Chapter four, baby. ; Okay, I know you've all been waiting for this, and here it is! The wedding will finally begin...
Raine: -Starting to blush again-
Heehee...Here we go!
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"Raine. Yo, Raine! Raine, pay attention. You're getting married in an hour, and if you don't shift it into high gear, the groom and everyone else will die of old age before you get there. We only live about eighty years."
She jumped, the voice yanking her back to reality as she blinked her violet-blue eyes. Looking around, she found Sheena watching her with a smirk-like grin. "S...sorry," said Raine, her face blank. She had zoned out completely, apparently, to the point of not knowing about anything that was going on around her.
Shaking her head, she picked up the hair-brush lying beside her, and started running it through her smooth opaline-white hair, as Presea tied the silken sash round her waist. She'd already changed into the dress, before leaving for the dream world, and now simply had to finish up the little preperations. Of course, the easiest thing to do with her hair was leave it down, and let it do what it would. But, she mused as Colette excitedly fastened a silver pendant around her neck, they probably wouldn't let her do it. It was too boring.
It was an odd feeling, having them do all of this for her. She had tried to tell them she could do it alone, but not one of them would take "No" for an answer. All three insisted upon helping her get ready for what Sheena called her "big day." She blinked as Sheena took the brush from her, and started pulling back the older woman's hair. After a moment of realizing what was going on, Raine pursed her lips.
"Didn't I tell you I could do my hair myself?"
"Yeah - but since when have we listened to you?" snorted the Summoner. She picked up a silky ribbon off the stand that had formerly held the brush, and tied back the mage's hair in a neat ponytail at the nape of her neck. She then stepped back, and all three girls regarded the Bride with approving nods.
Raine stood there uncertainly for a few minutes before she asked, "Do I pass inspection...?"
Colete beamed. "This is so exciting!" she squealed, bouncing on her toes. "I can't wait! You make such a pretty Bride, Professor!"
"...Thank you, Colette."
"I've got'ta admit, you do look pretty nice, Raine," agreed Sheena. She smiled, folding her arms. "But I don't think I'd ever have imagined this for you - ever. "
"What - the wedding, or the dress?" asked Raine, drily. She knew she herself would never have pictured either of them. The marriage just seemed so unlikely, she had pretty much given up on the whole "boy meets girl" part of life. And the dress - she just didn't wear them. Period.
The guardian-user gave a chuckle, and checked the clock resting on the stand. "Are we ready to go, Fair Maiden?"
Raine gave her a sour look, and they all exitted the hotel together, as Raine untied the ribbon holding back her hair. She didn't really want it held in a ponytail, and decided that it really didn't have to be; Sheena could live with it.
The town looked positively deserted - everyone was on or around the beach, as the wedding was beginning. Both the King and Princess Hilda were here for it as well - after all, Regal was the Duke, and it was his wedding whether the Royals approved of his choice of partner or not. In fact, it seemed the whole of Tethe'alla had showed up for this, which didn't ease her nervous feelings.
"Are you alright, Professor Sage?" asked Presea, having seen the grimace that Raine had, apparently, put on. "Or will it be...'Professor Bryant'..." The girl frowned slightly at the ground.
Sheena grinned. "That's right. After today, you're not Iselia's own 'Professor Sage' anymore - we'll have to call you 'Mrs. Bryant,' I guess."
"'Raine' will do just fine," said she, cocking an eyebrow. "I have long since ceased in my teaching career. So, technically, you should have stopped calling me 'Professor' already."
"But you've always been my teacher," said Colette, frowning.
"Not quite. I took up that position when you were about eleven years old, if you remember correctly. Genis and I had already lived there for about seven years, and we were just living in Iselia as normal people. Well, as normal as one can get when everybody thinks you're an Elf..." Raine shook her head. When the mayor had found out they'd been lying, he hadn't exactly been happy about it. But before then, many people stared at she and her brother for a few months after they'd first arrived.
"Now you'll be even more famous. What with you, a Half-Elf, marrying Regal, the Duke of Tethe'alla."
"'Even more?'" asked Raine, blinking at her.
"Well, yeah. I mean, come on - we're all somewhat famous as it is, having reunited the two worlds, and all. And then there's that statue of you in Luin." There was a smirk both on her face and in her voice.
"I never asked them to build that, you know," she said, scowling.
"No, but they did."
"What about you?" Raine gave Sheena a sideways look, resisting the urge to let her lips curve into a smirk of her own. "You have a statue there too, you know, as does Lloyd."
"We're not getting married to Regal, now are we?"
"What has that got to do with it?" demanded the Bride.
Sheena grinned as they reached the sandy shoreline, and Raine fell into stunned silence. She was getting married.
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Yeah, I know. You have to wait a little to see the actual wedding.
Raine: And even longer than you think, because knowing this author she'll find some means of twisting it. -.-
...Duh... Keep watching.
