Author's Note: So, it's finally here. The moment of truth… I don't think my body is ready to drop this, but I shall trust Reggie that it is. For those that don't understand the scope of this, this is the pinnacle of the last three and a half years of work. It all lead up to this… it's not the end, far from it, but I do hope I hit a note with this chapter. I have nothing else to say, it's time for do or die!

PS: Not sure if I made it in time for your time zone, but this chapter's release date serves as a birthday present to Haos… I'll just treat you as that considering how big your Penname is. So yeah, even if it is belated, Happy Birthday once again!

PSS: Fun fact for the ones that read fics where I insert music. This chapter was written in its entirety while listening to "Namida no Tane, Egao no Hana". So, if you want to pull a Normalcy, go ahead and listen to it as you read… well at least after the altar.

An Undying Sentiment

Chapter Three

Forever! Part 2:

Mother

"You seriously brought no car, hell, even your motorbike?" Shin admonished of Zack, who shrugged it off quite easily.

"Cloud dropped me off here. He went ahead to help everyone at the church get organized," Zack explained, shrugging his arms. "I mean, c'mon, the church is barely more than a few kilometers away! Let's walk, it's good for your health," Zack was right in one thing, the church they were using for the matrimony was, indeed, very close to Mobliz. In fact, it was built on a hill overlooking the town, mostly for its privileged view, the small lake nearby and the lush green fields that surrounded it, somewhere Shin and Terra had found it perfect to have a nice, outdoors reception.

"It's not a matter of our health or style! We're half an hour late already!" Shin exclaimed, looking at his watch in anger. It was already twelve thirty, the wedding had been scheduled to be at midday sharp, which meant they couldn't afford to waste time walking. Stardust was out of possibility, Shin was sure Terra had taken the Gold Chocobo with her. He'd need a miracle to get there on a decent hour.

And, with a glimmer of light and the sound of time and space bending, the hope basically materialized in front of him.

"Okay, so are THESE the right coordinates?!" he heard a very familiar voice exclaimed, exasperation reeking in the tone.

"Look, it's not my fault that Shin has an awful memory when it comes to the year it happened!" another one, much more defensive one, exclaimed. It was by that time that the cockpit to the ship opened and out popped the familiar sight of the blue haired future changer.

"Serge!" Shin exclaimed, waving his hand at the ones in the Epoch.

"Guess Layle got it right for once," Serge said, his choice in attired making it clear he was in here for the wedding.

"You actually came," Shin said from bellow. He had actually told Serge that, if him and Terra were to ever marry, he'd enjoy it if Serge would take the entire crew on a ride on the Epoch through time just to see them. As he expected it, everyone was there, from Serge and his wife, Layle and his own love interest, Ramza and his sister Alma, even Aya had tagged along.

"I did say I'd come. You can thank your thirty year old self for us having to jump through five different years to find out which year you actually married though," Serge explained, the dissent between the voices of Kid and Layle suddenly making more than sense.

However, there was something else going through Shin's mind right now. Something related to the machine right in front of him.

"Say, Serge, those wings still work?"

"It's been forty minutes already! Why aren't either of them here yet?!" Luneth huffed and puffed from his seat on the church. Cloud had come and told everyone to sit down and prepare for the arrival of the groom… almost two hours ago.

"It's about the magic Luneth! The groom is always late, and the bride arrives just when everyone is about to question whether she's coming or not!" Refia said whimsically, having a rare full girly moment that even caught Luneth off guard. Still, he knew the truth.

"Refia, its Zack and Shin. Shin probably overslept and I'm sure Zack did more harm than good!" Luneth exclaimed, the now bordering two years of knowing the duo making what had happened painfully obvious.

"Why am I not surprised?" Lightning said, arms crossed and patience thinning. Firion had made her swear she wouldn't make a scene, but she was starting to question the value of her word against the value of giving them a piece of her mind.

Fortunately for everyone present, Cloud, who was the only one of the groomsmen actually giving a crap, Locke being busy with keeping the kids entertained and Edge… well, he's Edge, he wasn't even here yet, still, Cloud spotted something as he paced around the entrance.

"Can't they be normal even for a wedding?" he sighed, moments later Shin and Zack landed right in front of him on one knee, the Epoch landing in front of the chapel moments later.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Zack mocked, only to be promptly slapped across the back of the head by both of his best friends.

"Sorry for the wait Cloud, Zack forgot to wake me up on time," Shin told the blonde groomsmen, who looked back at him with a look that didn't spare even him, the groom, from criticism.

"How many alarms did you turn off to keep sleeping?" he asked, catching Shin completely red-handed.

"Tw-Okay, five!" Shin exclaimed, excusing himself with the fact that, for once, a peaceful sleep before a stressful day had not paid off as well as he'd hoped.

"Well, the main actress isn't here yet, so go ahead and meet the priest, the rest of the guests are used to waiting by now," Cloud told Shin, taking Zack with him in the effort of doing their job and taking Crono's group to their rightful place.

Shin at first took a moment to see the church where it would all take place. It wasn't a gran cathedral like the ones he could, most likely, have found and requested, it was just a small, quaint church that he and everyone else in Mobliz had built with their own sweat and tears over the course of this year and a half, albeit very much aided by Lunarian technology to speed things up. Regardless, the church didn't seem the least bit futuristic at all, and was just big enough to take in the quite big repertoire of friends that Shin and Terra had gathered throughout their fantastical adventures, albeit a bit bigger would've helped as the church was especially chocked full of guests today.

Deciding to enter, Shin found that the church seemed to be especially beautiful this day, with all the tapestries, statues and painted windows and ceilings seemingly overflowing with color, yet, he was sure that this was just his state of mind and soul. He was euphoric, but at the same time, each step he took in the direction of the altar, each head that rolled and wished him good luck, and especially Lightning's death glare, all of those clearly made his confidence plummet into a complete mess of insecurity and shivers by the time he arrived at the consecrated altar.

To put it into layman terms, Shin wasn't afraid of what was to come from the wedding, he was deathly afraid of screwing up. Which, in his mind, was rationalized as just making him more prone to screwing up, which haunted him to no end. What saved him, was, strangely, the priest.

"I presume you to be the groom?" the priest asked Shin, taking his mind out of the mess it was in. It instead turned to the priest. They had not found a qualified priest by themselves, having had to depend on Aerith, who said she had known one that visited her church from time to time, even exchanged contact with her. Shin assumed him to be this man, yet, there was something oddly familiar about the holy man in straight brown hair and matching eyes.

"I am. Shin Verus, pleasure to meet you," Shin said, introducing himself a handshake. "We haven't met, have we?" he asked, just to be sure. He didn't know if he did remember him from maybe one of Shinryu's memories, maybe it was just Déjà vu, or something else.

"I wouldn't believe so. My name is Thelav Drazel, I'm a friend of Aerith's. However, I am overjoyed to oversee the holy union of a goddess among men like Terra Branford," no matter what suspicion Shin had of him, he had touched the right button to gain his trust. Talk well about his soon-to-be-wife. That and, Shin was sure he was being honest, his tone didn't betray him for one moment, he really looked to mean everything he said. "Now, shall we take a look over the ceremony?"

"Might as well…" Shin replied, understanding that the man saw through his nerves and was both giving a way to focus on another thing and well, give him a crutch for him to stand on during the ceremony.

However, there was a basic, somewhat hilarious problem for everyone in the audience, well, Shin less so. Shin's nerves were so obvious to everyone that it got to the point where they were obstructing his brain from engaging in any kind of memory making, meaning that everything the Priest tried to tell him didn't even get into one ear, much less come out the other. Even the priest, by this point, had a not-so-hidden smile of amusement in his young expression.

"Hey, are you okay?" Edge said, finally appearing just by Shin's side, jolting him back into position. He had just ninja'd his way there, it was to be expected.

"I'm okay? How are you here THIS late? Do you have any idea what time it is?!" Shin exclaimed, the stress he was in flooding out in a rant towards one of his groomsmen, who seemed to take it pretty well. Out of everyone there, Edge was probably the one that understood Shin best, having married not even a year ago after, let's face it, a twenty-year-long courtship. While Rydia had been more than fine, almost relieved, Edge was forced to bring Cuore by his side to the stage to keep him from screwing up. He still did… but it could have been worse.

"Shin, I was late because I needed to bring Rydia and the others with me. I think you know what that means," Edge told him, for once his tone being completely serious. Shin's heart stopped pumping blood. Rydia was one of the bridesmaids, meaning… "Look, Shin, get it together. It's alright when I do it, screwing up is what I do, but not you… well, maybe you, but not at this point. Rydia knew I was going to be a disaster at the wedding, but you have no idea how happy and nervous Terra is, I don't think she can take a screw up at this point,"

"Wow Edge, way to get the pressure out of my shoulders," Shin told himself sarcastically, simply nodding back at the Ninja King whilst his mind was all over the place. With that said, Edge brought himself to the front seat of the right wing of the church, sitting down by Cloud and Locke. Zack and Celes had agreed on standing by the groom and bride. Albeit Shin was not sure just why Celes would want that. Or at least hoped that it was not for the fact that he imagined it to be.

That being said, the husband-to-be understood that time was running out on him and he had to get himself composed a fast as he could. Rydia, Aerith and Aqua had conspicuously found a seat on the left wing of the church… and if they were here that meant that, yes, Shin's head found Celes' stern, yet calm expression facing him. There was no aggression towards him, Celes had already left that behind, however, the way she nodded was more akin to her begging Shin to not mess this up. And he knew just how much was at stake here. Far more than just his pseudo-reputation. However, all of that stopped once Celes' eyes moved to the left, signaling Shin to look towards the door. As he turned his head, he saw that everyone was already looking towards the entrance.

It was time.

Shin's heart dropped once he first saw Terra walking down the hallway. Like many souls that thought they were prepared for the sight of their soon-to-be-wife walking down the hallway, he was gravely mistaken. While the beauty of the woman in front of him was something he saw, it was worth mentioning that the entire church had held their breath once they witnessed the bride. Only Celes had remained the same, silently congratulating herself for a job well done.

Her wedding dress was a long, ballroom styled dressed, pink of a slightly light hue coloring the fabric. It covered her entire body until around her upper chest area, where it cut almost diagonally towards her neck, leaving her shoulders and part of her arm bare. When the fabric reached the neck, it intersected a golden chocker complete with a large, semi-spherical violet gem hanging down her neck while smaller teardrop shaped gens hanged around the chocker and served as earrings, before finishing in a collar that ended just halfway through her neck. Her hands were clad in long, thin gloves of the same fabric and color, the garments ending a small way past her elbow into a frilled finish. As she stepped forward, one could notice the purely white sandals that she was wearing, their laces trailing upwards on Terra's ankles and legs. Finally, beneath the white veil that covered her still hidden face, her hair was tied into a small bun that reminisced of her hairstyle during her and Shin's first date, a fitting tribute.

By the time Shin had finished admiring the dress, she was already halfway through the long hallway. Let alone him registering that Duane and Katarin were both walking their adopted mother to the altar. It was the best possible gesture Terra could make, as she possessed no living blood relatives, but it was also a completely natural one, as no one would say Duane and Katarin were anything less than family to her at this point. The duo looked positively radiant as well as they walked their mother to what could be the happiest moment in her life.

Shin's life, one that was both small and immense, all flashed upon his eyes for the third time now, this time he was not facing death though, one could not imagine how contrary to death this situation is. Gargantuan effort was necessary for Shin to not just jump from the altar and run up to her… or the opposite direction. In short, Shin's nerves were haywire. Not only that, but he must have been staring a whole lot, as Terra did have a faint blush across her cheeks, albeit accompanied by a small smile.

By the time she had arrived at the altar, everyone had stopped the gasping and gawking, instead sitting straight and waiting for the marriage to truly start, creating the most awkward silence Shin had been a part of the past year. However, there was still something he needed to say before this all started:

"You look… perfect," Shin had been born cheesy, lived cheesy, he wouldn't put down the Camembert just for the wedding, it'd feel inappropriate and a waste of perfectly good cheese. Plus, it'd be bad form to not tell Terra just how good the dress that Celes had probably forced her to spend weeks picking or making looked. He did doubt that Celes had been the one picking it though, as a light pink wedding dress was something very Terra to pick, and that made it all the better.

"Please, I'm lactose intolerant by now," Terra joked meekly, trying to take Shin's eyes from her now completely flushed expression, before returning the favor: "You too went above and beyond, didn't you? You're more handsome than ever," Shin took this as you'd expect. He nearly melted on the spot.

"Ahem!" the priest coughed, signaling that it was about time the soon-to-be-married duo stopped verbally making out, at least until the ceremony was done. Terra and Shin looked back at him and nodded, they were as ready as they would probably ever be.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of our grand God and this company, to witness and celebrate one of life's greatest moments, to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to add our best wishes and blessings to the union of Terra Branford and Shin Verus," it was starting, Terra held her hands together in front of her waist, looking up toward Shin, who looked downward with a smile.

"Now, I may not be the most appropriate to talk about the couple at hand, but I would be lying if their exploits have not come to me through one bird or the other," Shin cringed and slid his eye at Aerith, who took out her tongue and scratched the back of her head in a halfhearted apologizing attempt. He had hoped to skip the speech, mostly because Shin didn't take well to being flattered by strangers, and he didn't need any longer to let the nerves build up. "It is not many a time that a person is faced with a tale of grandeur. Of a love that transcended life and death, one that held together through even the end of times, one that was glorified in the beauty of the wings of God itself. However, that is not what Terra and Shin have that should stay with us forever to come," Shin noticed how even Aerith's eyebrow had raised at the mention of God, thinking that, somehow, the priest that he had had a strange déjà vu feeling off may have had something more to him, but he was too intrigued by what his speech had in store to care.

"The people before us are simply that, people. Yet, for what was the greater part of their lives, they were hated, feared, even used, all for being born with powers to which others feared. Yet, neither of them blamed or branded others as evil. Instead, they struggled to live on until they found solace… in each other. Their actions before and after are not what makes them an inspiring tale, it is the true selflessness needed to help others when you are in need of help, only to find someone just like yourself, someone you can understand and help and be understood and aided back. The miracle that is the meeting of two fitting puzzle pieces adrift in the ocean of mortality. That is the inspiration that we should take from it. That if we do not despair, if we are simply ourselves and if we believe, there will be someone to come, someone that will ease our pain and lead us into our own paradise," the last bits of the speech seemed to move the priest just as much as did the audience, the young man in front of them closing his eyes and swiftly hiding a single tear coming down his expression. "For I know myself that pleas like that do not go unanswered,"

The attendees and the wedding couple were left in silence for a few moments, as if to ponder the weight of the words just spoken. Shin couldn't help but feel a bit left out however, as in, Terra had endured everything he had all the more than he had, she deserved this wedding far more than he did. For the first time in the day, he began to second guess if the girl in front of him was really even someone that he deserved to be with. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the priest did it on purpose.

"Terra and Shin, marriage is an institution ordained of God, and it is not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly, but reverently, deliberately, and only after much consideration, for in coming together in marriage you are committing yourselves exclusively, the one to the other, for as long as you both shall live," the priest said after the long silence, Shin's sweat drops becoming noticeable, Terra's expression showing slight hints of worry behind her solemn yet nervous expression.

"Knowing this, I ask of you this question: Do you Shin, choose to marry Terra on this day; to speak the words that will join you with her as your wife, for all the days of your life? If so, please answer: I do." The priest said, shattering all the glass around Shin's reality. This was it, the moment of truth. It had come too soon. He wasn't sure. He didn't know. His mouth barely moved. Seconds passed before he stated to utter:

"I-I…" the silence that came after it made the world around him slow down. The guests were bringing the hands to their mouths, Celes looked the opposite of what he expected, she looked downright distraught, but Terra didn't seem to falter, the way she seemed to be so sure of him, to put so much trust in him only made him doubt himself even more.

"SHIN!" Shinryu's voice thundered in his head in something akin to a slap, snapping his eyes back from the glazed daze. "Don't you dare do this to the girl! This is her one shot at happiness, and yours too, for both your sakes, you know the answer! She chose to be with you, never forget that!"

Shin took a deep breath, with the air coming from his body expelling all sorts of doubts and insecurities. He needed that. His entire life had been spent with her at his side, and if she were to tolerate him for the rest of her's, there was nothing else he could ask for.

"I do." He said with no doubts or stress clouding him anymore. His mind had gone from a brewing storm to a clear blue sky. What impressed him was that Terra, even after those more than ten seconds of hesitation, didn't seem the least bit estranged or angry. If anything, her warm smile only told him that she was just happy that he had worked through his doubts.

"That is good. For a moment, I'd have thought you were not up to the task. Now, without further ado. Do you Terra, choose to marry Shin on this day; to speak the words that will join you with him as your husband, for all the days of your life? If so, please answer: I do," the priest said.

"I do." No hesitation, nothing. Terra's expression had only brightened with each moment that passed. They were really doing it. In less than a minute, they'd be one.

"Then, if you would, please turn to face one another and join hands as you each take your marital vows." The priest told both, taking a step back and allowing the couple some space. Terra and Shin didn't need any time to think about things anymore. They instantly and gently cradled each other's hands, both being both surprised and happy to see that the other's hands were not shaking or wavering one bit.

"Beginning with you, Shin: Do you, Shin Verus, take Terra Branford, to be your lawfully wedded wife; to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, or for worse, for richer, or for poorer, in sickness, and in health? With respect for her integrity and faith in your union, do you promise to unfailingly seek out the best you can in her, loving her every day, in every way, until the end of your forever? If so, please answer: I do," at this point, Shin wasn't even phased by the speech. There was nothing to question, nothing left to waver about.

"I do." He answered determinedly, a glint of pride coming from the audience and especially Celes after all that debacle. Terra's hands trembled a bit at the words, not out of nervousness, but out of bliss.

"And now you, Terra: Do you, Terra Branford, take Shin Verus, to be your lawfully wedded husband; to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, or for worse, for richer, or for poorer, in sickness, and in health? With respect for his integrity and faith in your union, do you promise to unfailingly seek out the best you can in him, loving him every day, in every way, until the end of your forever? If so, please answer: I do." This was the last answer. The last set of words that they had to speak to be bounded. It all started and it would all end with Terra. And…

"I do." With no hesitation, it did. The cathedral half-breathed of relief as two boys started to walk down the aisle, their time coming soon.

The priest smirked and nodded: "Then, what tokens of love and respect do you offer each other?" he asked rhetorically as the two chosen Mobliz Orphans arrived by the wedding couple. The two orphans that had been tasked with giving the rings were a boy and a girl of the same age. The one holding Terra's ring had, coincidentally, been the one to first call Shin Papa, the ten year old Nia while the boy holding Shin's ring was her best friend and, if Terra was right, her future sweetheart, a small boy by the name of Simon. On their hands they both held a pillow where the small, golden rings that symbolized all Shin and Terra ever wanted laid on them.

"The wedding ring is the outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to all the union of this man and this woman in holy matrimony. It was Saint Minwu who said, "The nature of God is like a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere." May the rings that you hold symbolize the nature of God in your lives, and as often as either of you see them, may you be reminded of this moment and the endless love you have promised." Under any other circumstances, Shin and Terra would have questioned how this man knew of Minwu, but they weren't given the time, or cared, to question it. Taking the first ring out of Simon's hands, the priest said: "Shin, as you present Terra with her wedding ring and pledge your love and your life to her, will you please repeat after me: Terra, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. With all that I am, and all that I have, I promise to love and honor you always. With this ring, I thee wed,"

There was nothing quite like this moment. Shin had already put a ring on Terra's finger, one that had stayed to this day whenever she was able to wear it, but these rings were no mere rings, wedding rings were unbreakable bounds masked as metal circles. As the priest gave him the ring, he took one good look at Terra, trying his best to maintain his composure as he began to repeat what the priest said: "Terra, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. With all that I am, and all that I have, I promise to love and honor you always," She nodded at him and raised her hand, the groom gently taking it and carefully slipping the prized possession into her ring finger, sealing the matrimony on his end. "With this ring, I thee wed," he finished, taking a final deep breath and removing his hand from her's, leaving Terra to contemplate the ring by herself. The priest gave her a few moments before taking the other ring.

"Terra, as you present Shin with his wedding ring and pledge your love and your life to him, will you please repeat after me: Shin, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. With all that I am, and all that I have, I promise to love and honor you always. With this ring, I thee wed,"

For Terra, this was even more special. Unlike Shin, she had never had this experience, and she would never have it again. The bonding that came with giving your other something that he would wear on his finger, this one being far more important, as it'd stay with Shin forever more. She couldn't lie, she was… giddy about this. Unlike Shin, she just wanted it all to happen. For her, this was steering itself into perfection. "Shin, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. With all that I am, and all that I have, I promise to love and honor you always." She eagerly slipped the ring onto Shin's ring finger, finalizing her vows. "With this ring, I thee wed,"

The air in the hall suddenly changed. For all of its calmness, there was something different that came with both rings being put on. The ceremony was just about over, and everyone was about to explode. The tension in the air was palpable for everyone, even the priest, who took it as a sign to finish his speech:

"Shin and Terra, inasmuch as you have consented to be joined together in the holy state of matrimony, and having pledged and sealed your vows by the giving and receiving of rings in the presence of both God and this company, it is with great pleasure that I now pronounce you husband and wife. What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder," with all of that said, he prolonged the waiting for a few, slightly sadistic moments for himself, almost as if to tease the crowd. When he had his fill, he allowed it to be said: "Congratulations! You may kiss the bride."

Shin and Terra didn't waste any time in taking to each other's arms passionately, both of their wish for a perfect matrimony having been fulfilled. As they shared in the kiss, all of their memories together and all of the memories to come blessing them at that precise moment, the priest chuckled before finishing it all with:

"It is with great joy and honor that I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Shin and Terra Branford Verus!"

It was with that the crowd exploded into applause, some of the younger members even getting too ahead of themselves and jumping about in their seats, not that anyone blamed them. As soon as they broke the kiss, Celes took to Terra's side and gave her bouquet of matching pink roses and gave them a curt bow, her arm pointing towards the exit of the church. Wedding papers could be handled later, this was a time of happiness!

With that, Terra took Shin's arm and pulled it gently. They locked eyes once more and started to walk down the hallway. Terra could not believe this was happening. A couple of years ago, not even in her wildest dreams would something as fantastical as this could have happened to her. She had been content in growing old and watching over her kids, yet… thanks to this man, she had found so much else, yet lost nothing in return. True, he had his flaws and she had seen him almost doubt himself into the worst possible scenario but that was Shin. She had expected him to either break down or goof up. The fact that he managed to pull through only made her immensely honored. That he had gone so far as to give her the best day of her life. Which, at this point, it was. It could, and probably would get even better, but it was already the best day of her life.

She just needed to tell him…

But not now. Now they had finally walked out of the church, metaphorically entering a whole new world. It also came the time for Terra to do what she thought to be the most charming part of the ceremony, outside of marrying the man she loved of course!

"Throw the bouquet! Throw the bouquet!" she heard Prishe yell, knowing full well that she wasn't even going to attempt catching it. Nah, she just wanted to watch the chaos unfold. Still, she did want to adhere to the tradition, so she untangled her arm from Shin, smiled at him and closed her eyes, throwing the bouquet into the four winds.

No one knew if it was destiny or a bit of hocus-pocus from either of the blonde duo, but, as fitting as it felt, Celes took the bouquet for her own, beating out the entire crowd of young women to it. People just decided to ignore the fact that she seemed to be standing on a pile of corpses when she did.

"Well, no surprise there," Shin commented, Terra chuckling in agreement. She did kind of pity Celes for not being married already, having known and dated Locke for far longer than herself had even known of Shin, but Locke was much more of a free spirit than Shin, who seemed to want a stable home just… no, almost as much as Terra did.

"Now, onto the reception, am I right?" Zack exclaimed, pocking Shin quite heavily on the shoulder. He wasn't really questioning it as he was hurrying it up, but, being completely real, Terra was also hungry. After all, while she coped with nerves much better than Shin outwardly, she was still unable to even eat breakfast. And as we all know, a hungry Terra is a scary Terra.

"I'd very much like that too Shin," she told him with a smile that she knew he'd read as her needing the better part of the reception, the food. You see, while Prishe had actually come to witness the ceremony, that was because she was the one in charge of the cakes, and as such, had done her job far before the celebration had even taken place, which led to the rest of the cooks to be left behind, most notably Gilgamesh, who was worth three men… literally, he has six arms.

"Well, tell the others to start walking towards the lake once they are out, we're going ahead!" Shin told Zack, who went back to the rest of the crowd to warn them as the newlyweds began walking down the stairs of the church.

The reception was to be done outdoors, near Lake Avia just beside the church, one could even see the preparations from the church. The walk there with Shin however, felt everything but short for Terra. It was such a strange, novel feeling for her yet it was a completely familiar one as well. For all intents and purposes, she was not doing anything that special with Shin currently she was merely walking through a field with her arm wrapped around his, albeit she did possess a possibly overdone dress to bother her steps a bit. However, it all felt magical for her, the world around her was brighter than ever, the laughter and talk from the crowd that followed them was vivid and cheerful, she felt truly awake in her own dream world.

She snapped out as the smell of cooked meat and all sorts of other food were detected by her sharp animalistic senses. For a human to skip breakfast, that wasn't really a big deal, but for a Half-Esper that required more than twice the nourishment of a normal human, that was enough to activate "roaring stomach" mode.

Shin didn't even hold back the laugh that came with her embarrassing bellow from her stomach. She was at least glad that the sense of "when I marry him he'll change" was false, at least for now.

Thankfully for them, when they arrived, Gilgamesh had already managed to deliver the appetizers for the lunch and seemed to be well underway when it came to the rest. Terra and Shin took their marked places and the girl took to satiating her hunger for at least the next minutes. As they did, most of the crowd finally arrived.

They all took their places, sitting down and meandering for a bit as the waiters filled their glasses with assorted drinks to their liking. As they all were settled in however, Celes took up from her seat and banged her glass with her fork repeatedly to get their attention. Shin swallowed hard. Terra now remembered that at no point had the Best Man or the Maid of Honor taken their speech. Celes waited for a few moments as everyone quieted down, took one last glimpse at a small paper she had brought with her and began:

"I know this isn't exactly in tradition for the Maid of Honor to make a speech, but honestly, I feel like doing it, and I've certainly done more for this celebration than that horrid excuse for a Best Man over there, so there," Celes pointed out, the stars aligning in the semi normal occurrence that was Zack paying more attention to how slow the grass grew than what the proper speeches entailed. "I'll not take a lot of your time here. I'm simply here to give my blessings upon this pair that I, honestly, would not have even have considered allowing sprouting," she told, everyone freezing in their spots. Was Celes about to crash the wedding?! "I first met Terra back when she was nothing but a doll for the Empire. I did nothing but watch and even use her under the orders of the Emperor, feeling relief when she escaped just because it made my consciousness not as heavy as before. However, it was her that showed me what was wrong in the Empire, and she's probably the reason that Mobliz is free today because of that. What I did not expect of her, and something I'll never forget is how… she forgave me. After all I had done to her. She even… treated me as family. I had no doubt in my mind that Terra was the most beautiful flower I had ever seen grow in that desolate wasteland of weeds that was the empire. And then, he came along,"

Shin gulped visibly at how fast her tone had changed from Celes, the caring sister of Terra to Celes, the dark enforcer of perfection. He could only hope for mercy.

"At first, I hated the fact that Terra trusted in him so easily. She easily forgave people, that I knew of, but I knew that for all the beauty there was in her, she was also fragile. And who better to hurt her than someone who she had just put her trust into?" Celes started, the festive environment slowly freezing to a halt. They had no idea Celes was this… angry at the wedding. And why wasn't she saying this any sooner? This was just disastrous. "However, no matter how much I looked into every action he did, I didn't see any subtext to it, I didn't see any hidden intentions, no dissent. I didn't see anything. I saw a man that could make my sister smile in a way that I never even dreamed of. Before I understood what had happened, I had stopped distrusting Shin, I had become jealous of him," at this point Terra and Shin's hands slowly clasped back together. They had finally understood Celes. "For all the awkward flops he can have, for how much social logic he misses, for much he oversleeps, when she, no, when anyone truly needed Shin to be there for them, he was there. He didn't hold grudges, not even to people like me that never trusted him, for even a second. Let's not even speak of the sacrifices he would have and did, make for us. Slowly, I came to understand something. Shin, in his own way, is just like Terra. At that point, I understood, just how wrong I had been," finally, it was as if the ice around Celes and all around the air had melted. But, most importantly, a once in a lifetime event was taking place. Celes had a smile, not one of mockery or even a smirk, she was genuinely smiling. It was almost blinding.

"Terra, I always wished you the best, and that is why I am your Maid of Honor here. Because Shin is the best thing that could happen to you. I'll always love you and be here to support you, but now I can rest easy that there's somebody even more capable of doing my job." With that, as tradition called for, she rose her glass skyward and exclaimed: "A toast, to the newlyweds! May their lives finally find peace! To Shin and Terra!"

"To Shin and Terra!" The clanging glasses brought a realization to the girl. Just how many people were here? She could see that they easily numbered in the higher tens. She had spent so much time addressing the one man that had filled her life that she had almost neglected just how many people were now a part of it. Her life really had flipped upside down, hadn't it?

And then there was Celes. She had never noticed the reservations she held about Shin, much less expected her to go back on every single one of them. To the point of granting everyone in the party such a radiant smile. She was glad for her, a couple of years ago, neither of them would be able to be in such a situation. However, Celes' eyes had shifted just as fast as they had come, now eyeing someone else with her last bit of leftover aggression for the day.

"Okay, okay, fine, jeez!" Zack exclaimed, standing up, throwing the chair into the ground in the process, which he proceeded to pick up for the amusement of many. Same old same old. Even in his speech he was still Zack the Puppy. Coughing, straightening his tie and trying to shake off the level of fail he had just incurred, Zack nodded and started talking.

"Well, honestly, this is kind of the reason why I wasn't sure about taking the role of Best Man. Because, I'll be honest here, I always let the silver tongue business go down to people like Angeal and Rufus. So, when they asked me to prepare a speech, I was like: Well, guess I'm the one crashing the wedding," Zack said, causing half of the crowd to laugh at his bluntness while the other half was just afraid of what would come next out of this man's mouth. Shin was part of the later, Terra was part of the former, giggling excitedly while never letting go of her newlywed husband's arm.

"However, Cloud over there helped me a bit. He told me that the speech was basically about me saying whatever the hell I want, and you know how good I am at THAT!" Zack exclaimed, the reactions of both groups of people intensifying greatly. "Well, first, I have to congratulate the man in question. Because, the master himself was just surpassed," Zack said, smiling devilishly at Shin as he extended his hand. "I have no idea how he did it, but he charmed a woman that I, Zack Fair, once asked on a date. For reference, the last time that happened I had to die first," the way he just waved off his death as if it was nothing arose the morbid humor in all present even Shin was left to laugh at the bluntness of the man. "However, that's not why we're here today. I could just spend the entire afternoon just telling you every single awful little story I have about those lovebirds. Because I do have a lot… right here," Shin had suspected what was he paper on the inside of Zack's tuxedo, yet he only went pale when he understood the gravity of the situation. Zack had a LOT of dirt to dig upon, and if Shin knew Zack, it was all in that paper. Even Terra was afraid.

"But, I won't," Zack said, suddenly ripping the paper apart and, for the first time in a while, turning slightly serious. "We're here to celebrate how two people that, more than once questioned if there was even someone willing to live with what their origins brought about. While that concern was a bit unfounded, it didn't stop the way they did find another from being the most genuine unity that I ever saw two other people develop. I don't say this a lot, but Shin's a better person than me. For all you may think of me, I can be pretty irresponsible at times and I do like babbling way too much on things I shouldn't. He's not like that. He's kinda that perfect friend you have, but who's not insanely boring because of how perfect it is, you know, unlike him," Zack said, his finger understandably pointing straight towards the Warrior of Light. Hikari cringed but held himself from making a fuss. "I guess what I want to say is that… I'm glad I met the two of them, and I'm glad they met each other. They deserve it," with that, Zack took the Mic and handed it back Celes, who went to put it back into place. Yet, just before the atmosphere died down into a melancholy, Zack exclaimed with all his heart: "But enough about that, the free for all buffet is on!"

It was just in time too, as Gilgamesh had just given a clear on the pork the moment Zack finished. The couple got priority, obviously, serving themselves and, much like a lot of people around them, decided against eating at the table, starting to take on their first meal and Mr. and Mrs. Verus. Walking around, never separating, Shin started a conversation at last.

"So, how does it feel?" he asked her, Terra realizing they hadn't had an actual conversation for almost two days now. Things were just happening so fast that it had completely gone over her head.

"Overwhelming," Terra answered, straight to the point. That was, in a way, describing everything. The emotions, the day they had just gone through, the possibilities of what lay ahead… "Still, I wouldn't have had this any other way. You gave me the perfect wedding Shin, I don't know how to thank you…"

"Oh, shush. You and I both know Celes was the one in charge of all of this!" Shin dismissed, not being able to hide a blush. Terra found it adorable that he was blushing from a compliment coming from his wife of all things… even though her mind still found it hard to grasp that she was, in fact, his wife now.

"Celes wasn't at the altar, Celes didn't put a ring on my finger… and Celes certainly didn't stutter at the most important part of the wedding!" she really rubbed the last part in. Shin's face told him he didn't expect her to take it so well, but it was par for the course in Terra's mind. "Shin, sorry, but anyone that got to know you would know that, at some point in the marriage, you'd slip up. I trusted you to get right back up, and that's what I'm thankful for. I never doubted you… even if you probably did," She wasn't trying to guilt trip him, and he knew it, but she could see a small pang of guilt taking his expression.

"Well, guess I'm just that kind of guy, aren't I?" Shin asked, rubbing the back of his head. Terra smiled and took the chicken right off his dish. "Hey!"

"Consider this your pardon!" Terra teased, making the chicken leg vanish almost magically. The newlyweds shared a laugh that reminisced of their countless dates. Nothing, yet everything had changed.

It wasn't long until they found themselves meeting the first set of people to call them to their side. The Bridesmaids had apparently found themselves a nice little small table for themselves outside of the main table, Celes, Aqua, Aerith and Rydia all sharing in it.

"My, don't you two look the cutest," Rydia teased, the nearly middle aged woman looking as young as ever. The newlyweds couldn't help but be themselves and blush profusely at the compliment, the quad core of women of either marrying age or married chuckling in return. "I just wish my wedding was half as well thought out as this one…" Rydia sighed, not as much bad intentions as it was a bit of jealousy. Terra did see where she was coming from. While the wedding turned out to be enjoyable, half the guests had gotten lost in Eblan's caves, the others had to be brought in on the day because Edge forgot to invite them, and Edge had been a disaster at the altar.

"You tell me. I'm afraid this bouquet ends up being Locke's death sentence," Celes commented off-handedly, Shin chuckling in sympathy, he knew what the not-Thief would have to go through.

"Really? Because I wish my wedding was half as eventful as yours was Rydia," Aerith said, clearly knowing the nest of bees she was kicking.

"Thatsh becaush yur the only onesh without that problems!" Terra and Shin would never stop being surprised at how bad of a drinker Aqua was. She was there, dead drunk with barely a glass drank, toast not included. "I wishes I hash someone haslf ash dependabull ash Cloud!"

"Calm down Aqua, could be worse… it could be Zidane," Terra said, clearly pointing out a far worse example. Aqua proceeded to gulp down three glasses of water and cast Esuna on herself.

"Damn Terra, don't even joke about that!" she shouted, now completely sober. Laughter circled all around. There was a big difference between Zack and Zidane. Zidane was a playboy after marriage. Hadn't slowed down one bit. I mean, he never GOT anywhere with anyone, but that was beside the point. Zack just threw playful quips and acknowledged the "hotness quoficient" of a girl without actually making a move. "I wonder how Garnet takes it…"

"She's Queen. Keeping him restrained isn't that hard if she really wants to," Shin pointed out, the bluenette nodding.

"That being said, what are you guys going to do from now on?" Aerith asked, receiving two confused looks. "Don't stare at me like that. I mean after you do whatever couples do on their honeymoon," she winked. Terra, oblivious as ever, answered truthfully while Shin was to flustered to speak.

"I'm going to study!" Everyone raised an eyebrow, Shin included. "I want to teach kids! I looked over the ways I can help out, and Elementary Teacher just looks to be so much fun, and so useful… I can't see myself being anything other than that!" Shin looked surprised, everyone did. Terra was not quite sure why. She felt like this was the only job for her. To be surrounded by five year olds and teaching them all about life… it was like a dream come true! "Something wrong?"

"N-Not at all! I'm just surprised that you were so sure of it and yet never told me!" Shin said, quickly dismissing any doubts Terra could have gotten from the reactions of everyone around her, as they all had nodded in agreement. The girl put her finger over her lips and went into deep thinking.

"Now that you mention it… I think it was just never brought up," Terra explained, the most boorish and improbable of reasons coming up. "Huh, that's weird. What do you want to do after our honeymoon Shin?" she asked her husband… causing another downpour of sweat.

"Little Shiny doesn't know?!" Aerith teased, head bobbing from one side to the other in mockery of him.

"Oh, please Aerith, not everyone already had a job before this all happened!" Shin defended himself, trying, and failing, to come out on top. Aerith was indeed conditioned to be a florist already, however…

"It's been over a year already Shin, even I found something to do," Aqua explained, shutting down the young man's argument quite hard. Taking a pair of glasses from God knows where, she put them on, them fitting quite nicely in her figure might I add, and explained. "I'm on my way to being a journalist!"

"Journalist?" Terra asked, not seeing just where she was coming from.

"I like to travel, but fighting was something I only did out of duty… and my drive sort of vanished once the worlds became secure so to say… Zack helped me out narrow it down, to tourist guide or journalist. Since I'd rather be useful to society as it is now, journalist was the way to go. I can also go to many places others can't with my skills," Aqua explained, Shin and Terra nodding in agreement. It was a sound logic, and Aqua did have the cold head needed to write impartial articles, so she'd probably do great.

"What about you Rydia? Staying as Queen?" Shin asked, more like expecting her to say otherwise. It just wasn't Rydia.

"Mother is planning on serving as the bridge between Espers and Humans," Cuore said, the seven-year-old having appeared on the edge of the table, waggling her legs absentmindedly.

"I'll try to make the world even better for you Terra," Rydia added with a smile. Terra nearly choked, chastising herself by being so moved. She had a lot of friends now, she had to get used to them doing crazy things in the name of friendship.

"I'll probably apply as a scientist when I'm past the age of ten. I still have the latest of Lunarian Quantum Physics to comprehend. I'll need to develop my own thesis to get past the bias, that should take around two years, but I'll be conservative and say three," Terra was more amused at the thought of the scientific community's face than she was surprised at how blunt and outrageous Cuore had been. Scientist at age ten… yeah, that looked to be the normal way to go about things for her.

It was then that Terra spotted her sister walking away slowly from the table.

"Celes?" She asked, catching her mid-escape. "Something wrong?" she asked. Rydia and Aerith laughed out loud, Aqua chuckling in tandem with them.

"Celes, c'mon, you already told us, it's not as bad as you make it be!" Aqua told her, but she didn't seem to agree. Curiosity was growing on Terra. Just what had had Celes so ashamed yet so determined to be?

"Celes, if you truly want to do something, there's no shame in it!" she exclaimed, Celes stopping for a bit, but not getting to the point where she'd just confess.

"She's going to be an actress!" Rydia exclaimed, Terra shook her head in shock. It all made sense for Shin though, even if he didn't want to know it.

"Maria's role really rubbed off on you, didn't it?" Shin asked, referencing the Opera Scene back in Jidoor, and, by Celes' reaction, hitting right on the spot.

"That's… really amazing Celes! And it will support your shopping habits!" Terra exclaimed, completely unaware of how bad what she had just said would sound on society. That's what happens when you live three fourths out of your life outside it.

"J-Just go meet the other guests!" Celes dismissed, going towards the drinking stall in a march of anger.

"That may just be a good idea…" Terra said, looking up to her confused husband. "Maybe you'll get a better idea of what you want to be if we ask around!" she explained with a smile. A light bulb appeared above Shin's head as he finally "got it".

And so, they took to walking around the reception grounds, congratulations galore from every friend they met, yet, none of those conversations ended without the simple question of what they were planning for the future.

"The future? You mean my job," Lightning asked as she laid down her wine. "Well, honestly, I'm about ready for a vacation for now, but I guess I'll try to get the Guardian Corps back in shape once I'm back," she explained. "Want to join? I can probably find you a place on my squad," Shin's face was one of sheer terror. Terra looked at Firion for help, who smiled back and explained:

"Me and Aerith are founding a chain of stores. We'll start with two, one for Midgar and one for Pulse. We'll just try to go from there," the man of roses explained, the fitting task that befell him was something that, along with Lightning, didn't help Shin. "But if you'd like a suggestion Shin, how about using some of those memories when it comes to finding what you are able to do well?"

"That's right Shin! It may be considered a bit of a cheat, but still…" Terra said, the idea of using one of Shin's strangest and more unique traits some use was something she saw quite a bit of potential one. However, there was one flaw in it.

"That doesn't narrow it down that much," Shin explained, Terra having to recognize that there was probably quite a bit of knowledge inside Shin's head right now, however, she felt like they had taken a step in the right direction.

"What I'm gonna do? Well, me and the Gilgster are opening a diner!" Prishe exclaimed as they met with her and her group. Shantotto was a no-brainer, so they had just asked Prishe. The answer didn't surprise any of them. "Watcha 'bout you Lighty?"

"I am taking the Vanguard against the monsters! While SOLDIER protects the people, I'll exterminate them at their core!" he exclaimed with burning zealotry. Shin and Terra laughed awkwardly. That barely qualified as a job.

"I have a question for you, Shiny-poo!" the doctor began, her rhymes as sick as they always were. "The memories you got, do they only affect the mind, leaving he muscles to rot?"

"I don't have muscle memory, if that's what you're asking," Shin responded. Shantotto laughed and skipped away, however, they had both gotten the hint. Shin was probably best suited for a desk job if he were to take advantage of his gift.

"Being a King is all I can really be at this point," Ceodore pointed out, the newly crowned King of Baron probably finding it difficult filling his father's shoes.

"Ditto, but I do try to run a side gig with the theatre," Zidane explained, the first of the five eight nine taking a pretty tame approach at it.

"I'm getting the Gardens back up. We're probably going to need them more than ever now, that and we need to rebuild Esthar," Squall told the newlyweds, being as short and to the point as he had always been.

"Exploring is what I always did, and I'm just going to keep on going! You could join me and Lenna Shin, I mean, you're more aware of the three world's history than probably anyone else!" Bartz exclaimed, the fact that he mentioned Lenna joining him telling Shin and Terra of her decision. They were in no place to question it.

"I appreciate the offer Bartz, but I could never just leave Terra like that…" Shin said, lovingly rubbing his cheek on Terra's scalp in the mushiest way possible. The blonde and brunette duo had the laugh of their lives, yet Terra and Shin didn't mind it one bit.

"Blitzball. I'm getting back up, no matter what!" Tidus was succinct. It was a pity he lacked any advice for Shin, but to tell the truth, due to how little they had interacted due to ace's unique joining method he probably didn't know Shin enough to say much.

"King of Dalmasca. Prohibited to be a Sky Pirate on the side, I checked," Vaan said with a tinge of disappointment. "I'd ask Luneth for an opinion, but he's probably related to Onion Chopper for the next couple of years!"

"Shut up! I just have too much to choose from now, that's all! It's not like I got married without knowing how to support Terra or anything!" the little Knight of the Onions didn't hide his bad blood with Shin, he had never done it, blame it on Terra and Shin just waving it off as it was part of his Luneth's "rebel phase".

"Still not joining SOLDIER Cloud?" Terra asked the final member of the Warriors of Cosmos, well, the ones that had the crystals at least. Cloud had been easy to find, just find a place with absolutely no one in there and he'd be the one sitting there.

"Can't tell at this point… what, you're thinking of enrolling Shin?" Cloud questioned, his mako-filled eyes looking deep into Shin's passive brown ones. This was the one job Shin knew how to answer to.

"No, I'm done with fighting. We both are. I just want to find a peaceful job, away from all of what we had to the past year. One that I can come back home and see my beautiful wife everyday…" he explained, pecking Terra on the forehead to prove a point. Cloud just stayed neutral throughout the speech, he probably was aware of the answer before it was even said.

"I guessed you'd say something like that. Someone like you, that just saw and lived through our entire lives and had to carry the weight of their stories on your shoulders until you could write the final chapter for all of them is better off telling them as goodnight stories than creating any more of them," Cloud said, opening up his own psyche. It was clear to Terra that, just like them, Cloud was tired of swinging a sword around for everyone's sake. The time had come for them to simply lay down their weapons and make way for the next generation. Shin, however, seemed to have taken something else out of the conversation.

"Cloud, you're a genius!" he exclaimed, beating his hands together.

"He is?" Terra questioned Cloud juts as shocked.

"I… am?" somehow, Cloud had solved a riddle he had never have set out to give it a try.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do now!" Shin exclaimed. Terra stopped being shocked and questioning just what had happened and was simply curious to just what her husband was about to try and become.

"What is it then Shin?" she asked, receiving a look she had not received in a while. This looked was a mix of mischief and pleasure. She didn't like it one bit.

"Sorry Terra, I'll tell you when it comes up," he taunted, flopping away from her arm and laughing heartily. Terra, as one would expect, was less than thrilled.

"Shin, don't be like this!" she whined, trying to get a hold of her husband, failing horribly. It was obvious that Shin would need some convincing. However, there was something that stopped Terra from immediately pursuing the answer. She was also guilty of a secret she did plan to reveal later today. She could use that as a bartering tool. The realization of it was more than amusing. "If you can be devious to your own wife, don't expect me to pull back my punches," she whispered, enjoying the confusion on Shin's face while she grabbed his arm, cradled it into the same, loving arm lock they had shared for the afternoon, and, as if nothing had happened, said:

"It's around five already. We should be cutting the cake, shouldn't we?" dragging her husband with her back to the table, enjoying giving him a taste of his own medicine for once.

"Celes told me to make a traditional cake, so I just took it as a sign to make it a complete cheese fest! Not in the ingredients though…" Prishe explained, introducing the couple to the cake they were about to cut. It was she said, the cake anyone would expect on a wedding, being a completely white cake made out of circular layers that grew smaller with each of the layers, ending with the figure groom and the bride at the altar. It was beautiful in its simplicity, and, if Prishe was to be trusted, tasted just as good.

"This is the last tradition, right?" Shin asked, a bit exasperated about the amount of rules he had to follow on a day that was supposed to be just for him and Terra.

"Well, outside of us having to leave first, yes," Terra told him as she was handed the knife. She too yearned for the time where she could be alone with her newlywed husband, however, she couldn't deny that there was a simple yet unforgettable magic in going through the motions of the wedding ceremony. Even though this was close to the last, once Shin and Terra's hand joined to slice open the cake, her heart fluttered once again, even for the simple action of cutting off a slice.

Once they had finished, it was time for everyone to be served. Terra and Shin took their slices and happily engulfed them, being more than delighted with the taste. They could feel that the ceremony was starting to slow down… or was it?

"Testing, testing, is this thing working?" a very familiar voice appeared from what seemed to be nowhere. While no one knew what that meant at first, as soon as the previously spotless sky darkened with beam of light manifesting itself right in front of the bride and groom, Terra connected the dots.

"This is a magic spell, not a radio. I doubt that treating it like one will help," Terra's heart stopped at the voice of the man. There was no way… was it?

"That's why I'M the greatest mage in the universe, not you, you silly Esper! Behold!" yeah, that was definitely Merlina alright. After the sound of various hits to the back of her staff, the light started to project an image within. At first, it just looked like a punch of static, but, after what sounded like an uncanny amount of whacking, finally, the image focalized. "Aha! Told ya Maduin! You owe me a drink!" Merlina as her image appeared in the small circle of light in the center of the celebration, glorifying herself in front of the much larger man before quickly being thrown to the side. "Fine, be that way!" she screamed from off-screen.

"Papa… Mama?!" Terra exclaimed, dropping her dish, Shin moving swiftly to catch it before it hit the ground. It was just in front of her eyes, but, for those few seconds, the image of her parents standing in front of her once again after over a year made the young woman question if the wedding had been a dream or reality.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, my little star?" Maduin was the first one to talk, the Esper not even trying to hide the beaming pride in his expression.

"How…?" Terra asked, reaching out to touch the image of her father, only to have her hand traverse the holographic-like body of the duo. The circle of light was barely big enough to fit both her parents, and it hurt more than a little to confirm that this was merely a message, a part of her begged for it to be a return from the beyond.

"We called in for a few favors. Merlina was granted permission to link the two planes for a few minutes, even if it was in image only," Madeline explained, her facial expression being less exaggerated than Maduin's, but that was simply because of how she was, Terra was able to see the same amount of pride welling inside her mother's eyes.

"Th-thank you for being here, Mr. and Mrs. Branford," Shin stepped to say, feeling the need to take at least some role in the conversation. These were his parents-in-law now, were they not?

"Why, if it isn't my new son-in-law. You've been doing a… adequate job," Maduin told Shin, while he had no real beef with him anymore, Terra still understood that her father saw Shin as someone that would replace him in her heart. It was a stupid belief, but one all parents share to some degree.

"Shush Maduin, he's been quite impressive. That proposal was ten times less half-assed than your "we're going to have a kid, shall we be mates"?" Madeline admonished, leaving her husband at a lack of words. The crowd shared a chuckle.

"Point taken…" Maduin sighed, Terra pitying her father and trying to pull the thread on the conversation.

"Well, what brings you here Papa, Mama?" she asked. While she was so happy she could cry, she was still interested in what it meant for her to have her parents appear from the afterlife right in front of her.

"We didn't come here to tell you anything it's just… what kind of parents don't want to see their only child taking the greatest vow?" Maduin explained, his composure returning completely as he refocused on the matter at hand. For a few moments, he and his wife took their time watching over the entire crowd, but mostly Terra, relishing in the rare gift that they had been given. "You look even more radiant than ever Terra…"

"Thank you Papa. Celes helped me pick the dress, it does looks gor-"

"The dress is beautiful Terra, but we meant you. You look positively radiant," Madeline explained, her image silencing Terra's lips with her finger, even if it could not make contact. "It's amazing how… just a few years ago, your father and I were praying for you to find a single person to accept you. A single person to make you happy. We were ecstatic when you found the orphans. It was the first time that we had ever seen you truly happy. We could never have imagined to find you surrounded with so many people that accept and love you… one of them willing to share his life with you," deep seethed melancholy mixed with vast bliss swept with every word of Madeline. The very sentiment that had come over Terra earlier was something that affect not only her, but her parents too.

"I felt that too… it took me some time, but this wedding showed me far more than Shin's love for me. It showed me… everyone's love. The realization nearly had me in tears," she told them, slowly interlocking her hand with Shin's. Madeline nodded back, her eyes holding in the tears herself.

"If… we had to come here to pass you a message… the best I could tell you is that, the life in front of you, the road you are about to walk, while it may be completely different from the one you walked up until now, it's not about the end. Your life Terra is no longer about the destination. You should enjoy the little detours. To the fullest. Because that's where you'll find the things more important than what you want," Maduin's voice had become one that more people could associate with the protector to all Espers, as his words had made a deep impact in Terra. He was right.

For the first time since she was born, her life had lacked a final goal, it became about the detours, about the things she herself wanted to do and see. Her life was finally in her hands. Her's and Shin's, as they now shared their life.

"Papa I… I'll do just that. Thank you!" Terra said, tears flowing down her cheeks. She wished to take her father and mother's arms right now, but she knew she couldn't. It was as agonizing as it was blissful to see them here.

"That and, don't let the past lock its chains back onto you. Your future is brighter than anyone could ever have imagined. There's no need to not go forward," her mother finished, by this point, all Branfords sharing in each other's tears.

"I know Mama…" she knew she couldn't hold them, but that didn't stop Terra from stepping forward, throwing her arms around Maduin's and Madeline's image, an empty hug that felt just as real as one where flesh touched flesh soothing her mind.

"Sorry to be a party pooper, but I can't maintain this much longer…" Merlina's voice said from the side. "I mean, I'll sacrifice my moment with my grandson all you want since he has my son in his head, but I'd say it's best for you to wrap this up. I'll get Shin when he comes up here anyway…" In any other situation, Shin would demand explanations, but even Shinryu knew he was better off not knowing.

"Seems like our time here is up," Maduin told Terra, wiping away her tears. "It's been good seeing you one last time. Don't be in a rush to follow us, a lot more people need you here," he told his daughter, his large hand pretending to rub her scalp. "Shin, take care of her for me, will you?"

"On my life," Shin replied, hand over his heart.

"You'd better," Maduin joked meekly. Madeline took her turn as the light began to fade.

"We're happy for you Terra, even happier for what you carry with you, yet, I think it's about time you tell him. I'm certain he'll be as thrilled as we were," Terra was not surprised that Madeline knew of her secret, and she planned to follow her mother's wish to the last. When she nodded, Madeline smiled back. "Goodbye sweetie. We'll see you when the time comes. Until then, be happy!" and in that note, the light vanished as swiftly as it came, blue skies replacing the darkened clouds. Yet, in Terra's eyes, it was if it had rained.

"Goodbye, Mama… Papa…" she whispered, feeling Shin's hand take her's. She knew then that it was time. Cleaning her tears with her free hand, she turned to Shin and took both his hands with hers. "Shin, there's something I need to tell you," Shin's face turned quizzical, but he was not about to question Terra's face. It was important, he could feel it. He would wait to hear it at her own pace. "Yesterday, I didn't just go to get my dress," she began, seeing in his eyes that he had suspected it. Her heart beat faster. "I went to pay Hope a visit…" She didn't have to be afraid. Why would he be angry? Why would he reject what had happened to her. "Shin you're… no, that's not it… you already are one…" she looked at Duane and the rest of the orphans, the twelve kids of Mobliz nodding in tandem. "Shin, I'm… pregnant."

Time froze for both her and Shin. Shin simply blinked repeatedly, not being able to assimilate what Terra had just said. Terra took a deep breath and said:

"I'm three wee-"

"I'm… going to… have a baby?" Shin asked, his eyes still completely glossed. Terra fearfully nodded. They had never discussed having kids of their own. He knew it was one of her greatest wishes, but they had not decided if they should have one before the orphans grew up. "I'm… I'M GOING TO HAVE A BABY!" fear turned into bliss. Shin was crying once he took Terra by the hips and took her to air, spinning around with her in tow. Tears swept wife and husband as the congratulatory shouts multiplied, clapping and tears soon followed.

He had been conscious that he was already a father, he had accepted her baby. He had married her. They were going to share their lives, their children, flesh and blood and not, they had started to walk on the same road.

No day in Terra's life could possibly top this one.

Before anyone knew, it was sunset. The rest of the afternoon had passed in a flash for everyone in the wedding. Glasses of drinks had been gulped down, singing and dancing had been had, more than a few jokes had been cracked over Shin and Terra's relationship, everyone had simply had the time of their lives. But every good thing has an ending. Now, we joined Terra and Shin as the husband had been the first to hop on Stardust, the golden bird having been chosen as the steed that would take them away from the wedding and into their honeymoon.

"Well, it's time for us to be going…" Terra said, having already said goodbye to everyone in there.

"Don't let Stardust go crazy. I want you to get to your honeymoon alive," Celes half-joked, Terra nodding and taking her seat in front of Shin. The groom wasn't about to ride her out of her own wedding, no, she was taking the Reins of Stardust.

"You heard Celes Star, let's make this flight enjoyable and safe," she told the bird, who, for once, did not have any backtalk. She understood that this was her mother's day, she would do anything for her. Stardust prepared to take off, golden feathers scattering to the winds.

"Terra, Shin!" a voice came, Cloud standing in a line being formed by the twelve remaining Warriors of Cosmos that she had met during the war and befriend. "It was fun… you two," Cloud said, a rare smile on his face. As the ensemble started waving them goodbye, Shin and Terra nodded back at them, shouting:

"We'll see you soon!" as Stardust took to the sky. The Golden Chocobo's feather's reflected the sunset into a beautiful aura-like light as they ascended to the skies. For a moment, Shin took notice of the priest that had married them standing on a nearby hill together with a silver haired woman. Terra noticed it too, and they both understood.

"We were truly blessed, weren't we?" they commented as they flew into the horizon.

"Hey Terra?" Shin asked her wife. "How long do you think our road will last?" the young woman smiled inwardly, knowing just the kind of words to speak. Ones that would seem straight out of her husband's mouth.

"Forever."

Post-Chapter Note: That… was a beast of a chapter if I ever wrote one. It brought up emotions in me like no other. I have no idea if this is my best chapter ever, but honestly, I don't really care. I don't see any way I could have pulled this off better than what I did, and I won't try to. This is as special as it gets to me, and I hope it stays the same way with you. That's my job as a writer after all, I just hope I lived up to it. So, for the last time in this story…

Later, Buddies.