So, I'm back :) I submitted my thesis successfully and now I'm waiting for the defence.

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Preparing for the Big Event 1919

What is the beginning? Love.
What the course. Love still.
What the goal. The goal is Love.
On a happy hill
Is there nothing then but Love?
Search we sky or earth
There is nothing out of Love
Hath perpetual worth;
All things flag but only Love,
All things fail and flee;
There is nothing left but Love
Worthy you and me.

- Christina Rossetti

Late May 1919

Dearest Sybil,

we would all like to thank you for the invitation to your and Bra... Tom's wedding. Unfortunately, not all of us are able to attend. Mama has still not recovered from her recent illness, while Papa and Granny seem to have health problems as well…

Sybil, darling, I will not hurt you any longer with those excuses because I am certain that you are well aware that they are all lies. Everyone is in good health, even Mama is feeling much, much better than the last time you saw her. The problem is – Papa still struggles to acknowledge what happened… that you and Bra... Tom are engaged and soon to be married. Now, that the house has recovered from the Spanish flu and Lavinia's death, he is back to feeling nostalgic about the past. After all, the last blow of the storm has left Downton, so he does not want to encounter any remainders of the mayhem which ruled our lives for the last few years.

What about Mama and Granny, you ask? I think that you already know the answers. Granny is of course not afraid to disobey Papa, but she will never publically oppose him in such a way. For her, it would be an example of family disloyalty. Claiming that she is too ill to travel in her opinion saves our family's reputation. And you know our Mama too – she's not that kind of wife who breaks the vow of marital obedience. I'm sure, however, that she dearly wishes to be in Dublin for your wedding and that her thoughts will be with you on that big day. I suppose that she will attend church and pray for the success of your marriage at the same time you will be uttering your marriage vows. Maybe your mind does not approve of such a stance, but I am certain that your kind heart understands it and will not bear a grudge.

Matthew has, I am afraid, still not recovered from Lavinia's death, and Cousin Isobel wants to stay with him, but she told me that she would go to Dublin only if the circumstances were different.

Our family aside, Anna also expressed a desire to attend you wedding, but as you know she cannot manage to come because she wants to be as close to Bates as possible.

Fortunately, I have also some good news for you - Edith and I are coming for your wedding. We managed to convince Papa, and will be arriving in Dublin one day before the big event.

I sincerely hope that the last bit of news cheered you up after the not-so-pleasant first part of my letter. We will talk more after I arrive in Dublin.

Your most devoted sister,

Mary

The letter was still lying on the table in Sybil's "room" when Mrs. Branson came for a dress fitting. The Branson family matriarch had offered to sew Sybil's wedding dress herself, only with the assistance of her eldest daughter, Megan. Sybil was once more incredibly touched by yet another kind gesture of Mrs. Branson. Her gratitude was however mixed with sadness – she knew that the Branson family wasn't too thrilled with Tom's choice as well, but they nevertheless did they best to support Tom and accept Sybil as one of them. But those people were not affected by a rigid view of the world and a need to uphold a certain reputation about their family; here it was all only about giving support to each other, the "big world" and its opinions did not matter at all.

Mrs. Branson's strong voice awoke Sybil from her reverie.

"Do you still dwell upon that letter from your family?"

Direct, to-the-point question. This tendency was definitely hereditary in this family.

"I'm not letting it cloud my anticipation for the wedding, no. But I do think about it from time to time."

Mrs. Branson merely nodded before continuing, "You know that I'm always honest with you, my girl. I'm aware that you've already discussed this matter with Tom thoroughly, but I still want to tell you a few words… While I don't understand your family's attitude, it won't affect the way I behave towards you. I only must ask one more thing: are you sure you won't regret this?"

Mrs. Branson paused for a few seconds to look at Sybil; when she saw annoyance in the young woman's face, she immediately clarified, "I know that you love Tom, Sybil. I know that you were making your decision for a long time. I'm also aware that you're a sensible girl and that you do not want to marry Tom only in order to spite your parents. But now you've seen what it looks like in practice; you know what life in Dublin is like, and well, you've seen what sort of behaviour you can often expect from your family…"

Sybil took a deep breath. For a moment, she wanted to give Mrs. Branson a long speech in which she would describe what Tom meant to her and how important they were for one another. But then she realized that flowery speeches were not necessary to express the depth of one's feelings, and that there was more than one way to communicate what was in her mind and heart.

"Yes, I've seen how it is, and it only solidified my decision. Tom and I are not afraid of challenges. Actually, we're the source of each other's strength. That's all, that's it."

Just a short, simple utterance said in decisive voice, and it worked better than a long speech in an elevated language. The conviction in the young woman's voice affected Mrs. Branson. She liked that girl. Yes, she was still learning how to trust her. Too often did her nation fall into the trap of false kindness and friendship. One needed to be suspicious, even though open for the sake of family loyalty. Because this was how the Irish working class understood family loyalty – you supported the one who needed help, not stood by those who were in a dominant position. Perhaps that's another thing in which we differ so much from the English, Mrs. Branson observed.

The two women faced each other and smiled in understanding. They still needed to cross some distance to truly become mother and daughter, but they were closer to this goal with each day passing. Prejudices and reservations were gradually diminishing, and trust was forming between two women of completely different upbringings

Neither of them said anything more on the matter. Instead, they harmoniously focused their whole attention on Sybil's wedding dress.

As planned, Mary and Edith arrived in Dublin one day before the wedding. The beginning was most certainly awkward. Both sides expressed some difficulty in addressing each other by proper names. Sybil and Tom subsequently took their guests for a short introductory walk to Dublin. Only then did they go to Mrs. Branson's flat.

Mary and Edith were to sleep in the same room as Sybil. Especially for that purpose, Tom and his brother Cormac had carried two divans from Megan's house to their mother's flat.

Mrs. Branson was somewhat nervous about offering such modest accommodation to the daughters of an English lord; not that she was intimidated by who they were, but she wanted for her guests to feel as comfortable as possible, and she was well aware that the Crawley girls were accustomed to totally different conditions.

Sybil had to admit that she was pleasantly surprised by her sisters' behaviour, especially Mary's. While she had expected that Mary would be polite for her sake in the company of Mrs. Branson, she was nevertheless afraid of her sister's sarcastic comments and complaints once the matriarch left the room. But nothing of this sort happened. Instead, Mary sat comfortably on her divan and did not say even a word. Sybil noted also her elder sister's altered behavior towards Tom – Mary seemed now to be much kinder to him than before. I suppose that it' s just her pragmatism working. But still, I'm so touched that she's employing it for my sake – because she at last sees that I won't change my mind and that my decision is final.

An awkward silence fell upon the room. All three of them were sitting on their beds in complete quietness. It was surprisingly Edith who spoke first.

"It's a rather unusual situation, isn't?" she uttered slowly in a slightly bashful voice, "that the three of us are sleeping in the same room… when was the last time such a thing happened?"

"When Sybil was around five, and afraid of storm in the night. You and me came to her room and stayed there till the morning," whispered Mary.

Sybil gave both of her sisters a radiant smile. "See, and now again we are all three together in a room because of me."

At those words, all the Crawley girls had to look at each other and smile because Sybil had always been the linking element between the three of them.

"So," Edith continued her last thought now in a much more confident voice, "why don't we celebrate this special occasion by not talking about any serious matters? Let us focus on gossip, cheerful memories and anecdotes. No problems, no difficulties, no sadness."

Mary suddenly smirked and began rummaging in her baggage before retrieving a bottle of wine from it.

"Granny had given me this before we left for Dublin. She told me that we would need to raise a glass to Sybil's end of freedom."

The two remaining young women chuckled, and Sybil rose from her bed and announced that she was going to the kitchen to bring some glasses.

Mary and Edith did not even notice that they were not attended by any servants that night.

It began to dawn when Sybil opened her eyes. She was definitely too excited to sleep anymore; she had actually forced herself (with a bit of help from a glass of wine) to fall asleep a few hours earlier. Now, it was no longer possible for her to lie still.

The young woman glanced at the clock on the nearby table. It was four in the morning. She didn't need to be awake for at least five hours. Lazily, she rose from the bed and headed towards the window.

This is the last few hours that I'm living in this flat. Tomorrow I'll be looking at Dublin from the window at our new home. Tomorrow… it won't be Sybil Crawley who'll be looking from the window at her new home, but… Mrs. Sybil Branson.

A joyous thrill in spine made her grin from anticipation. Tomorrow.

An unexpected sight put an end to her ponderings. It can't be…

But it was Tom Branson who was standing on the street, just below her window. Sybil did not want to waste even a minute; she quickly put on the same dress that she had worn yesterday, and quietly left the room.

A few minutes later, she stood on the street next to her fiancé, but Tom did not utter even a word upon seeing her.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you recognize me?" Sybil finally teased.

Tom shook his head. "I do. I just… didn't expect to find you here so early."

Sybil laughed merrily. "And I should not be surprised?"

"You most certainly should, " Tom grinned at her and proceeded to explain his surprising walk at four o'clock in the morning, "I just… woke up and couldn't sleep because I'm completely and utterly impatient to be married to you."

"Same here," declared Sybil and snuggled closer to him. In response, Tom embraced her tightly and placed the sweetest of kisses on her hair.

"I can't believe that it's really happening… after all those years," Sybil's whisper broke the delicious silence of the still slumbering city.

Tom chuckled, "I think that it's me who should say so."

"I know, dearest, I know. But believe me – I dreamed about this for as long as you did, and in fact, I was more doubtful about the fulfilment of such a dream than you."

Tom smiled at her tenderly and murmured into her ear, "There's no need to talk about all those years of dreams and longing now. Today we're getting married and this is what counts."

Sybil nodded and looked at the sky above her which was gradually getting brighter and brighter. There were even no more stars in human sight but one. How beautiful, though, it was!

"People call it the Morning Star, but it's Venus in reality," Tom said quietly, reading into his fiancee's thoughts.

"You promised me once to take me somewhere where we can lie and look at the stars."

"Soon, love, I promise."

"And you won't break this pledge because otherwise Venus, the goddess of love, will punish you," the young woman declared mischievously.

"Have I ever broken any promise to you?"

"No," stated Sybil firmly and kissed him ardently to seal their newest vow.

A/N How lucky I am that in June the S/T fandom Rocks the AU! Wedding Style? ;)