A/N: In the Second Time Around universe, a double wedding! Side Story/Prequel to 'Circle of Friends'. Family, romance and fluff. Ace and Kurasame make an appearance. Pairings: Seven/Sice and Maria/Firion

Love from Around the World

"Maria...I can't believe that we're getting married to our respective partner..." Seven begins her confession to the violet hair lass, despite recalling the fact that it was the silver haired woman who accidentally booked her ceremony to Sice the same date, time and venue as Maria's ceremony to Firion. It was the people at the venue who decide to keep the double booking in place, since the person who is officiating the ceremony is a one who knows the Sebusai pair well: it was none other than Ace, who came with his partner Kurasame, with those from Akademia coming to the location for support. More money for the venue, which Maria also insisted to keep the double booking for the simple reason that she did NOT want the Sebusai pair to go through more work just to get married. Firion, surprising, didn't mind the double ceremony. He actually wanted the Sebusai pair to share his big day with him and Maria. The only response Maria had was to give her former student turned mate a side hug, for she had secretly wanted to be part of a double wedding.

Although the duo were a bit sad because Lightning and Fang won't be at the ceremony in person at all it was for a damn good reason that they were IMMEDIATELY forgiven for: the Yun-Farron couple had just become first time parents to their son Kurasame, with Lightning being on maternity leave from the GC for a solid year (according to Maria's older brother Leon, who currently is with the Yun-Farron couple at their home, the oldest Farron had accumulated enough hours to earn a year off from the GC with pay); Fang refused to leave Lightning's side as the brunette wanted to see her newborn son more than anything else in the world. This was something Sice and Firion both understood very well; thanks to Y'shtola and her know how's she was able to find a way for Lightning and Fang to be able to see the double wedding from home. Lyse and Rydia were able to attend the ceremony as both Edge and Y'shtola wanted to help the Yun-Farron couple and Leon with the birth of Kurasame Yun-Farron.

It was no surprise that Serah, Hope and Vanille showed up in the same fashion that Lyse and Rydia came in person - it was mutually agreed upon by all to have some within the group be at the double ceremony in person while the rest stayed behind to help Lightning and Fang with their newborn son.

The familial love the group has for each was truly felt from around the world, even on a joyous day like a double wedding, while one pair just became first time parents to a healthy baby boy.

Maria wanted to do something special for Lightning and Fang to say thanks for helping her older brother get his name cleared.

Little did she know that Firion shares her sentiments on the topic.

XXX

Firion and Sice walked down the aisle at the same time, accompanied by Kurasame himself - the same Kurasame which the Fangrai pair named their newborn son after. Serah and Lyse couldn't stop smiling at the scene. A part of Vanille was happy to see this too but was also a bit sad that Fang and Lightning couldn't see this in person. Thankfully for the redhead, her partner Caryn, alongside Hope's partner Porom, were able to help ensure that the Fangrai pair had a virtual front row seat to see this from their home which they all could see the joyous double wedding at the comfort of the Yun-Farron home. Once Firion and Sice got to their respective places, the bridal party showed up on cue. Most of them were people from Akademia, although Maria and Firion's childhood pal Guy and Hope were the Best Men, with Serah and Deuce being the Matrons of Honour. In an interesting turn of events, it was King who walked both Maria and Seven down the aisle. Although this took Sice by complete surprise, Firion had a smirk on his face. The smirk went away as soon as Maria and Seven got to their respective spots, with King going to his seat which was next to Lyse. Rydia's fist bump with King made something rather apparent at the double ceremony.

It didn't take long for Ace to make himself known to the decent sized crowd. In an odd twist, he had a message of congratulations to Lightning and Fang for the birth of their newborn son Kurasame since he knew that they weren't able to make the ceremony - which had everyone smiling and cheering for them, given this very circumstance. Oddly enough, this lasted for a few minutes, which gave Seven (of all people) enough time to prepare herself for the vows she had written down, as the silver haired woman was more than a nervous wreck at her own wedding. Firion, being the gentleman, took clear note of Seven's state of nervousness and one look in his eyes helped calm her down, making both Sice and Maria smile as Maria knew about Seven feeling overwhelmed about a double wedding instead of a single wedding. Without any further delay, Ace got everyone's attention and started the double wedding ceremony. While Maria and Firion faced each other it prompted Sice and Seven to face each other, mimicking Firion and Maria the best they could.

Ace started with the usual legal lingo but had to add his own twist to it, putting Seven at ease over the matter. From the comfort of the Yun-Farron home, Snow couldn't stop laughing his arse off at the turn of events from the venue, especially how Ace was putting his own spin on the legal lingo in officiating wedding ceremonies and more so when it's a double wedding instead of a single couple ceremony. Although the oaf was given looks by Edge and Caryn, it didn't take long for Porom to get the very reason why Snow was laughing so far, and was laughing with the oaf when she caught it herself: Ace was either swearing at every point he made a slip in the legal lingo, or kept forgetting that it was a double ceremony. The only thing Leon could do was just shake his head. At the actual venue, Sice was laughing her arse off, which initially had people focus their attention on the white haired lass. It was after they all caught onto the reason why Sice was laughing the way she was that the crowd releasing a few laughs of their own. It was very Ace with things like this after all.

After the legal lingo part of the double ceremony was done, Ace wasted no time in what he actually wanted to say to the two couples. From what he addressed to them the crowd were smiling and giggling at what was said, for what the blond had said was very them, very true.

Sice's face would go red for the next part of the ceremony: the vows.

XXX

"Oooooooooooohhhhh… looks like Sicey's gonna top Ace with bloopers when she goes through her vows to Sevsky…" Rydia reveals to Lyse, making a very bold statement about the upcoming vows. Although Serah initially gave the Mist native 'The Look' for making that remark, it was the middle Farron sister who then went with the green haired lass over the matter, recalling the potty mouth that was a part of who Sice is as a person, and why it helped Seven determine that she and Sice were meant to be together to the end. Fortunately for Sice however, it was Maria who went through her vows to Firion first. If this helps Sevsky then I did my job, Maria thought to herself before making everyone and their mothers cry happy tears by the time she was done with her vows to Firion, who surprisingly got misty eyed after he heard the sincerity behind her vows to him. Despite getting misty eyed, Maria's vows inspired Firion with the vows to his wife-to-be. Delivering a powerful yet beautiful set of vows to Maria with a confidence that rivaled a certain brunette at home with her newborn son, everyone was either smiling or crying happy tears. For Sice it almost ruined her makeup after hearing the end of it.

It was the ring exchange between Firion and Maria that gave Seven the needed moments to prepare her vows to Sice. For the entire time, Seven closed her eyes while listening to Firion and Maria exchanging their vows to each other. Granted, the silver haired lass cried while hearing the vows but it wasn't as apparent as the rest. In fact, Seven had a gentle, sincere smile on her face the entire time, knowing the sincerity and power behind those vows were true. When prompted, the silver haired lass was more than ready to deliver the vows to Sice, which Seven wrote herself. If people weren't crying happy tears or smiling during Firion's vows to Maria, they definitely were with Seven's vows to Sice. Even Ace had trouble keeping it together. Once the silver haired lass was done, it was on Sice to finish the vow section of the double wedding. In a rare moment from the Yun-Farron house, Leon called for Sice to swear like a sailor during her vows to Seven, while Y'shtola predicted that the Sice at the ceremony is a different Sice than the one they know well.

The first thing Sice did was take a good look in Seven's eyes, before saying a single word of the vows to Seven Lightning helped her write. It was no shock to anyone that the white haired lass 'sucked arse' with words (Sice's words about herself). After taking a deep breath, Sice was able to deliver the vows meant for Seven to hear, from Sice's mouth. True to Rydia's prediction at the venue, and Leon's call at the Yun-Farron house (Y'shtola initially offered Leon 2,000 Gil for losing the bet but he refused the money, saying that he doesn't make bets with people using real life money), the white haired lass swore like a sailor. It was because of her vows that had everyone laughing their arses off to the point where they were literally in tears laughing. Even Seven was laughing despite the blush that was visible to the crowd, for she knew that Sice's vows are... well, very Sice. And yes, she had far more bloopers than Ace. Sice wouldn't be Sice if it weren't for her potty mouth and bloopers. In the end of it all, Seven couldn't stop smiling at her soon-to-be wife, her one and only true love in her life. It was the smile from the silver haired lass that reminded her why they are getting married at this very moment in time.

Maria's jaw dropped to the floor when the Sebusai pair exchanged rings. With the combination of simplicity and how they matched, she was awed that Seven and Sice went this route for their wedding bands. In a way Maria thought of Lightning and Fang back at their house, recalling how their wedding bands were very simple and matched, yet it was easy on the eyes if anything. It would be Ace to bring Maria back to the real world when he announced the next part of the ceremony would be traditions from both Fynn and Orience, which had, of all people, Lyse giggling here. Apparently, the blonde knew something the rest in the crowd didn't: Sice had no idea how to dance. A key part to weddings in Fynn involved dance. Fortunately, the dance was spared from the ceremony, but would be present for the reception and that had Firion feeling a bit nervous, despite having taught the Sebusai pair the dance. Hope, on the other hand, kept a poker face the entire time. With a tradition in Orience weddings that included tasting varying teas, it was Maria would couldn't stand the taste of tea. Seven was quite worried here, but had a surprise up her sleeve here.

After they were announced as married, Firion and Sice kissed their respective partner, which had everyone give a thunderous applause and cheers.

Next up: Reception.

XXX

The cuisine for everyone had every kind of food from all over the world. It was Fang and Lightning's gift to the two couples, which was a key reason why they were mentioned at the start of the ceremony. Some called it a 'Feast for the Gods' - to Sice, it was just food. She was on a 'See Food' diet, after all. Words and gifts both exchanged, this made the two couples feel that they were on top of the world now. It was the cake that had everyone's attention, for they all knew that Sice herself made the cake. When it came to the slicing the cake aspect of the reception, Firion and Maria fed each other without issue but the Sebusai pair couldn't resist a comedy moment and proceeded to make each other 'wear' a piece of the cake, which really had Edge on the floor from laughter at the Yun-Farron home, yet Serah just facepalmed at the venue of the reception. When it was all said and done for the cake, the guests made sure to have a piece of the cake Sice made, which was completely gone by the last song. They all knew Sice and her thing with making the best cake ever.

For the dancing, it was a traditional song from Fynn that had the two newly married couples dancing to as the 'first dance' - a different song from the one Firion was worried about as this one was a slower song. The very next song WAS part of the Fynn tradition, which saw Firion pair up with Sice as Maria and Seven became dancing partners. "Watch what I do, and follow my lead..." was all Firion said, just before the song started. Seven wasted no time with getting the steps to this dance down to a science, with Maria being impressed that the Orience native was able to master an upbeat yet tricky dance. It was Seven's confidence in her dancing that saw Sice being able to land the steps of said dance in her own right, putting Firion at ease over the matter. A few minutes later, the dance was done and the dance floor was now open to all. Everyone was on the dance floor for a few songs, having a great time, eating, drinking whatever, or in happy chatter, mingling.

It was a few minutes before the last song when the Orience tradition came to light: tasting varying types of tea. Seven and Sice were able to make huge modifications to the types of tea due to Maria and her odd taste buds. It was Firion who insisted in keeping the types of tea 'as is', however. It was Seven who smiled when Maria was able to taste the different types of tea without issues to her taste buds, for the silver haired lass exposed Maria to other kinds of tea the violet haired lass would be able to drink without causing problems to her taste buds. The Orience tradition was a huge success in the end. The last song, only meant for the two newlywed couples, was a slow song from Orience. Everyone was smiling at the scene during the final song, for they all knew what the two couples had gone through just to get to this point in their very lives. Everyone at the Yun-Farron home that was watching this saw it in complete silence, impressed.

After the reception was over with, Maria, Firion, Seven and Sice were all sent a photo to their phones that had them rendered speechless: it was Kurasame Yun-Farron watching the ceremony, smiling with his eyes, for he was happy to have seen something like this from the comfort of his home. Odin would be in the picture too, for the beloved feline being protective of his human brother, and Odin was one happy cat.

The love that the two couples felt from around the world on their big day - Seven had to admit, the accidental booking was more than worth it, now that she knows it made her newborn nephew Kurasame and Odin the cat this happy. Smiling her best smile to the sky, the silver haired lass thanked Etro for her hand in all of this.

A moment like this was more than worth it - as it should be.

FIN

A/N #2: Next story is in the Paying it Forward universe... Lightning and Fang welcoming Baby Seven with Locke, Snow and Celes as witnesses!