Author's Note: I am so excited for this wedding, and even more excited - as usual - to be dressing the ladies. All of the dresses are available on the ModCloth website unless otherwise noted. See if you can catch a "pattern" in the guests' dresses. Har har.
PS: J. Crew sold out of Christiane's gown and headpiece, but if you want to see them, PM me and I'll email the entire ensemble to you.
On Allura: Two if by Tea Dress
On Larmina: Pictures by the Pond Dress
On Lenora: Vaude-Veil Nights Dress
On Morgan: Tracy Reese Night of Passage Dress
On Kelly: Me Oh Midas Dress
On Lisa: Too Much Fun Dress in Bouquet
On Ginger: The Scenery at Sunset Dress
On Cinda: Change of Greenery Dress
On Christiane: Maddalena Gown (J. Crew website); Crystal Headband (J. Crew website); Charlotte Olympia "Forever" Shoes (Charlotte Olympia website); Entwined Floral Pendant (Blue Nile website)
To Emie Mac - I am so glad you liked the Jeff/Morgan scene. I knew you would! Now, wait 'til you see the two of them together at the wedding.
To Smithy - Bad apples always keep turning up, right? Just like this rash of storms we seem to keep having.
To Sally On - Hooray for Crankypants! Believe me, in a couple of chapters, we'll all be saying "WHERE did this guy come from? And can he stick around?"
To Wade Wells - What part am I making happen: a baby for Jon & Len, or an engagement between Keith & Allura? ;)
Title Song: "Marry You" by Bruno Mars
Lisa slid into her blue sundress, decorated with a vintage-looking white floral print, and gazed at herself in the mirror. She left her almost-black, shimmering hair hanging long and loose. Her dark eyes seemed sad, which made her cheeks seem hollow and her skin look sallow. She tucked her ruby pendant underneath the neckline, and then, changing her mind, pulled it back out.
Jeff was getting married.
She'd known this day was coming. She just hadn't realized how much it would affect her.
Lisa had always wanted to get married. A long time ago, back when she and Jeff were serious, she thought it would be to him. Then, once Wade took control of the Alliance and grounded the Explorer, things changed. She wasn't sure if a relationship ever would have worked out between them, but if it had been meant to flourish, Wade's rise to power had certainly derailed it.
Now Aidan. Aidan loved her, Aidan let her - and wanted her - to move in with him, but she wasn't sure that Aidan wanted to marry her. Like Ginger and Lance, he wasn't someone who believed in marriage. So what did she want more, a husband or someone who loved her unconditionally? Someone who would never leave her, regardless of whether or not they were married? And really, there was no such thing as a piece of paper that would make anyone stay.
"Geez, Lis. You look like your dog just died."
Aidan't blond head appeared in the mirror next to her, his sapphire-blue eyes meeting with her dark ones in their reflection. "Don't cry, Sweetheart," he soothed her, planting a kiss against her temple. "I know what you're going through. I know how bad it stinks."
"Yeah." She gritted her teeth together. "It's just that...why not me? Why didn't he want to marry me? Why wasn't I good enough?"
He sighed. "It's not that you're not good enough. Trust me, you're gonna get married eventually, Lisa. I know you will."
"How do you know?" she nearly snapped. Then she realized the enormity of his words. "Oh! Oh."
"Lis, I'm not ready," he told her simply. "Right now, I'm not good enough to be your husband. Just let me work on myself a little more, and when I'm ready, trust me, you'll be the first one to know." He grinned. "Well, maybe the second. I'll need to tell my Mate first."
She nodded. "I can wait, Aidan. I want it to be you."
"Good."
As she allowed herself to be wrapped up in his strong embrace, she realized that, yes, this was enough for now. She had really only needed reassurance that Aidan loved her enough to marry her. With her old boyfriend on the brink of becoming someone else's husband, she needed to know that someone was in it with her for the long haul, and would eventually make her his wife.
Aidan didn't lie. She knew his word was as good as it got. Suddenly, it didn't matter so much that her ex-boyfriend was getting married.
Keith paced the living room of the triplex nervously. Guests were beginning to arrive for the wedding, and Isabel from Per Se had yet to allow anyone up to the terrace. Morgan had gone to the guest room to be with Christiane, and Jeff was upstairs in the master bedroom. Cliff and Cinda, dressed in a green floral-print sundress, sat on the ivory suede sofa. Ginger, in a strapless ivory dress burnished with burgundy flowers, was at the bar, mixing up a midday gin and tonic. Unsurprisingly.
"Calm down, Kogane," David told him. "I'm just as nervous as you are, but I'm not pacing." He grinned. "And why are we even nervous? Seven hells."
"Not sure." It was true; Keith was nervous, and he didn't know why. It was as though there was something he needed to do or say, something he needed to get rid of before Jeff married his sister. Not even Allura's comforting hand on his arm could soothe him. But gods, did she look beautiful. The strappy white sundress with the full skirt and blue floral print looked incredible with her wavy blond hair and emerald eyes.
"Come on. Let's look at their pictures," she suggested, trying to take his mind off his nerves.
There were plenty of portraits hanging in the living room. The centerpiece was of a man who bore more than a passing resemblance to the commander, the name Jacob Christopher Hawkins etched onto a gold plate at the bottom of the painting. Keith raised an eyebrow at the outrageousness of it before moving onward. He and Allura glanced for a moment at Jon's and Lenora's wedding photo before finding themselves in front of two framed group shots.
The first one was obviously from Lenora's wedding. She stood in the center of the group in her wedding gown, one arm wrapped around Morgan, the other around Kelly. Morgan's other arm was wrapped around Jeff, who in turn had an arm wrapped around Ginger's waist. Cliff stood next to Ginger with a hand on her shoulder. Kelly, on the other side, had her other arm around Cinda, whose arm was linked with Lisa's. Aidan wrapped his arm protectively around Lisa's shoulders.
"That's a great shot," Allura remarked.
"It is," Keith agreed. But it was the other shot that made him pause.
The other shot was of the same people, of course, only they looked much younger. Morgan stood in the middle of the photo, resplendent in her own wedding gown, her black hair long and loose. She was flanked by Lenora, Aidan, Kelly and Cinda on one side, and Jeff, Lisa, Ginger and Cliff on the other. The girls all wore the same bridesmaid dress, a rose-pink knee-length swath of silk with high silver heels.
"They're floor shots," Ginger explained, coming up behind them. The drink in her hand was almost full. "We make sure we get a shot of all of us from the floor at every wedding. This one won't be any different, except you'll be in the shot too." She took a sip. "Mmm, Bombay Sapphire. How do you people drink Ciroc over Sapphire?"
"Gross, Lemon Drop."
Ginger hurled a dirty look in the direction of whoever had called her by her infamous nickname. It happened to be Kelly, standing smugly in the doorway. She wore a strapless black cocktail dress with a peplum around the waist and an allover gold-threaded flower pattern. Taye's hand rested possessively on her shoulder in preparation for a confrontation with Modoch.
Cinda laughed. "Dirty looks already, huh? Come on, Roommates, don't fight on my account. There's enough of me to go around." She linked her arms with Kelly and Ginger, being careful not to spill a drop of Ginger's drink.
David cleared his throat. "I'm going up to the master to check on Jeff. Hopefully he's not hyperventilating." He stood up from the couch and excused himself to the third floor of the triplex.
Keith nodded. "That's a good idea. I should go visit Christiane soon."
Lenora, Morgan and Larmina fawned over the bride as they did the final touch-ups on her. Christiane looked like the perfect garden-party bride. Her gown, which David generously paid for, was a strapless tea-length ivory confection with powder-blue crinoline underneath. The crinoline peeked out slightly past the hem, matching her strappy powder-blue platform heels with red hearts over her toes. She wore her glossy black hair long and loose, the waves tumbling over her porcelain shoulders, adorned only by a single headband with flower-shaped crystal accents.
"Geez. I am getting married," she murmured in disbelief.
"Come on, seer, you knew that already," Lenora told her cheerfully, admiring her handiwork. She wore a sleeveless knee-length wrap dress, bronze in color with a black floral-print lace overlay, her Mosaic pendant glittering around her neck. "Nothing new there."
"Yeah, we went over this last night, soon-to-be-married lady," Larmina chimed in. The cadet looked beautiful in the short baby-blue dress that the royal seamstress had chosen. She loved the train of fabric flower petals that made up the single strap across her shoulder, and she admired how it looked against her strawberry-blond waves, twisted into a simple updo. "Remember?"
Christiane grinned serenely. "I remember." She felt better after getting a clean bill of health after everything she'd been through. Now Lotor had nothing on her, nothing to drag her down with. She could put the kidnapping fiasco behind her. She was going to marry Jeff and move on with her life.
Morgan cleared her throat. "Ladies, do you mind if I have a moment with Chris?"
Lenora shot the cadet a quick glance. "Come on, Mina," she said. "Let's go to the living room and see who's here."
Larmina nodded in agreement, and they exited the room, closing the door behind them. Morgan waited for the click of the knob, then made a move for her purse. The heavy brocade of her blue-and-silver floral-patterned dress made an audible rustle as she walked.
"Morgan, whatever you do, don't make me cry. I'll die if I ruin my make-up."
"I keep telling myself the same thing." Morgan returned from her purse with a small box in her hands. "I wanted to give you this, Baby Girl. I know that it isn't much, but I haven't worn it in a long, long time, and it would be better served by you."
Christiane inhaled. "Okay." Then she opened the box.
She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't the silver pendant laying in the box, entwined in the shape of an open flower. It was simple and beautiful, still gleaming, but it hardly seemed formal enough for a wedding.
Morgan lifted the pendant out of the box. "Keith gave me this necklace for my twenty-first birthday," she explained as she clasped the chain around the bride's neck. "I think it's only fitting that you wear it today. And for the rest of your life, too."
Christiane scrunched up her face, attempting to fight off the sting in her nose that would inevitably lead to a downpour of tears. "But it was his gift to you," she countered. "And let's face it, it was probably the best gift he ever gave you."
Morgan embraced her and kissed her brow lovingly. "Baby Girl, the best thing your brother ever gave me was you."
At those words, there was nothing in the world that could have kept Christiane's tears in.
Isabel wandered down to the living room to find nearly all of the guests milling around, many with drink already in hand, waiting for the ceremony to begin. "The officiant will be here shortly," she announced, "and I've been instructed to let you all onto the terrace. Please follow me."
For a small wedding, it was a sizeable chunk of people. It was the entire Vehicle Voltron team along with the Explorer's bridge crew, plus the Albegas crew, plus the Space Marshal and First Officer, plus the representative trio from Arus. As the guests began to file up the stairs, Keith slid away until he found the guest room where his sister was waiting.
Waiting to become a married woman.
She looked over as the door opened, and Keith sucked a breath in. "Eiko-chan, you look beautiful. You are a gorgeous bride." He kissed her hand. "Jeff's lucky to have you."
Christiane smiled. "Thank you, Akira-chan. I'm glad you're here."
"Me too." He touched the entwined floral pendant around her neck. "Morgan gave this to you, right?"
"Mmm-hmm."
He nodded. "It suits you. And it suits the occasion. So, where is she now?"
"She's with Jeff. Apparently, when she got married, Jeff walked her down the aisle, so now she's returning the favor and escorting him in."
"Ah." He squeezed her hand. "And who's walking you down the aisle?"
"No one. Dad's gone, remember? And as much as I love David, I can't allow him to walk me down, you know what I mean?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
Lance McClain wasn't there. Because of that, Shannon didn't feel bad about slipping into the seat next to Ginger. Her gin and tonic was still more than half full, and Shannon had a bottle of Guinness in his hand. He wasn't looking to steal her away from the Red Lion pilot, but if she happened to come on to him while she was tipsy at the wedding, well, he wouldn't turn down the opportunity.
"Not good," Cliff whispered to Aidan, discreetly pointing out the Irishman's choice of seating. "Can we do something to fix that?"
"On it." Aidan caught Taye's glance, who nodded imperceptibly, then ushered Kelly and Cinda towards Ginger. Any intentions Shannon might have had were conveniently broken up before they could even take root as the trio sat down with him.
"Busted," Lisa giggled.
Allura made her way over to where Lenora, Larmina, and Jon were gathered. Seeing the commander in his black pinstriped Hugo Boss suit next to the Space Marshal made her smile. She liked the way her friend looked with her husband. She looks better with Commander Hawkins than she does with Sven, she thought glibly.
"Ooh, take a seat, Aunt Allura," Larmina told her. "They're walking in."
The princess left a seat open next to her for Keith. She didn't know where he was, blast it, only that he had gone to see his sister to wish her good luck before she walked down the aisle. She watched as Morgan escorted a suited-up Jeff from the master bedroom to the terrace, kissing both cheeks before leaving him with the officiant and finding her seat next to David. "Oh, he's going to miss his sister as she walks down the aisle!"
The guests rose to their feet as Christiane made her appearance, hanging on her brother's arm.
"Gods, that's beautiful," Lenora murmured. Across the aisle, Morgan sobbed into a tissue, David rubbing her back and beaming proudly as he stood behind her. Allura looked down at Larmina and smiled broadly, fighting off tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. She was so proud of Keith. He had truly come a long way since she'd first laid eyes on him.
As one Voltron captain approached the other, there was nothing that could dampen the joy. Keith brought his sister towards Jeff, and the former roommates shot each other a knowing glance as he gave Christiane away. The bride kissed her brother's cheek, hard, and looked back at him as he sat down next to Allura.
Jeff took Christiane's hand in his, and led her towards the officiant. He knew he should be paying closer attention to the words and the ceremony, but he couldn't. He was lost in his bride's turquoise eyes and the love for him radiating out of them. He was lost in the enormity of the realization that it wasn't just him anymore, there was someone else who was as equally invested in his life as he was.
As they slid their wedding bands on each other's fingers, Jeff couldn't help but eagerly kiss his new wife.
Once the photographer had finished with the posed shots, the terrace transformed into a dance floor. The flowers, the photos, the music, the open bar, the food...somehow, the quiet triplex had been turned into a reception hall.
Shannon was in the middle of the dance floor, getting his groove on after having a few too many bottles of Guinness. He danced with whatever woman came near him, the bride included, though it was obvious that he had drunken eyes only for Ginger. It made Keith laugh. Though he hadn't been in the same class with them, it was fun to watch the Irishman make a fool out of himself with the pretty Air Team member. He couldn't wait to tell Lance about it.
As he laughed at Shannon's lame advances, including one on Allura, he noticed Jeff dancing with Morgan. With a pang of sadness, he realized how close those two had once been and still were, and he regretted the fact that they weren't a tight trio anymore. Then again, he realized that things had changed for the better.
When the song ended, the music switched to something slower and more sentimental. Christiane, still resplendent even after too much dancing, drinking and kissing, extended her arm out for David. She and her surrogate father had the dance floor to themselves as their friends and family watched.
He watched Allura's emerald eyes glaze over, and she drew Larmina in close as she watched them dancing. That was his cue. Creeping towards Morgan and grabbing her elbow, he dragged her over to Jon and Lenora to map out his plan. He needed their help.
"Dude, this better be good, Kogane," Morgan hissed as she missed the second half of the dance.
"Trust me." His gaze moved back in the direction of the commander and his wife. Despite the strength of his and his team's bond to Sven, he had to admit, he liked the way Lenora looked with Jon. The two of them just looked good together. They looked right for each other. Much like him and Allura.
As though she heard his thoughts, Lenora's chocolate-brown eyes looked over to meet his. One eyebrow lifted as she noted Keith and Morgan together. "So, what is this about?" she asked teasingly, waiting for some snappy comment from either one of them in reply.
Keith coughed. "I need your help."
"Anything," Jon tossed out. He wrapped an arm around his wife. "What do you need?"
"First of all, I need to know who catered the wedding. The food was incredible."
Jon smiled proudly. "Per Se. It's my favorite restaurant in New York." He discreetly pointed out Isabel, who was still in charge of the dessert table as well as the cake cutting - and, to her chagrin, Christiane's pastry from La Bergamote. "She's the events manager there."
"Good. I'll need reservations there for Allura and me tomorrow night."
"Will do." The commander nodded easily.
"Len," Keith began again, "I need you to keep Larmina and Allura distracted tomorrow. Can you take them shopping or something? Take them to the Garrison, even. Show them the Academy. Seven hells, show her our floor and your corner room and where Lance used to keep the beanbag chair."
Lenora giggled. "I can do that."
"So what do you need me for?" Morgan shot out.
Keith exhaled. "I need your phone number."
"Um..." she stalled, her panic-stricken violet eyes meeting her old roommate's. "Why do you need my phone number?"
"I'll need a woman's opinion tomorrow. And no other woman understood my tastes the way you did, so it has to be you. Could you do that for me, Morgan? Please?"
"Hmm." She looked over her shoulder just in time to catch David twirling Christiane. She smiled. "Sure. Why not? We'll make a day of it, Kogane." She shot him a wry grin. "I just had my last date with Jeff. I guess I could have one last date with you, too."
"Good. Then it's settled. I'll call you tomorrow and I'll meet up with you." Keith set a grateful hand on Jon's shoulder. "Thank you, all of you, for your help."
"No problem. You wanna tell us what this is all about?" Lenora asked.
Keith smiled innocently. "All will be revealed tomorrow."
The last dance.
In the middle of the dance floor, Christiane wrapped her arms around Jeff, watching her left hand and the way her diamond ring twinkled in the light from the lanterns. "I love you, Mr. Aki. For now and forever."
He pressed his lips to her forehead. "Good to know, Mrs. Aki."
Ginger, not being as drunk as she normally would be at a wedding, overheard Jeff's words and grabbed Lisa. She wanted to lend her old roommate some strength after what had to have been a long and tortured day for her. Surprisingly, Lisa was in good spirits, happily wrapping her arm around Ginger's shoulder.
Seeing that his girlfriend was happy and enjoying herself, Aidan moved towards the railing with his tumbler of Johnny Walker and got a good look of Central Park.
"Ace."
He didn't need to turn his head to see who was addressing him. "Hey, Babe," he replied, taking a sip of his drink. "I haven't seen you all night. You've been too busy observing and playing hostess."
"True enough." As Lenora came up next to him, she lifted her glass of red wine. She'd made sure to stock the bar with plenty of her favorite cabernet from Hess' Allomi Vineyard. "But you know I made sure to get some vino in me."
He laughed.
She was so close to him that he could smell the wine on her breath. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she whispered, "Ace, Christiane's diamond ring is beautiful. Truly." She caught his sapphire gaze. "I want you to know, I would have been proud to wear it."
Setting his glass down on the ground, Aidan wrapped his old girlfriend up in his embrace. "Your husband was a bit of a drunken jerk that night."
"I'm well aware."
"He told me that you never would have married me." His eyes searched hers in the darkness, pleading. "Is that true?"
"I don't know, Ace," she answered honestly. "And I'm not copping out on an answer, either. Things were just...let's just say, I never expected Sven to walk out of my life, then walk back in ten years later. I never expected my mother to die, and for you to be the one who was there for me in those fragile first few hours afterwards. I never expected to become Space Marshal, then watch Charles Herbert Wade snatch the title out from under me and put a price tag on my head." She stared out into the night sky and up at the stars, much the way Sven always had. It was her defense mechanism.
"So you're saying," he concluded, "that you have no idea what the circumstances would be."
"Exactly."
"Seven hells." He picked his glass up from the ground and took a long swallow. "Hey, I just want you to know that I told Lisa that I'll marry her somewhere down the road."
Her eyes lit up. "Good for you! I'm excited."
"Yeah." He exhaled. "I figured I was ready once, I can be ready again. She's not you, but then again, she's exactly what I need. And I'm proud of her. She's doing better at Jeff's wedding than I did at yours."
"I love Lisa, Ace."
"I know. I love her, too." He swigged back the last of his scotch. "Now. Let's get back to the dance floor before the music cuts out."
That was quite possibly the best idea of the night.
Christiane gazed out at her guests one last time as the final chords wound down. Morgan. David. Taye. Aidan. Keith. Jon and Len. Allura and Larmina. Kelly and Cinda, Lisa and Ginger. Wolo, Rocky, Chip. Cliff, Modoch, Hutch, Marvin. Shannon, Zandee, Tangor, Crik. Newley. Sparks. Not just friends. More than friends. Blood or not, marriage bonds or not, they were all family. For better or for worse. For always.
Jeff was her always.
Pressed up against her new husband, she tilted her head upwards for one more kiss. His lips met hers, and they were vaguely aware of the crowd cheering them on. It didn't matter. That one last kiss sealed the deal.
It was their promise of forever.