Very slowly, the soul occupant of the room took down the thick, heavy book with a very ginger grasp. He was treating it like it was the original copy of Hyne's Journey. With a quick glance at the bathroom door, he told himself that she would be in the shower for several more minutes, and he could look at this book without her interruptions.
Sitting down on the armchair, he sighed and rubbed his eyes after a long hard day full of stress. I finally made it back to her. I finally fixed what I screwed up on last time. With that thought, he bravely opened the book's cover and looked at the first page. There, a pair of pictures that he actually had not seen until 5 days after they was taken. She looked so beautiful in that dress, I could not believe my eyes.
She was dressed in a flowing white dress, embroidered with many white flowers and held to her form very well, necessary because of the lack of straps. On the bottom it billowed out into several layers, the first ending at her knees, the second at mid shin, the third half of the remaining way to her ankles, and the forth just barely above the floor. In the back it reached out for nearly 4 feet dragging on the ground like a princess. The man amended himself. She is a princess.
The second one was nearly identical, the only difference being that she was wearing the white veil over her face. Running a hand softly over the picture's glossy cover and his other through his hair, he turned the page and looked at the only picture on this page. It was of him, and two of his best friends.
Zell had just pinned his finger onto Squall's coat as Irvine pointed and laughed. Zell was screaming, and bleeding all over Squall's tuxedo, and the small corsage that was also pinned to his jacket. Squall screamed at Irvine to give him a hand as Quistis laughed and snapped a shot with her camera, immortalizing the moment.
"Quistis!" Yelled Squall "Stop messing around and get Zell's finger off of my coat before the jacket is ruined!"
Irvine was no help at all, rolling back onto the ground in a huge fit of laughter and clutching his stomach as he pointed. Zell was no help either, just standing and screaming at the site. A warrior who had faced death many times, been injured vastly and electrocuted by two sorceresses was screaming like a girl because of a finger prick.
He could not help but chuckle and sigh at the memory with a small smile. He turned the page again and groaned at the sight, covering his eyes with embarrassment despite being the only one in the room. His face turned slightly pink at the sight. Dear Hyne, I begged you to make that just a dream… that was just… embarrassing.
Zell had just stood up to make his speech as best man. Only fifteen seconds into the speech, Squall already was considering bolting from the dinner right there, and abandoning the bride to face the music herself. One look at her though stopped him cold and left him transfixed. That did not change the fact that he was turning a very bright shade of red, nor did it change the fact that he was going to make sure that Zell did not live through the evening. Irvine could take over as best man.
Zell went on with his speech . "And one time while I was talking with Xu, I heard a loud groan coming from Squall's office. We looked at each other and headed in, not knowing what we'd find… and you wouldn't…"
"ZELL!" Irvine nearly exploded up. It was strange to see him out of his cowboy hat on, much less in a suit and tie. His hair was in its standard pony tail, but even it seemed more refined than normal. He was shaking a fist at Zell as the shorter blonde stopped cold. "You SWORE not to tell ANYBODY about that, much less make it into a joke like this!"
Quistis was snapping pictures of the whole event.
He groaned and turned the page, and sure enough, there were 4 more pictures of the spectacle.
Selphie pulled Irvine back down into the chair with a strength that seemed unnatural from her petite form. Rinoa was also restraining Squall from getting up, but Squall seemed not to even be noticing her now. Suddenly Squall found his feet bound tight in a freezing substance which completely stopped their movement. Looking down, he found his feet encased in a solid block of ice. His glare went at Rinoa, that glare which could send the entire Galbadian army packing. Rinoa just smiled sweetly and with a touch of innocence mixed in and met his gaze.
Zell, emboldened by the support from the women, continued, "I walked in and there was Squall, standing with his back to the door behind the desk. When I walked in, Irvine stood up from kneeling in front of him and Squall turned around zipping his pants. They saw me and…"
Squall tried again to charge Zell, but his feet were still frozen to the ground. Irvine on the other hand had no inhibitions and leapt straight across the table. Sephie tried to hold on, but because of the cowboy's Guardian Force enhanced strength, his arm tore right out of petite girl's hand and he sailed across the table, cutting Zell off in mid sentence and tackling him. Zell, to his martial arts credit immediately began defending himself, but everybody save Squall and Irvine were laughing like hyenas. Quistis was especially bad, snapping several pictures of the fight, starting from when Irvine leapt.
With a sigh, he looked at the next picture. It was a great shot of the cowboy flying through the air to tackle the best man of the wedding.
Finally, Nida was able to pull Irvine off Zell. Needless to say, Zell's tuxedo was in pretty bad shape, and he had a welt on his forehead from getting his head smacked by a chair. Rinoa had to freeze Squall's legs up to his knees to keep him rooted in place, and Quistis got a snapshot of that as well. As Irvine finally resigned to the fact that the story was out, he sat back down, being slapped on a particularly nasty red mark on his jaw by Selphie. Squall's problems were only beginning.
With a playful smile and knowing full well Squall was already angry and embarrassed about the situation, Rinoa finally spoke up loud enough to get attention of everybody at the table. As their laughter died down her voice rang through clearly and the final bits of laughter silenced as she began speaking. "Squally dear..." a few more chuckle rounded the table as Squall's face went from a very bright red to cherry red. "...Is there something you aren't telling me?" She smiled sweetly but something in her gaze at him spoke of a cruel, evil demon inhabiting her body. Perhaps had Ultimecia possessed her again?
Quistis was following up on Rinoa's comment like it was all pre planned barely after the raven haired sorceress finished speaking. "Yea, Squall... we knew he was your best friend but we didn't know you two got THAT friendly..."
The man groaned looking at the picture, covering his face again with his hand.
Quistis held up the camera, snapping a shot of Squall's raging and embarrassed face. Laughter erupted around the table again, only interrupted by a single comment from Zell. "You know, Squall, you really need to consider if your marrying the right person." Squall's face flushed to deep crimson as laughter erupted anew around the table. Ellone was resting her face on the dining table, her face buried in her arm and presumably crying tears of laughter into her shawl. Laguna had long ago fell out of his chair and was rolling on the ground laughing.
Natalie was leaning back in her chair laughing so hard that the feet of her chair were coming off the ground. Irvine, in a fit of anger for all the times she had played him up, kicked her chair sending her sprawling onto her back, feet in the air and her skirt riding up her thighs. This only served to intensify the laughter around the table. Even Kiros had lost his normally cool composure and Ward was giving a silent chuckle, the scars on his neck quivering with amusement.
Squall sighed dejectedly and looked down at his food. He did not lift his face for the rest of the dinner, nor did Zell continue his speech. Squall found out later that night that Zell had never planned to go on with his speech anyways, and that he knew this would be so embarrassing and cause such a commotion that Zell's speech would be cut short anyways. Squall punched Zell right in the eye sending him spiraling off the second floor railing down onto the first floor of Garden. Squall then returned to his bachelor party in the old second floor classroom.
With an embarrassed sigh, the man turned the page again and found himself in another set of pictures. He silently thanked Hyne that Quistis was at the bachelorette party, so no more incriminating pictures of him were taken, of which there were many potentials. However, he did come upon several pictures which he did not recognize. He frowned then turned a page, then went back not recognizing it. The pictures were of all women. He recognized several SeeD's
There's Liz Andros. His eyes traveled along the picture and he had to admire the redhead's excellent figure. She was holding a bottle of alcohol and was looking a bit drunk already. Knowing her she was probably a lot more wasted then she looked. A woman who's fiery red hair is only a shadow of her fiery temper. Also there was Quistis, her regal stature impeccable as always. She had a martini in her hand and looked like she was in the background as always being her motherly self.
The next picture was of the bride and her maid of honor doing an impromptu kereoke performance he guessed. The man was surprised at these pictures. He thought that the cameras were off during the bachelorette party, but obviously he was wrong. Turning the page, a small slip of paper fell out. I see you've FINALLY gotten into reading this. Quistis said you would if given enough time. Talk to me soon if you want to get the story on this part.
He smiled and brushed his hand over the plastic cover of the glossy photographs and looked through them. He most definitely would ask her... sometime. Turning the page he came to the actual day. With a small wry smile, he started looking through the copious number of pictures, picking out the ones representing his favorite memories no matter how disturbing it was at the time.
Squall was pacing nervously as Zell tried to encourage him to not be so nervous. Zell's arm was in a cast and sling and he had a nasty bruise on his right eye after Squall punched him the night before, sending him crashing down to the first floor and, with Dr Kadowaki's help, into the infirmary for more than an hour. Squall's guardian enhanced strength had cracked Zell's skull also, but by the next morning, between a few Curaga spells, Guardian enhanced healing abilities and Dr Kadowaki's excellent care, he was already weeks into his recovery.
Irvine walked up and wrapped his arm around the shorter man's shoulder. "Squall... Squall... ya should be thinking that this is the happiest day of your life! You shouldn't be that nervous, you should be celebrating... like we were last night!"
Squall's eyes shot up and stared into the cowboy's eyes as he winked and chuckled. "Irvine... you were part of the joke too."
Irvine smiled widely and tipped his hat. "Who says I wasn't let in on it?"
Squall looked confused at Irvine then Zell, and they both had an eerily similar grin on their faces. "But... you were were angry at Zell. Why would you..."
The cowboy smirked and interrupted his commander. "Squall, I was mad that he told everybody about my real preferences."
Squall's eyes went wide. "Your real... but... what about Selphie?"
Irvine chuckled and tipped his hat. "Can't ruin my image as a womanizer can I? Na... me and Zell..."
Squall threw Irvine's arm off his neck and backed away from the two with shock written all over his face. Zell grinned at Squall and in that instant, the lion of Balamb, the Commander of Seed, and the great hero that defeated Ultimecia ran. Irvine stared at the fleeing man and chuckled softly. "You were right"
The short blonde grinned and shot back. "I told you it would work."
The cowboy shook his head. "I never thought he'd actually fall for it."
Zell rubbed the back of his head and pointed in the direction Squall had run off in. "You know, it really is nice to have you on my side for once, instead of picking on me all the time. Its great that we actually got to pull something on Squall. Im sure any other time he wouldn't have fallen so easily for our trap."
Irvine chuckled and tipped his hat as he replied. "Come on... the guy is getting married today, and yesterday you were making fun of him to the whole crowd about which way he swings. Of COURSE he is going to be a bit touchy, especially when his fiancee decides to add onto his torment.
The shorter man laughed out loud and nearly doubled over. "Yea, that was a great setup yesterday don't you think?
irvine glowered at him. "I didn't very much appreciate you endangering my womanizer reputation. Besides... don't think your off the hook" He smirked "Mr. Penguin Suit." in reference to the tuxedo that Zell was wearing, as opposed to Irvine's SeeD uniform.
Zell turned to his partner in crime to give a loud reaction, however a scream interrupted them. Zell looked in the direction that it came from, also, disturbingly the direction Squall ran in. "That... sounded like-"
Irvine finished with him. "-Selphie"
They started at each other for a moment. "Isn't your girlfriend with Rinoa in the pre wedding..."
Irvine nodded his head and swallowed. "Damn, we'd better get over there"
With that they were off running to try to get the groom away from the bride. As they were running Irvine muttered the last word of his sentence. "...partner"
Zell could not help but grin.
The man looking at the pictures in the binder chuckled softly. Yes that most certainly is one of my favorite memories. He marveled that somehow Quistis got nearly a dozen pictures of the incident, including every of the most memorable and priceless facial expressions. He wondered how she did that, considering he never saw her anywhere. Oh well, somethings are better left a mystery.
He turned the page again and came to the actual ceremony. He chuckled looking at the groom. In that tuxedo...
...Squall was sweating nervously and his knees looked about ready to fail. The bride's maids had all come down and now the flower girl were leaving pink and white pedals all through the aisle of the wedding area. The weather was perfect. However, in order to achieve this, Garden actually had to be moved off of Balamb island for the day, as an overcast threatened rain. Besides, Squall thought, the Quad actually DOES look better in this setting when Garden is floating out at sea.
Finally came the moment of truth, and Squall's breath caught as he caught sight of the bride. She was simply beautiful, in a sleeveless dress, her skin on her upper chest, shoulders and arms tactfully bare and her hands and arms up to her elbows had satin white gloves on them. Her face was covered by a veil and in his mind, there was only one word. WOW!
Rinoa smiled sweetly knowing about every last thing Squall had been going through thanks to their bond as Sorceress and Knight. Her arm was looped around Laguna's, and Squall prayed that, for once in his life, Laguna would not bumble this simple task.
Squall felt his knees shaking just a little bit and he felt Zell's hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down. Zell's arm was now out of the cast and he had a wrist brace on. He could not figure out why he was so nervous, this was just another day, he kept telling himself, but no matter how much he told himself that, he was jittery.
Finally, Laguna had successfully guided Rinoa to the new Quad Stage, and he returned to his seat. Squall let out a breath he did not realize he was holding and silently thanked Hyne for letting that go without classic Laguna blunders, of which he had been told many stories of by Kiros. He reached out and took Rinoa's gloved hand and offered her a rare small smile then turned to the priest of Hyne standing behind them.
"Dearly beloved... we are gathered her today to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony..."
The man could not help but smile as the actual rites were replayed in his mind. In a word... He thought, It was perfect. He turned the pages and sighed contently as he remembered every little detail. His eyes came across two pictures which made him chuckle softly.
"Do you have the rings?"
The priest turned to Zell who nodded enthusiastically "I sure do!"
The short blonde reached into his pocket and his smile froze. Squall watched in absolute horror as Zell began searching all his pockets, a worried expression growing on his face by the second. Quistis snapped a picture both Zell's growing horror and Squall's paling face. This continued for a at least 10 seconds and Squall's heart stopped. "Zell...?"
Off to the side, one of the groomsmen... Irvine, damn-it!... folded himself over trying to repress a laugh and not succeeding very well. Zell's face lit up in a grin and reached into the original pocket and withdrew the two rings. The audience started a few waves of chuckles through it and Zell winked at Squall as he handed them to the priest.
The man sighed and gazed through the rest of the pictures.
"You may now kiss the bride"
Squall lifted the veil and smiled at her, leaning in and freely kissing her. The audience erupted in cheers, and Rinoa slipped her hands behind his neck to deepen the kiss. Squall, in a moment of uncharacteristic romanticism and playfulness, lifted her off her feet and spun her around before setting her back down and kissing her more passionately.
Finally he found his way to the pictures of the reception.
The first song, naturally, was Waltz to the Moon, and Squall knew the tradition was that he danced this first one with Rinoa alone. They spun about the room and Squall smirked, knowing that he had practiced his waltzing with Quistis for the event. Rinoa had not actually come back to Garden for several more months, at first because Squall was still protecting Natalie, but also because she had a contract with the hotel to sing until October. After packing and moving everything, it was nearly November before she actually moved into Garden.
Now... it was December 31st. Squall had no idea why she insisted their wedding be New Years Eve, but he figured it had something to do with fireworks or celebrations every year for their anniversary.
Rinoa smiled at him. Actually, its to make it easier on your poor male mind on remembering our anniversary.
Squall frowned a bit as he took her on a promenade. Male mind? Rinoa, i have a secretary to remind me in the WORST case scenario.
Rinoa just smiled sweetly at him and chuckled out loud as the waltz came to an end. Squall spun her once more then before she had fully recovered, dipped her back right on the end of the song and kissed her lips. Applause went all around the Ballroom where the entire wedding party was watching the dance. They had already eaten dinner, and Zell's REAL best man speech had been touching. Even Squall could not help a smile and ALMOST shedding a single tear at the toast.
As Squall picked her up again, several couples wandered onto the floor for another waltz. Zell walked up to his partner in crime. "That was a great thing with the ring there, partner"
Zell could not help but grin. "The look on his face was priceless. Thank Hyne Quistis snapped a picture."
Irvine looked out at the dancing couple and tilted his head towards them. "Ya wanna do the next one now?"
Zell shook his head. "Irv, I don't think we should do that one. We want to play a joke on Squall, not ruin his wedding night."
Irvine turned to him and cocked is head. "Come on, its only a joke, we didn't ACTUALLY put cameras in his new room."
Zell shook his head. "Even still, you know Squall, he's going to go paranoid and start tearing the room apart, ruining the mood. Lets leave it off. Besides..." He grinned. "We still got other things we can do"
Irvine watched Squall and Rinoa dancing and could not help but be moved. "Ya got a point there Zell. What else ya got in mind?"
Zell smirked. "You and I could go around the dance floor once and really scare the hell out of Squall"
Irvine actually spent a few seconds considering it before rejecting the thought. "I DO have my reputation to keep up, yannow, and I don't ACTUALLY like you in that way."
Zell chuckled. "Maybe... should we give it a rest for the night? I mean, this IS the last dance before they leave."
Irvine nodded slowly after considering a few more seconds. "I think your right there, Zell. Let there be peace for tonight."
The two partners in crime nodded and split company. A minute later Irvine was on the floor with Selphie and Zell was stuffing his face with leftover hot dogs from the dinner.
The dance ended with another round of applause but before it was over, Natalie was up on the stage in front of the microphone. The lights dimmed and a spotlight illuminated her on the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, before the bride and groom leave, i believe i have to give them a present. Now Rinoa, i know i told you i didn't have time to go shopping, but thats not entirely true. In fact, the reason i didn't have time was because i was busy writing this for you." She smiled and nodded to the orchestra.
Rinoa's jaw dropped and she whispered to Squall. "I never got her to sing even on our last night at the bar!"
Natalie smiled out to the crowd, and her voice, not as crystal and beautiful as Rinoa's, but still very good in its own right, rang through the ballroom.
Ring out the old, Ring in the new
A midnight wish to share with you
Your lips are warm, my head is light
Were we alive before tonight?
We don't need a crowded ballroom
Everything I want is here
If your with me, next year will be...
...The perfect year
As Natalie continued singing, some people started milling around and picking up glasses of champaign from the bar, but all attention was focused on the tall blonde woman singing for the first time publicly.
Before we play some dangerous game
Before we fan some harmless flame
We have to ask if this is wise
and if the game is worth the prize?
With this wine and with this music
How can anything be clear?
Lets wait and see, it may just be...
...The perfect year
The orchestra crescendoed and started playing in a 3/4 time waltz again, and the entire crowd started waltzing merrily around and drinking sips of champaign. It only lasted a minute though, before Natalie began singing again.
Its New Year's eve, and hopes are high
Dance one year in, kiss one good bye
Another chance, another start
So many dreams to tease the heart!
We don't need a crowded ball room
Everything we want is here
And face to face, we will embrace...
...The perfect year
Her voice soared higher and louder as the song came to its climax.
We don't need a crowded ballroom
Everything we want is here
And face to face...
We will embrace...
Natalie smiled softly as the spotlight shifted from her to illuminate Squall and Rinoa hugging and deep in the throws of a tender and loving kiss
...The perfect year
Authors notes: Song is The Perfect Year from Sunset Boulevard By Andrew Lloyd Webber