She stared at herself in the mirror. Awkwardness hung in the air. Lace, frills, large, gathered skirt.

"What do you think?"

"It's beautiful, Serena, it really is," Amy's voice was soft, her smile small. Serena stared at herself in the three-way mirror, stared at the large poufy dress.

"Mina, where are Lita and Raye?"

"They're, uh," she cast her head over her shoulder, blonde hair slipping behind her back, fluffing Serena's veil. "They're still in the dressing rooms. Guys! Come on!"

Down the hall, out of earshot, Raye called back, "Coming!" She knocked on Lita's door. "Come on, damn it!"

"I told you, I'm not leaving this dressing room. This thing doesn't fit right, and it's just hideous. All these damn fabric flowers and bows and frills. This is like some damn—"

"It's Serena's day, when it's yours, you can make her look ugly. Come on. She's going to be pissed. You know how the slightest little thing sets her off like a rocket, lately."

"I am embarrassed as hell." Lita opened the door, and she was right. She was tall and more athletically built than the others, her muscle bulged a bit at the sleeves, and her smaller breasts didn't fill the front of the dress. Ribbons and curls hung about the dress, so un-Lita-like. It would have, should have, been funny, but Raye couldn't laugh.

They made their way to the woman of the hour, where she stood atop her pedestal in a six-thousand-dollar gown.

"You look stunning, Serena," Lita said with an uncomfortable smile.

"You, too," Serena said, without looking. "Wait until Darien gets a load of this."

"He's not supposed to see until the wedding, silly!" Mina laughed, a bit nervously.

"I want him to see it," Serena said, primping, kissing at the mirror, "I need him to."

There was a silence, and Raye glared at Amy, made a motion toward Serena with her head, willing Amy to speak.

"I can see you in the mirror, Raye," Serena snapped, turned around to face them all and nearly yanking the veil from Mina's hands. Mina stepped away.

"We-ell," Amy began.

"We want you to invite the others back for the wedding." Raye said, defiantly.

"And forever," Lita added, with feeling.

Serena stared at them. Amy blushed.

"What the girls are trying to say is that—"

"What you did wasn't fair, Serena. It's been enough time. We want Michiru and Haruka and Setsuna to come back," from Mina.

They were silent, then, and so was Serena. She turned back to the mirror after some time. Primping, primping.

"Serena," Raye snapped, "let them come back."

"Watch it, Raye," she warned.

Lita, fueled on the fury of how she looked in the god-awful bridesmaid gown said, "I don't know what the hell went on with you and Darien and the three of them, but I'm here to tell you that it's bullshit. You can't just disrupts everyone's life because of your own. We're your friends. We are here to help you, we are all here to help you, but if you're going to be a little brat and basically give a big 'fuck-you' to your friends, by sending them away or by making them look hideous, well, I'm not going to stand for it."

"Me neither," Raye cut in.

"So, that's really how you feel," Serena said icily.

"It wasn't fair, Serena," Amy said, quiet but firm. "It was wrong."

After a moment, "I'll think about it."

Lita stared at her in disbelief, then turned and stalked back to the dressing room, Raye in close pursuit.

"I don't know what her problem is, it's a gorgeous dress," Serena said, nonchalant. "Besides, the bride is supposed to be prettier than the bridesmaids. Doesn't she know that?"

Amy shrugged at Mina.

--

Darien stared at the blue velvet box on the glass coffee table, knowing and hating what was inside. He fought constantly with himself over it. He had purchased it out of duty, out of respect for Setsuna. No, he could not simply forget it all, but he could go along. He could close his eyes and swallow his pride and carry on with the whole damn charade. Responsibilities. He had responsibilities. And in spite of everything, he did want Serena to be happy.

And, maybe he could be, too. Maybe, with time, it would all go away. Setsuna was gone, lost in time; as Michiru and Haruka. Without them, perhaps it would be easier. With enough time, perhaps he would not even remember.

The ring was rather glamorous. Serena's first pick. He had to act the part, didn't he?

But it was Setsuna's hands he was imagining. The glimmer in Setsuna's eyes and getting a hug from Setsuna.

He stared at the box. Hated it for its contents, hated himself for listening to her.

His cell phone, the irritating ring Serena had selected for herself. He picked up, "Hello, Serena."

"Darien, you should come see the dress," she was saying. She sounded vindictive. He could imagine the price tag.

"Sounds nice," he was looking at the box. "Where's the boutique?"

"Finley Avenue, near Dunham Street. It's called Martha's, you can't miss it. There are some things we need to discuss."

"I'll be there," he said. He hung up without another word. How fitting, how perfect. To present the ring with the dress on, and how beautiful she was, and how the thought made him want to gag. He slipped the ring into his pocket and grabbed his keys.

--

He entered with his hands in his pockets. The saleswoman was surprised to see him when he said who he was. "Breaking from tradition?" She asked.

"It's what we do," he said grimly, smiling.

She would have been very pretty if she would have been smiling, he thought, seeing her. He smiled at her, anyway, as though she were the most beautiful woman in the world, inside and out, the kind of beauty you couldn't put a price tag on.

"You can pay, today?" Serena asked.

"Yeah," he muttered, knowing he could and not wanting to.

"Good," she said. "The girls were here earlier, trying on their dresses."

He thought of how ugly the dresses were and almost couldn't not stop himself from cringing. "Did they like them?"

"All except for Lita, she's a bit of a stick in the mud." She shooed away the tailor and looked at him. "I need to ask you something."

"I need to ask you, something, too," he forced himself to say, hand clutching the box in his pocket.

"Me, first. What do you think about asking Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna back? For the wedding, mostly?"

His heart leapt to his throat.