Well everyone, we've finally come full circle and the end of Begin Anew is here. The final chapter is up and now you just have to wait for the next arc to come up, now on with the Fic.
On My Wedding Day
1 year later
If Kira Yamato wasn't nervous before the events leading up to today, he certainly was now. In the span of only a couple of hours, he would no longer be a "free man" as some of his fellow Bachelors had put it. He would be married to his one time friend, now love Miriallia Haww.
It had been a hard road to get to this day for the both of them. They had to deal with losing loved ones, had to deal with people who were determined to drive them apart, and personal demons, he his SEED mode and her, her past of almost killing someone for a stupid reason. But despite it all, their relationship managed to survive, and here they both were, ready to be married. This was one event Kira couldn't wait for to happen.
Miriallia Haww watched as her bridesmaids hurried into their gowns, while she had her makeup adjusted and put on. It was bothersome at times, but it was necessary for her to look good for Kira when she walked down the aisle. In all of her years she never thought she'd see the day she'd be marrying Kira Yamato, but after all they had been through together, she couldn't bring herself to say, "I do" to anyone else. "Milly come here, it's time to put on your dress" her mother ushered her over to a corner in the room away from the girls so that they wouldn't be in the way.
Milly unzipped the back of the dress and stepped into it. The lace on her arms felt comfortable as she ran her finger over it. She slipped on the lace gloves and watched as the veil was lowered over her eyes. A sudden tug brought her back to reality however. "Mother that's too tight!" Milly yelled as her mother adjusted the corset hidden in her wedding dress. "Oh come on honey, you have to look your best for your wedding" her mother responded. "Yeah but I want to be conscious for it" she said as she felt one more tug at her waist. "All done" she said. 'Finally' Milly thought. Before walking out to the rest of the girls, Milly looked herself over in the mirror one more time, admiring how she looked in the flowing white gown.
Milly's mother, Elice looked on at her daughter as she twirled around in the dress. It was truly a lovely sight. Her daughter standing there in her dress on her own wedding day, her little girl was growing up and getting married she thought happily.
Kira adjusted his bowtie one last time as he took his place at the altar. Ssigh and Kuzzey were greeting guests at the door and thanking them for coming. Looking to his left was Athrun, his best man, and best friend, Yzak Jule; a comrade of Athrun's from the war that had come at Athrun's request. Ssigh and Kuzzey had finished greeting the guests and took their places, completing Kira's acolytes. He looked over at Milly's bridesmaids, consisting of Cagalli, Lacus, Murrue completing Milly's bridesmaids. Kira stood at ease as he watched Cagalli make eyes in Athrun's direction no doubt.
Kira smirked as he watched his sister silently flirt with his best friend, but his smile soon faded as he heard the wedding march play on the speakers above. He looked and saw Milly slowly walking down the aisle, a bouquet of white roses with some orange lilies mixed in rested in her hands.
Kira's breath was caught as he looked on at his fiancé'. He had been away from her for a week at the most and his sister and Milly's fellow bridesmaids had kept shopping for her dress from him. It was torture to not be able to hold her but good things come to those who wait as the old adage spoke.
Remembering his place, Kira's smiles returned as he saw the image of one behind Milly's veil return the look.
"If we may begin" the priest spoke. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these two souls in holy matrimony for all eternity, if anyone has any objections, please speak now of forever hold your peace." Hearing no objections or naysayers, the priest was prepared to speak but was soon interrupted.
"STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW!" a voice shouted from the now thrown open chapel doors. Everyone turned to look at who would dare speak out against this marriage. It was Dearka Elthman, pilot of the Buster Gundam, and the man who had been the cause of a lot of Milly's grief a few months ago. The looks he received from both friend and foe were mixed between angered and disappointed. Cagalli looked as though she wanted to rend his flesh right then and there, with a look that could have done just that.
Yzak rubbed at his temples as he shook his head in shame at what his friend was doing. He had known Dearka for being a little too overconfident back then but this was too much, and from what he had heard from Athrun it's that he was refusing to let this go, the girl just didn't like him, why couldn't he see this?
Kira was very near entering his SEED mode and going down and beating some sense into Elthman like he should have done a long time ago when he felt a gentle hand press into his chest, looking down he saw that the hand belonged to Milly.
"Leave this to me" she said from behind her veil. Cagalli handed her bouquet to
Cagalli and began to walk down towards Dearka. "Milly, Milly thank God, come on we have to leave before he tricks you any further, now let me get this out of your way so you can see" Dearka said as he reached for her veil. That was a mistake. Milly smacked his hand away roughly. "Milly what are you doing?" Dearka asked, surprised that the beautiful young woman in front of him would do such a thing.
"Dearka…the truth is" Milly began to speak. Dearka listened with baited breath, hoping that she would tell him then and there she loved him. "The truth is. I lo…" Milly said. 'Here it comes' Dearka thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the sting of a slap on his face. "I loathe you" Milly said with venom oozing in her voice. She turned on her heel hoping he'd get the point that she wanted nothing to do with him. He apparently hadn't learned his lesson as he put his hand on her shoulder to face him. Deciding enough was enough; Milly clenched her hand into a fist and sent it flying into Dearka's face. He went spiraling backwards and stumbled backwards and soon collapsed and smacked his head off of the armrest of one of the church benches, rendering him unconscious.
The attending group was left speechless at the sights that just played out in front of them, in their minds however were ringing with words and things to say. 'Wow, it looks like Yamato's little kitten has some claws after all' Yzak thought to himself with a slight smirk on his face. 'And I thought Cagalli had a mean punch' Athrun thought as he brought himself out of the surprise of watching Kira's bride punch out one of his former teammates. 'Go Milly' Cagalli thought to herself as she too bore witness to a side of Milly that she rarely showed in public, or at all.
Milly turned on her heels, walked toward the altar and retrieved her bouquet from Cagalli and took her place in front of Kira. Kira by this point was almost frozen to the spot after what he just saw. Despite the excitement, the wedding continued on, and the priest again began to speak. "Now, without further adieu, please recite after me…" The pastor was ready to speak when Milly interrupted him again. "Um, that's okay, we've written our own vows" She and Kira had picked them out shortly after their engagement was told to their friends and family. They had made it a task to memorize the vows and had committed them to memory.
Milly spoke her lines first. "I Miriallia Haww, take you, Kira Yamato to be my friend, my lover, the father of my children and my husband. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity" she finished her vow to Kira, with everyone awaiting Kira's turn.
The groom in question had just recovered when she had interrupted the priest, and was now prepared to speak his own vow.
"I Kira Yamato, take you Miriallia Haww to be my friend, my lover, the mother of my children and my wife. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity" Kira finished the identical words.
"Please present the rings." The priest ordered. At this, Athrun reached into his breast pocket and presented Kira his two rings. "Repeat after me" the priest commanded.
"With this ring, I thee wed" The priest recited. "With this ring, I thee wed" Kira said as he placed his ring on Milly's finger. "Now you young lady, with this ring, I thee wed" the priest spoke. "With this ring, I thee wed" Milly spoke as she placed her ring on Kira's finger. "By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you both husband and wife" The priest said as smiles graced the faces of both people. "You may now kiss the bride." The priest said, reciting his final order. Without hesitation Kira lifted the veil from Milly's face, and leaned in and let his lips meet hers. Cheers went off all around the kissing couple as the priest spoke again to everyone in the church. "Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Kira Yamato." The Priest finished just as Milly's lips left Kira's due to lack of air. The two of them left the church walking down the aisle arm in arm and let the doors open as confetti rained down on them from all sides, leaving them in smiles all the way as they playfully blocked the small paper particles that came at them from all around.
As they left and the remaining people of the church filed out, Yzak was stopped by Athrun who pulled him aside and began whispering to him. "I want you to keep an eye on Dearka, in case he decides to try anything else" Athrun ordered. Normally Yzak wasn't one to take orders from Athrun but after seeing his friend's outburst earlier he decided that perhaps that was the best course of action.
"Sure I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Yzak said as he felt Athrun's grip loosen, he moved through the crowd and helped Dearka up. Athrun watched him move through the crowd and to his fallen friend.
Athrun wasn't surprised that Milly did that to Dearka, if anything he had it coming a long time ago, and he had only gotten off easy when Milly had hit him. He could only imagine the pain Kira would have put him through, given the opportunity. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Cagalli's eyes on him, he watched her walk over to him and embrace him.
"That was a nice wedding wasn't it?" Cagalli said as she laid her head on Athrun's shoulder. "Yeah, it was. Now those two will have each other to make them happy" Athrun said. He could feel Cagalli nodding her head in agreement. "We should get going, the ceremony will be held soon." Cagalli said. "Alright, let's get going" Athrun said as he placed his arm around Cagalli's shoulders and lead her out.
The ceremony was being held in the park on Deimos. To Milly and Kira it held a lot of significance for the confessions they made to each other and the time they spent there together. Tables were set up all around in a circular fashion, with Kira and Milly seated at the one in the center with the Cake on the table to their left including numerous gifts and cards. Kira quickly snuck in a quick kiss on his new bride, which caused a cute blush to creep up on her features.
This got a few of Kira's male friends to start cheering at Kira's forwardness. The noises settled as Kira watched everyone else settle into his or her seats. A banging against a glass was heard as everyone's attention soon went to the origin of the banging. It was Athrun, who soon rose from his seat, and prepared to speak with his glass in hand.
"I would like to propose a toast. To Kira, my best friend and trusted comrade and to his bride Miriallia, may you both find lots of happiness and good times in your life together" he said as he raised his glass in the air and everyone else did the same, and then brought their glasses to their lips.
Setting his glass down Kira mouthed a quick thanks to Athrun and turned his attention back to Milly, and looking at the wedding cake, they both knew what event was to come next, Milly rose up first, taking the knife in her hands, unsteady, and somewhat shakily. Milly became uneasy, and nervous at holding a knife in her hands again and was ready to drop it when she felt something calm come over her.
Looking down at her hand she saw Kira's hand covering her own up, allowing them both to hold the knife. "It's best that we do this together." Kira said to Milly, and at this she smiled, with a hint of tears of gratitude brewing in her eyes. They both brought their hands down on the cake twice, cutting a single slice.
Cutting one last piece, the two of them placed the slices on a plate each, and picked up apiece each. Kira picked up his piece on the edges and slipped it into Milly's mouth. Satisfied when she bit down on it, he placed it back down on her plate.
Milly then selected her piece and brought it up to Kira's mouth, only instead of letting it just go into Kira's mouth, she let it bump into Kira's nose before he bit into it, this left Kira with a bit of frosting on the tip of his nose, it was apparent that Milly brought her playful side with her to the wedding. Grabbing a napkin and wiping the frosting from his nose, she gave Kira a quick peck on the lips, and gave him one of the brightest smiles he'd ever seen.
Upon hearing the banging on the table from all the other guests with their silverware, Kira decided to give them what they wanted, and wrapped his arms around his wife, as she did with her arms around his neck and proceeded to give her a truly passionate kiss. Kira and Milly stopped briefly and let each other's heads rest on their shoulders. "I love you Kira" Milly whispered into Kira's ear.
"I love you too sweetheart" Kira whispered back as he tightened his embrace on Milly, almost afraid she'd disappear if he stopped. Releasing her Kira and Milly took their places, and watched as the remaining guests started their way for the buffet table, and to the food.
Kira and Milly soon joined them filling their plates with chicken pieces and tossed salad each with Milly taking some of the rigatonis, her love of pasta showing through. Taking their places, they both began to eat away at their selected meals. While they were eating Kira saw Cagalli walk over with a very familiar looking meal with her.
"I know you recognize this Kira." Cagalli said as she presented Kira and Milly with a Kebab, a type of wrapped meal that Kira had eaten back when he and Cagalli stopped off in a desert town. "I thought it would be good for old time's sake, and then I realized that Milly never had one of these so I thought she should try one" Cagalli finished.
"Well thanks Cagalli, I never thought I'd see one of these again, so come on Milly let's dig in" Kira said as he raised his fork to partake of his meal when his sister interrupted him again. "Stop, a meal this good deserves only the best kind of toppings, so I managed to get some of this from the catering service" Cagalli said as she pulled out a small bottle of Chilly sauce. "You were planning this from the beginning weren't you?" Kira said with a smirk on his face. "Guilty as charged" Cagalli said as she raised her container to spread the sauce onto the meal when she heard another voice ring out.
"Stop! At a time like this these two deserve to have only the best toppings, so I managed to procure some Yogurt sauce for just this occasion" spoke one Andrew Waltfield as he pulled out a small container of the sauce. 'Him too?' Kira thought as he rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.
"Oh no, we're not going to do this again. My brother is eating his kebab with chilly sauce and that's final!" Cagalli said as she prepared to pour on the sauce on the kebab. She would have succeeded had Andy not have been bumped from behind and spilled his sauce on the Kebab, just as Cagalli poured hers on.
"Waltfield! What were you thinking? You ruined it!" Cagalli said getting angry. "Hey someone bumped me what did you want me to do?" Andy said trying to keep Cagalli from killing him. She was more than prepared to go through with the deed when she heard speaking behind her. "Hey this isn't half bad with both sauces." Kira mentioned as he cut a piece off and bit into it.
"Yeah, thanks for bringing in the sauces you two" Milly said as she cut a piece off and then proceeded to place the piece into Kira's open mouth which he ate appreciatively.
Looking at each other, Cagalli and Andy proceeded to extend hands and shook. "Call it a draw?" Cagalli asked. "Works for me" Andy said as the handshake ended.
"You two enjoy yourselves, and congratulations." Andy said shaking Kira's hand. Kira gladly accepted Andy's hand and shook it before going back to the Kebab and the rest of his meal.
It was later on when the food was done that Yzak carried his tray over to the garbage can, and caught the eye of a beautiful young woman working over at the catering section. Her hair was as blue as a cornflower and a matching set of eyes. She was placing lids on the food and ridding up the remaining silverware and trays.
"Did you enjoy the food?" the girl asked Yzak. "Yes it was, quite nice" Yzak said as he made his way over to the young woman, hands clasped behind his back. "I'm glad you did, I helped the cooks all day in preparing it." She replied. "Well it's good to see you put a lot of heart into this" Yzak said as he began to assist her in putting away the food. "You don't have to do that" she replied as Yzak began to empty things into garbage bags. "Oh no it's fine, I have nothing else to do until the dances start up" Yzak said.
"Oh, well thanks for keeping me company" the girl replied. "So what's your name? If you don't mind my asking." She asked the man in front of her. "Yzak Jule, and yours miss…" Yzak said at a lack for words. "June, June Autman. I work for this catering service as a way to make ends meet" June explained. "Sounds like hard work" Yzak said as he handed her a plate. "It's not bad, I get paid a good bit and I can live off of it, so I have no complaints." June explained, sealing up the final garbage bag. "That's very admirable of you" Yzak said, putting the final lid on the food bin. "Thanks" June replied. Yzak looked back at her with a smile, that she returned.
"You know, if you have any time off we could go get some dinner sometime, how about it?" Yzak offered. "That's sweet of you, I may take you up on your offer" June said
"Well when you're ready to accept my offer, here's my phone number." Yzak said as he scrawled his number on a napkin and handed it back to June. "Thanks, I'll keep you in mind" June said, slightly blushing as she held the napkin up to her face, hoping to conceal her blush. "Well it was nice meeting you miss Autman, till then I'll be seeing you" Yzak said with an uncharacteristically warm smile on his face as he left the young caterer behind to return to the rest of the guests.
It was later on when the sun began to set that the portable dance floors were assembled and the music sound system was being set up. Guests were beginning to assemble onto the floors, but as tradition goes, the bride and groom had the first dance all to themselves. Kira walked out onto the floor and was soon joined by his bride. Kira let his arms wrap around Miriallia's waist and she let her arms wrap around his neck.
The music in question was a song from way before the colonies or coordinators existed, a slow song by the name of "You're still the one" by a musician named Shania Twain. Neither of the two liked country music but this song seemed to speak volumes about their struggles and achievements as a couple. Through everything from other loves to various other problems their love both conquered and survived.
Kira ended the dance with a tender kiss to Milly's lips, and then held her close to him. He was unaware of the cheers and clapping going off all around him, only aware of the angel that he held in his arms. "I've been waiting a long time for this day Milly" Kira said as he walked his new bride back to a seat while a new song started up.
"Me too, one year exactly" Milly said. They had made their way over to a gazebo and looked out over the horizon to the stars above. "Wow, it's a beautiful night" Kira said squeezing Milly's hand. "Yeah, it is" Milly said letting her head rest on Kira's shoulder.
"So, what next?" Milly asked. "Well, with some help from everyone else I managed to get two two-way tickets to a lovely Caribbean resort down on earth, all expenses paid" Kira said to his new bride. "Ahh Kira you're wonderful!" Milly said as she threw her arms around her husband. "I knew you'd like it. Plus it'll give us some time to be together, time to enjoy our new status as husband, and wife" Kira said letting Milly rest on his lap and holding her even closer. Content with how things were going, Milly rest her head on Kira's shoulder, as she continued to stare out into the stars.
Murrue watched from afar as the young newlyweds sit comfortably together under the gazebo roof. At that moment she was reminded of how lonely she was with Mu gone, he had died protecting her and everyone else on the Archangel, leaving her alive and lonely for his presence. She walked over to her table when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking over she saw that the hand belonged to Andrew Waltfield. 'Hey pretty lady, you looked abit lonely so I thought I'd come over and say hello" Andy said thoughtfully. "I appreciate the good intentions captain." Murrue said to the man known all across ZAFT as the Desert Tiger. "It's a nice night out" Andy said starring out into the stars. "Yeah, it is" Murrue said wistfully as she sat her glass down on a nearby table.
"How would you like to dance?" Andy asked Murrue. Murrue looked hesitant at first but looking at the same loneliness in Andy's eyes, she felt a similar feeling just by looking at them. "Okay, Waltfield, we'll dance at the next slow dance" Murrue said as she and Andy walked out to the dance floor.
The night eventually wore on with much more dancing. Andy and Murrue had their dance, and Kira and Milly shared dances with Lacus and Athrun respectively. As the night came to a close, Kira and Milly decided to return to their home. Opening the door for Milly in their rental car, Kira took his place in the driver's seat next to his bride, and prepared to start their new life together, to Begin Anew.
Well everyone, that's a wrap. Yes Begin Anew is officially done with, finito, over.
But fret not. I'm already going to start work on the follow up arc, which should be up in a few weeks.
Now for the thanks:
1. Evangelion Unit-03: for giving me the inspiration to write this pairing and to believe in it to the bitter end. If not for you I probably wouldn't be as big a fan of Gundam SEED as I am now, thank you.
2. Prayer Reverie: for being with me from the beginning, for proving that I'm not alone in liking the other pairings, and making me feel proud to be an author, and keeping me inspired and reminding me to keep on writing.
3. Dark Roxy: my partner in the revolution, and one of the few other people I know that believes in not only Kira and Milly but in other alternate pairings. Thank you for all the reviews and convos we've had.
4. C-town Chica: for supporting me despite your preferences in pairings, it was surprising to say the least to see reviews from you but I'm glad you did review, and the amount of enthusiasm you had in your reviews was very flattering and helped keep me going back and typing up the next chapters, thank you for everything.
5. IMBSA: the first person other than myself that I discovered liked the idea of Kira/Milly, I'm glad I was able to meet you for the short time and thanks for the kind review.
6. Angel of Dreams: we may differ in preferences but thanks for the kind words in your reviews.
7. Yzak: well, the lone OMG has left me scratching my head for quite sometime now but if you left it as a compliment than thanks, if not then, oh well sorry to have disappointed you.
8. Sabersonic: thanks for the review and for the advice, I'm glad to see that using it helped to pay off.
9. DJB 21212: I consider it to be an honor to get a review from you. We've traded emails on the subject of different pairings and it's come to me taking the initiative. Thanks for the compliment in your review and I'm glad to see I didn't disappoint with this story.
And to all of the rest of you who reviewed my story, from Inukagsguy, and everyone else, sorry I couldn't remember names very well but I appreciate all of your reviews nonetheless.
Now, not too long ago I typed in that all of my SEED stories were based off of songs that dealt with similar subject matter related to the chapters.
Here are the songs:
Back to you: from the song of the same name by artist John Mayer, I felt it appropriate in what the story itself was about. Although towards the end I was thinking of the song "Echo" by Trapt Begin Anew: nothing really, just wanted to pick up on the last line from BTY, but the opening line has the title: "Dare you to Move" by Switchfoot, which I was planning on naming the chapter Days gone by: from one of the spoken lines in the song "Four Season of Loneliness" by Boyz to Men, it was actually the best I could go with considering my lack of ideas at the time. She will be loved: from the song of the same name by Maroon Five. I wanted to put it in as a sign of showing that even with trouble soon to arrive, Milly will be loved by Kira, even if it may be for the last time. She Runs Away: the name of a song by a now forgotten artist, Duncan Sheik. Real good artist just forgotten compared to all of the other artists of his time, but the song does fit Milly's predicament Anytime: from the classic song by Brian McKnight about a broken up lover wondering if they are ever thought of by the one they broke up with Hurt: The song itself is by Nine Inch Nails, but the late great Johnny Cash sang the version I went by at the time. It shows the amount of pain Kira felt after seeing all that went down in that chapter. It's Been Awhile: this came from the song by the band Staind. A lot of people out there probably picked up on the song but I feel it suits how Kira feels in how it feels like it's been awhile since he could look at himself that way. It also reflects some of the changes with Athrun and Milly Brightest: one of the best songs a lot of people have never heard of. It truly is what fits the mood of the fanfic best. Let me be the one: a song taken from the band Blessed Union of Souls, and it shows how much Kira wants to be the one for Milly Destiny: a very casual and upbeat song that I felt fit the mood of the fanfic. It's taken from the song by the band "Zero Seven". On My Wedding Day: the title for this chapter comes from a song by the great Don Henley. Looking at the lyrics it fits the chapter perfectly, about what someone wants on their wedding day.Well everyone, that's it for Begin Anew and what a ride it's been for me, from the highs and lows to the beautiful ending. But I am far from over, I have quite a few more arcs to cover and the next one should be up by either the end of this week or next week some time, till then, R&R
