending her first night as a married woman.

And so they all lived happily ever after ... or at least as long as "happily ever after" lasts ...

The End.