The last time that Mina had been to a wedding, it had ended badly.

She reflected on it now, quite literally, as she stared at herself in the floor-length mirror while her maid, Betsy, braided her hair neatly, tucking the strands in and out of each other in the way that she had nearly every day for years. A small movement caught Mina's attention out of the corner of her eye, and she shifted her vision to the side slightly, her gaze landing on Lynet's head peeking around the doorframe. Betsy finished the braid, and left the room, smiling and greeting Lynet on her way out. Lynet had a way of making everyone love her, down to the very last member of the palace staff, and Mina could hardly blame them. She glided over to her vanity, pulling out the chair that she kept close for this very situation, although she rarely used it herself anymore, preferring to stand in front of the full-length mirror, and finally turned to acknowledge Lynet, her face falling into a warm smile despite itself as the girl that she thought of as her daughter nearly tripped over her skirts as she rushed to Mina's side, grinning and practically glowing with joy and excitement. She plopped herself down on the chair beside Mina, ungracefully as always, and looked up at her, eyes sparkling with that shine that was so reminiscent of freshly fallen snow. Speaking of snow, Mina felt something cool as she smothered back Lynet's hair affectionately and raised an eyebrow at her. "You have snow in your hair again, Lynet." Lynet blushed and dusted off the top of her head fruitlessly. "At least it matches my dress!" Mina shook her head affectionately as she began her work brushing out Lynet's dark hair until it shone. "You're the only person in this kingdom who can make a white dusted head look like a conscientious outfit choice." "You just say that because you refuse to go out in the snow!" Lynet's grin was real and her eyes glinted with mischief. Mina merely shook her head once more, unable to hide her smile. "Mina?" Lynet's demeanor had shifted rather suddenly, and she looked down, fiddling with her fingers. "Head up, dear, I can't brush your hair if you keep moving around." Lynet quickly corrected her posture and took a breath. "I was just wondering- what was it like when you- I mean, when you and-" She broke off, clearly unsure of how to approach the subject. Mina squeezed her eyes shut for a second, before letting out a breath and looking down at the girl who was staring up at her half expectantly, half apprehensively. "You mean when I got married?" Lynet nodded and looked away. They didn't really talk about Lynet's father, as the subject brought up innumerable complicated feelings on both of their parts. "Well-" Mina took a second to consider what to say. "It was a beautiful wedding. My dress was silver, and so were most of the decorations, and I remember the food being very good." She bit her lip a little, knowing that wasn't really what Lynet had been asking. Then again, she thought, Lynet didn't seem too sure of exactly what she was trying to ask either. The younger girl had dropped her head once more, but this time, Mina didn't reprimand her. "What's wrong, Lynet?" "I- " Lynet stared determinedly at the floor. "What if it doesn't work out?" The implication held unspoken in the air between them for a second, the words that Lynet had really meant going unspoken; 'What if we turn out like you and Dad?' Mina drew in a long breath, and then crouched down beside her stepdaughter's chair in a very unladylike manner, lifting her chin gently so that they were looking face to face. "It won't. I know that there are a thousand what-ifs, but I've seen the way that Nadia looks at you, and the way that you look at her, and I know that you two will make it work out. I trust Nadia, I wouldn't be letting you marry her if I didn't." Mina smiled softly and a little sadly, taking one of Lynet's hands in her own. "And if it doesn't work out, for whatever reason, you will always have me. The end of a marriage doesn't mean the end of your happiness, it's just another new beginning, as is every other end in life." Lynet, who had lowered her gaze to her and Mina's intertwined hands, looked up as Mina finished, and Mina was surprised to see that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Unannounced, Lynet threw her arms around her stepmother, burying her face in Mina's neck. After a second of shock, Mina retaliated, pulling Lynet close to her until they were both kneeling on the ground, Lynet wrapped in Mina's arms as though she were five again, finding comfort in her stepmother after she had been scared by a thunderstorm, or upset by her father. They stayed like that, mother and daughter clinging to each other, for a good minute before Mina leaned back and stroked the hair on the top of Lynet's head gently. "We'd better get up before you miss your wedding." Lynet lifted her head and smiled a little, climbing back onto the chair and allowing Mina to restart her task, brushing out Lynet's hair in silence and then braiding it, as she had done ever since Lynet had come into existence. The silence continued as Mina finished pinning Lynet's braid up on her head in an intricate pattern, and as she gently extracted Lynet's dress from the closet. The silence was the comfortable sort, a warm quiet that enveloped the both of them as they went through their familiar routines, neither of them needing to speak in order to understand the other. As Mina helped Lynet into her gown, a light, flowy affair seeing as Lynet despised being weighed down by heavy fabrics and getting cold wasn't really a concern for her, they chatted about little things, which of the three flavors of cake that Mina had helped Lynet choose would taste the best, who would gossip the most at the reception, where Mina had stowed away a pair of trousers near the reception room, seeing as Lynet couldn't resist running off to climb a tree for long, and Mina didn't want her to ruin her dress. Mina moved almost automatically as she talked, adjusting Lynet's dress and hair out of instinct as she went. It was only when she stepped back and took a look at Lynet all dressed up that everything really hit her. Mina held one hand to her breast and one to her mouth as her eyes misted up, as she was reminded once again of just how much Lynet had grown over the years. Lynet smiled at Mina's reaction and moved to the full-length mirror, looking at herself appraisingly. "You know," she mused as she adjusted one of her short, flowy sleeves, "despite everything I'm sure that there will be plenty of people today who tell me that I look like the spitting image of the late queen." Mina raised her eyebrows, caught off guard by Lynet's mention of her father's first wife, who was generally a touchy subject for her. "Actually, no." Lynet furrowed her brow for a second and then turned to face Mina once more. "They'll tell me that I look like my mother. Of course, whether or not she'd actually be considered my biological mother is complicated, but I digress," Lynet took a breath and made eye contact with Mina, her gaze no longer that of the child that Mina had raised, but instead that of a Queen, steady and sure as she continued. "When I was younger, all I wanted was to be like my mother. Not my mother, the dead queen, my mother the woman who raised me." She paused for a moment as the statement sank in. "I know that we've both been through a lot. I've hurt you and you've hurt me. Our relationship has been strained nearly to the point of breaking. But-" she seemed to struggle to find words. "In the end, the woman in those paintings has never been my mother. That has always been you. Yes, I've always called you stepmother, but it meant the same to me as the word mother meant to any other child." She smiled a little sadly. "You're the only mother I've ever known, Mina, and despite everything, you've been a damn good one considering the circumstances. You were the person who was there for me throughout my childhood, and you didn't pull away after the incident as I had feared, you worked just as hard as I did to repair our relationship. I just- what I'm trying to get at-" she broke off as her eyes watered again for the second time in the afternoon. "I love you." Mina practically crumbled, stepping forward swiftly to pull Lynet close once more. "I love you more than anything in this world, Lynet." Her voice broke with emotion. "And I have never considered you anything less than a daughter." She leaned back, meeting Lynet's eyes as she wiped away her tears. "You have made me so proud." Lynet smiled a little. "I've watched as you've grown, as you stood up to your father, stood up to me, as you became one of the greatest Queens this country has ever known." Mina readjusted one of Lynet's sleeves that had gotten crushed in the hug, keeping eye contact with her. "I can say with my whole heart that I could not have asked for a better daughter. You are the most precious thing in all the world to me." They stood there for a second, mother and daughter, hands clasped and hearts full, until a sharp knock came at the door, breaking their trance. Mina's soft smile melted into a grin as she dusted off Lynet's skirt one last time. "Now, go out there and get married! You know how Nadia can get when she's left waiting." Lynet laughed as she became her bright, cheery self once again, pulling on Mina's hand as she practically sprinted to the doorway, ignoring Lynet's pleas to be careful of her dress. Eventually, Lynet broke away, hiking up her skirts and running along in front of Mina, jubilant and impatient to get on with the wedding. Mina couldn't help but grin as Lynet disappeared around a corner, undisturbed by the biting cold as always.

The last time that Mina had been to a wedding, it had ended badly.

But as she sat down after walking her daughter down the aisle and looked at the person she loved most in the world glowing with happiness, making Nadia have to discreetly stifle a laugh because she couldn't resist cracking a sarcastic joke even at the altar, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she anxiously waited for the permission to kiss her soon to be wife, Mina knew that she couldn't regret that last wedding, despite all of the pain it had caused, because she would have been through all of that pain a hundred times over to be there, at that wedding, watching Lynet alight with joy and hope for the future. Lynet cast one last excited glance back at Mina before the vows started, and Mina grinned back, content for the first time in her life in the knowledge that her little family wasn't going anywhere. It would grow (Lynet and Nadia would later adopt a daughter who they would name Mina), and it would change, but Nadia and Lynet would always be mother and daughter, and that was something that nobody could ever take from them, try as they might.

The last time Mina had been to a wedding, it had ended badly. Lynet's wouldn't be the last wedding she attended, she would live to see her granddaughter happily wed as well, but it was the bookend that finished that chapter of her life and allowed her to leave her demons behind her. The last time Mina had been to a wedding, it had been her own, but in her daughter, Mina finally got to experience the joy of a wedding between two people who truly loved each other. The last time Mina had been to a wedding, it had ended badly. This one did not.

END