I am so sorry I haven't been able to get the second to last chapter done, but I have had next to no time to write since I started school (College fish, whoo). And so I am going to post the last chapter that I have had finished for a long time and hope that everyone reads this so they know what's going on with the weird time lapse :( Again, I am very sorry about the wait and the skip.

And so, without further ado, the last chapter of After Advent Children is upon us!

There Goes the Groom

Cloud was attempting to slick his hair back and hold it in place with as much hair gel as possible when he realized something. He turned and looked, dumbstruck, at his groomsmen. He blinked several times, "…I'm getting married."

Cid straightened his tie and leaned away from his mirror. "Yeah? Didn'tchu know this?"

Barret, Vincent, Nanaki, and Reeve looked over at Cloud. Cloud's stomach hit the floor and the blood drained from his face. When did this all happen? What if? What if what if? This was all happening too fast. "I-I…" Cloud shook and bolted from the room. What if?!

"WOAH, HEY!" Barret charged after Cloud with the others hot on his heels. They stopped when they got out into the hall and saw the bathroom door close. They all looked at each other.

Vincent shook his head, fresh haircut swaying, "Didn't take him for the nervous type."

Barret walked back into the dressing room and grabbed something before heading into Cloud's bathroom. Cloud was hurling into one of the toilets. Aw, damn. Barret rapped awkwardly on the door to Cloud's stall. "I got some Alka-Seltzer…and some breath mints…"

Cloud huffed and reached a pale, shaking hand under the stall door. The bathroom door opened a crack and Barret saw a phone peek in, pause, and slide back out.

Barret smirked and put the two containers into Cloud's palm and straightened, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall away from the stall, "The hell got into you, Spike?"

Cloud didn't say anything for a minute. Eventually Barret heard him stand and the bathroom stall opened. Cloud didn't quite leave the vicinity of the toilet however, just leaned against the plastic wall and groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Barret noticed the phone sneak out of the doorway a second time.

Barret stared him down. "Don't you even think of leavin' Teef at the altar."

"Of course I won't do that," Cloud sighed, "What kind of guy do you think I am?"

"Well: I never 'xpected you to get so nervous on your wedding day you'd puke. Like I said when we met: You jez full of surprises."

Cloud shot Barret a look and looked down at the ground, "It's just…This all didn't seem real until today. I proposed by accident, dammit. I was taken off guard. What if I mess up?"

Barret shrugged, "You did fine at the rehearsal."

"I did?"

Barret looked at Cloud, "F**k."

Yuffie groaned and smashed Tifa's cheeks, puckering the bride-to-be's glossed lips. "Quit grinning like that! You're messing me up!" she scolded.

Tifa giggled for what seemed like the hundredth time this half hour, "Shorry, Yuffie."

The ninja let go and returned to her task, "Ugh. I can't believe you don't know how to put makeup on. Even I know how to put makeup on."

Tifa rolled her eyes and continued making the faces Yuffie told her to. She knew how to put makeup on. It's just that Tifa usually didn't want to wear more than a thin layer of lip gloss or chapstick. Maybe a bit of eyeliner or mascara when she was going somewhere nice. The only time she really put a substantial amount of makeup on, it was to go and pretend to be a prostitute to get information out of Corneo. Ever since, she had trouble feeling pleasant in more than minimal makeup. Tifa had a feeling that if Aerith had lived, she and Tifa would have had fun re-teaching the darker girl how to wear facial enhancement. But as it was, Tifa didn't want to mess up her wedding pictures by doing her own makeup.

Several other girls that Yuffie had gotten (the ninja had been very upset when Tifa revealed her lack of girl-friends. Luckily Tifa knew a few of the girls Yuffie got) bustled around getting themselves ready. Tifa had only a couple of people that she picked herself. One of them was Elmyra Gainsborough. The older woman, Tifa's matron of honor, gently pulled Tifa's hair and pinned and sprayed it into an elaborate up-do before putting some sparkly pins and an equally sparkly hair comb into the finished product. Tifa reached behind her and touched a stiff curl since she wasn't allowed to look in a mirror until Yuffie finished her makeup. Yuffie smacked Tifa's hand and Tifa cracked an eyelid, shooting an annoyed look at the ninja.

"Eyes closed. Don't you dare make me mess up your eye liner again."

Tifa sighed and closed her eye.

Another few slow minutes later, Yuffie finally flopped back into a chair, "I'm DONE! You look gorgeous, by the way," she added with a proud smile.

"I'm allowed to look?" Tifa opened her eyes and blinked carefully, lest she mess up her mascara or something and send Yuffie into a fit of fury.

"Yeah you can look! Look away!" Yuffie gestured to the vanity mirror. Tifa stood and walked over. Her breath caught.

"Oh my goodness, Yuffie…you know how to do this? And Mrs. Gainsborough…" Tifa lightly touched her cheek and hair, careful not to mess anything up. The faintly Wutaiian features she received from her grandfather were accented, large eyes slanting up at the corners slightly. The gold eyeshadow Yuffie picked shimmered when Tifa blinked and brought out her long black lashes. Tifa had been worried at the darkness of some of the bronzer Yuffie used, fearing her fair skin would turn orange or look like she had fallen into paint, but the light shadows merely accentuated her high cheekbones. One of her bridesmaids, a quiet girl named Terra, held a mirror behind Tifa so she could see her hair properly. The bunched strands loped in and out of one another on the lower half of her head and gathered slightly to the side. Her bangs were curled lightly and ended in a tighter ringlet at the end. Glittering pins held her hair in place, and her hair seemed to shimmer slightly from the hairspray. Her lips were lightly glossed pink and they shimmered.

Mrs. Gainsborough put her hand on Tifa's back. "I think we're all about ready to go. Would you like to put your dress on?"

Tifa nodded and looked over at the white, slim-fitting dress with the long train.

When it was time to go, Cloud took several calming breaths. They didn't work. He checked his breath once more and luckily smelled only strong mint. He walked ahead of Barret, Vincent, Cid, Nanaki, and Reeve to stand at the altar. Behind him he heard Barret mutter to someone before they left, "You got a Phoenix Down on hand? I gotta go get Tifa."

Thanks for the vote of support, guys.

Cloud took another calming breath and stood straight and alone at the altar. The priestess doing the ceremony nudged Cloud's elbow, "Don't lock your knees," she warned.

Cloud nodded absently and tried to calm himself by looking over at the crowd gathered to watch him get married. He and Tifa didn't invite this many, did they? There were all sorts of people with all sorts of hair in the church. There was a solemn pink-haired woman sitting next to a second pink-haired younger woman. On the other side of the second girl was a massive blond man. He seemed very close to the second pink-haired girl, although the first pinky was shooting mean looks at the blond. There were some restless teens in the back of the church whom Cloud was pondering their reason for being here. There were two blond boys (One with a ridiculous tattoo on his left cheek), two brunette boys (one with a black leather jacket, the other with a neat ponytail), a pretty blond girl and a pretty black-haired girl who reminded Cloud slightly of Tifa by looks. There was also a second large group of people there that Cloud picked out; another blond boy, but significantly smaller than the others. Actually, that whole group consisted of rather petite people. There was another girl there with short dark hair who also reminded Cloud of Tifa. Lots of things reminded him of Tifa lately. Cloud glanced back down the church and saw Marlene coming down the aisle, scattering petals. Oh, God, this is it. Oh, please let me make it through this without puking or passing out. Is my hair still slicked down? Cloud clenched and unclenched his fists. After her, Denzel came bearing the wedding rings, and after him, the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Cloud's friends gathered around him as everyone rose to see Tifa into the room and the music started. Oh, God. Cloud's bride rounded the corner linked arms with a crying Barret. Everything went black.

Tifa grinned at Barret like a fool before rounding the corner and entering Aeris' church. They hadn't gotten more than a few feet in before Cloud fell over like a bowling pin.

Yuffie heard frantic whispering on Cloud's side of the aisle, something about not tensing up. She turned her camcorder just in time to see Cloud Strife, Hero of the World, fall off of the platform keeping the wedding party out of the water. Panicked, Cid grabbed Cloud by the shirt but ended up being pulled off balance by Cloud's dead weight.

"AW, SHIT!" Cid yelped as he and Cloud fell. Vincent grabbed the pair in an effort to keep them from going in, but even the great Vincent Got-a-Haircut couldn't keep the two bulky men from falling. Nanaki hurriedly grabbed the tail end of Vincent's jacket in his teeth in a last ditch effort to stop the fall of SHAME, but preventing this was inevitable and he toppled off the edge with the others. Reeve stood alone and dry on the altar, smile frozen in place. Everything went totally silent except for the disturbed water and the organist, who faltered and stopped before hesitantly starting the music again at a slower pace. Yuffie slowly turned her camcorder to Tifa down the aisle. The bride was totally still, eyes wide, paler than her dress, staring at the altar, and gripping her bouquet like it was the only thing keeping her from dying right there on the spot. She looked at the two men and the animal who surfaced holding her beloved groom up from the disturbed water, who was totally unconscious. Tifa looked to Barret, lace swathed arms shaking, entirely unsure of what to do. Should she go up and help?

There was a momentary pause before a young voice shouted from the back, "Best wedding EVER!" Tifa glanced to her right to see an unfamiliar blond boy with a tribal tattoo on his left cheek standing and grinning happily. His brunette friend in the bomber jacket yanked the blond down by the shirt. The girls in his group whispered angrily at him.

A second person to Tifa's left laughed, "We should get married here, Garnet!"

There was an angry hiss from next to the second voice, "Shut up, Zidane."

Yuffie focused on Tifa. She looked about ready to cry. Yuffie knew a lot of things about the martial artist, and one of the first facts someone would learn about her was that she did not cry easily.

Cid discretely used the Phoenix Down he had brought with him to wake Cloud up after getting him back onto the platform and climbing back onto it himself. Cloud groaned and looked up from his knees at the people staring at him before realizing what must have happened. He turned beet red and lowered his soaked face to the floor, carefully slicked-back spikes flying everywhere after the water thinned his hair gel. The music ended, and total silence ensued.

The priestess Yuffie had found, a girl named Yuna, looked at the scene and tried to find a way to start the wedding back up. No one noticed a woman walk over to the organist and hand him a piece of paper. The organist looked confused, but after some reassuring on the middle-aged blond's part, he started playing. Cloud, Tifa, and their friends looked over at the organist in surprise. The tune he played was simple, but seemed to have its own light. There was a flash in the corner of Cloud's eye and he looked over to the source. Zack's buster sword glinted in the brightening light and the flowers around the water's edge seemed to perk up a little more. No one knew how, but someone had given the organist the musical piece that Tifa had written for Aeris after she died, and the whole church was resonating with the melody. As if Aeris was there and lending a hand again. Cloud looked over at the gleaming Buster Sword until white lace came into his vision on the left. He sat up and looked at Tifa. He sighed. She was beautiful. Cloud took Tifa's extended hand and stood up, ready.

Relieved that everything was back under control, Yuna started the wedding ceremony.

Not caring about his ruined hair, not caring about his being soaked through, not caring that he had just experienced his worst fear about this day tenfold, Cloud held Tifa's hands in his own dripping ones and smiled at her until he was told to start saying his lines.

"I, Cloud Strife," Yuna led. Denzel came and gave Cloud Tifa's ring.

"I Cloud Strife," he mumbled. He wasn't really paying attention to Yuna.

"Take Tifa Lockhart to be my lawfully wedded wife."

"Take Tifa Lockhart to be my lawfully wedded wife," Cloud slipped the ring onto Tifa's finger and held her hands again.

"To have and to hold."

"To have and to hold."

"In sickness and in health."

"In sickness and in health."

"Till death do us part."

"Till death do us part," Cloud's eyes warmed. Hopefully death wouldn't come for a long, long time.

Yuna smiled and nodded, then turned to Tifa, "I, Tifa Lockhart."

"What?" Tifa blinked twice and looked over at Yuna.

"It's your turn, Tifa," Yuna explained. There was a small round of chuckles from the gathered people.

"Oh," Tifa grinned and looked back at Cloud.

"I, Tifa Lockhart."

"I, Tifa Lockhart," Tifa took Cloud's ring from Denzel and smiled at the boy before he left.

"Take Cloud Strife to be my lawfully wedded husband."

"Take Cloud Strife to be my lawfully wedded husband," she slipped the ring onto Cloud's finger. She held his hands securely.

"To have and to hold."

"To have and to hold."

"In sickness and in health."

Tifa gave Cloud a look that said 'Been through that already', "In sickness and in health."

"Till death do us part."

"Till death do us part," Tifa laughed a bit. Aww, she was so cute when she was giddy.

Yuna smiled, "Well, then by the power granted to me, I pronounce thee Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride."

Only slightly conscious of his still dripping tuxedo, Cloud leaned forward and kissed Tifa. She threw her arms around Cloud's neck and held him close. Taking the hint, Cloud wrapped his arms around Tifa and happily finished their first kiss as newlyweds.

Le gasp. Done. Published. Liked? Thank you for bearing with me till the end. I know I've been very absent and my last chapter update was hasty, but I'm really proud of this chapter, so let me know what you thought!

Tons of love to all my readers!

Also, I am aware that this chapter is a cheese fondue, but I like cute :3