A/N: IMPORTANT!

This is the conclusion mini story of a character arc through the in universe of all my works. You really should at MINIMUM read the following stories first:

Of Kittens, Rosebuds, And A Snowflake

Frozen Midgard

Tattered Wings Through Monstrous Wends

and consider also Golden Owl as if slots into these but it might be possible to skip this one at least and be fine. The other three and very important though for this mini story to make any real sense as all the details that often get used come directly from Dove's trials and struggles and growth in these stories!


Ch 1: The Preparations

It was astounding to Loki how much more comfortable Dove seemed to be in the past year ever since that mission ended. Not once did she touch her neck anymore, though at first she seemed to do it out of sheer habit. She got mad so much less though Loki could still rile her into that striking glare fairly easily. But the thing that was most notable and made the chaotic gremlin happiest, was that Dove wasn't afraid to say those words anymore.

She glanced over from the couch in their apartment watching Dove at her desk with the lamp the only real light in the room that night. The woman was currently leaning over a bunch of papers with her head resting in her hand, hair pulled out of her face with both eyes in view, a leg pulled up with her foot on the seat with her and the other dangling to the floor. Currently she was absentmindedly chewing on the back of her pen. God she was still just as gorgeous to Loki as the first time she had laid eyes on Dove five years ago.

Those orbs flicked in her direction briefly before going back to the papers, "Staring won't get you anywhere Baby."

Loki chuckled lightly and got up, stepping over behind Dove and her hands grasped her shoulders, massaging out the tension as Dove closed her eyes and leaned back into her, a hand reaching up to touch Loki's, "mmm this is better."

Lips pressed into Dove's forehead before Loki rested her chin on Dove's head lightly, still working the stress knots out of her shoulders, "Come to bed Babe. These bills can wait yea?"

Dove groaned, nibbling her lip, "That's very tempting but they really can't. I need to get the last of this settled tonight so it's all finished first thing when places open tomorrow or things won't be done in time."

She lifted her head back forward and sighed, rubbing her face before staring back at the pages. Loki nuzzled into her hair, hitting just the right spots in Dove's shoulders and neck to make the woman whine softly, "Loki… please… I thought you wanted to marry me… I need to get this done or you can kiss that date goodbye…"

The soft chuckle could be heard as Loki stood up straight, letting Dove go, "Alright Babe. Not too much longer though yea? We have to be up pretty early and you scare the weddin planner when you're cranky."

Dove gave Loki a half hearted shove at her comment, "Oh go on you! I'm not that bad!"

"Please! Last time you made the poor guy cry!" Loki retorted as she dodged Dove's hands, backstepping towards the couch.

She would wait up for Dove all night if she had to. Loki never went to bed without her. In the past year, Loki and Dove were not doing as many missions as the dates for their wedding drew closer. While Loki wasn't really doing much in the way of making choices, fine with anything Dove wanted so long as the woman showed up at the altar and the reception was fun, she didn't want Dove to have to bare all the stress alone and when their first planner quit because of Dove's quirky anger, Loki figured she should be around to play referee, if only to keep them from having to pick a new date.

The idea of canceling and moving the date was out of the question, worried if that happened Dove would change her mind. She couldn't care less about the planners' feelings. But keeping Dove happy was top priority. It didn't help that Dove had already worn a tear into Mr. Feathers in all her stress and now he spent time on a shelf rather than helping her calm down at night. Loki glanced over, seeing the bird perched there, "Hey Babe, he still torn?"

"Hmm? Oh, yea… I haven't had time to fix him… it really sucks but it will have to wait I guess," Dove responded without looking up, shuffling around the bills and grumbling at them.

Money would never be an issue for them, which Loki kind of loved. Not because it meant she could be lazy or anything but because it meant she could take whatever missions she wanted, help whoever she wanted, and never worry about if it paid enough to eat or have a home. They even sent money back to her parents sometimes though often it was sent back. She wanted them to have everything they ever wanted but they would always smile and look at her and say she already was. Still, Dove and Loki had started setting aside a fund for when Loki's parents got too worn to keep working so she could take care of anything they would need.

Such were the perks of being with someone who was just born into riches Loki guessed though Dove never acted like she was as rich as she was which was just one more thing Loki loved about her. She quietly grabbed the plush off the shelf so she wouldn't disturb Dove and dug out a small repair kit normally used for their combat gear, sitting back down on the couch. She glanced at his beak that was barely hanging on by a thread and her face saddened, whispering, "Poor guy. Don't worry buddy I gotcha."

With a glance to be sure Dove was still distracted, Loki went to work, stitching up his beak. Her handiwork with a needle was actually surprisingly amazing compared to what someone might expect just by looking at the woman lacking much if any feminine charms. When she finished, the stitching was almost perfect and the old plush looked so much better. She brushed the light bit of dust off him from the few months of shelf life and fiddled with his threadbare fabric, long since lacking much of his plush soft fleece and his black coloration having grayed from time years ago.

It was clear this item was well loved even if Loki already knew that but seeing it warmed her heart knowing she too was loved against the test of time and trouble, "You and me buddy, hers forever. I'll stick around if you will yea?"

The beaded eye stare was blank but Loki just chuckled lightly, knowing it was trivial and silly but true. Dove had taken much longer than she intended to, stretching with a groan in her seat when she was finally done and rolling her sore neck, turning in her chair, "Ok Baby I'm…"

Her eyes caught sight of Loki passed out on the couch with Mr. Feathers in her lap, her hands slumped from where they once were holding him close to herself, head rolled back and drooling lightly. She blinked a bit then glanced at the time, seeing three in the morning flashing at her. Her expression sweetened and she slowly got up and turned off the lamp, walking over.

A hand brushed along Loki's cheek and jaw lightly, body leaning in close and settling into Loki's lap sideways, leaning into her body, "Loki… Baby wake up… You'll freeze out here…Let's go to bed."

She had moved her plush into her lap, heart swelling at his repairs as those strong arms looped around her and Loki took in a deep breath, blinking tiredly, "N-n.. Hey Babe… when did you get here?"

Dove grinned, "Doesn't matter. Take me to bed you big idiot, it's late."

Loki didn't even question it, scooping Dove into a bridal carry and walking with a bit of a stagger in her tired state to their bedroom. Dove wasn't worried. Even tired she knew Loki would never drop her. She kept her plush close as Loki laid her in bed, crawling in next to her. Slender pale fingers ran through pink locks as Loki curled up, pulling Dove close into her warm embrace, quickly passing back out. The woman watched her for a while, in disbelief her life had even made it to this point. She seemed to have this experience almost nightly lately, in awe that she had even been able to achieve such peace in her life even if Loki was anything but peaceful. Tucking the plush down into their arms, she looped a hand along Loki's head loosely and buried her face in her hair, breathing in deeply the scent of her shampoo which Loki tended to use something smelling of cedar and sandalwood as she closed her eyes, whispering softly, "God I love you."

—-

Days came and went, and the two were sitting amongst invitations, sitting at Weiss and Ruby's kitchen table with Sterling there as well so they could help seal them and label things. Ruby was busy making snacks for everyone as Weiss came out with coffee for everyone while Autumn ran through tugging at Dove for her attention, "Dove! Can I help?"

There was so much going on in the room. It was loud, everyone was talking, laughing and cutting up, discussing names and seating. Sterling had caught Dove up on the fact they had started their fourth year a person down and told her about what happened already but now everyone was trying to figure out how all that should be handled as Dove turned to her little cousin. She was eleven now Dove didn't see why not, "Sure! Grab a chair but let us handle the writing and stuff ok?"

Autumn nodded and took off, returning with a chair and sliding it up between Loki and dove, causing Dove to roll her eyes with a grin and Loki to snicker, "Ah trying to shove me out yea?"

Autumn stuck her tongue out at Loki and the room laughed as Dove helped show her how they were loading the envelopes and sealing them. She had always been tender with Autumn even when she was a much worse person. Finally they came to the set of invitations that were the topic of debate in the room and everyone looked at Dove, which didn't make her very comfortable. Ruby fidgeted with the cards, "Yang is your cousin… so is Jin… but it's up to you."

Loki watched her carefully but Dove was still quiet. Even Autumn was leaning to look at her. Weiss glanced over everyone, elbowing ruby lightly with a frown before walking around the counter over to Dove, gently touching her shoulder, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to Turtledove. It's your day."

Without a word, Dove reached for the envelopes and handed it to Weiss, whose writing was being used for all the addresses as the best handwriting of the lot of them, "Send one to Yang for her and the family. Send the other to Jin with a plus one invite. They can decide if they want to come or not but I won't be the reason anyone says they didn't come. I think everyone is civil enough to respect a wedding and if not I know Blake won't let them be a problem. And I don't intend to even be worried about anyone else on my wedding day."

Ruby was happily squealing and Autumn was excited at the chance to hang out with Azure at the wedding. Sterling and Weiss were just smiling at her and Loki was grinning with admiration, catching Dove's attention, "What?"

"Oh nothin. Just adding more things to my list of reasons why I love you," Loki teased. Autumn made a gross face as Dove flushed lightly, "You big idiot.."

—-

Winter was helping Dove get all the seating charts made and sifting through the RSVPs in the kitchen of the small apartment as Loki was out with Raiden and Fern for her "bachelor's party". Winter shifted a few names across the print out, "This would probably work better. While having Jin by her parents might seem smart, Scarlet isn't a favorite of Yang's and it could cause some issues. Better to place them at a neighboring table rather than the same one. That opens up room at that table too for Autumn and your aunts to sit with Yang and Blake."

Dove rubbed her face with both hands. They had been at this for hours but everything always felt not quite right, "Ughhhhh but Loki's parents are going to want to be near all of them! Aren't they all friends?"

Winter watched her for a moment, "Dove. Take a breath. It's just a seating chart dear."

Dove leaned into her hands and huffed, taking a few deep breaths, "I just… I do all of this with Loki. It just all feels wrong without her here…"

Her mother smiled lightly. She couldn't relate, having still never married or even dated since her rendezvous that led to Dove's existence but she truly loved seeing her daughter happy with someone, even if it was Loki, "But you don't have time to wait right? You have to turn it in. What would she say if she were here, do you think?"

"Ugh she'd laugh at me for taking it so seriously then tell me whatever makes me happy so long as I show up," Dove said, smiling fondly at the thought of the pink haired woman saying such things.

Winter gestured towards the charts, "Alright then. Let's try one more time."

Dove sighed and with that moment of a breather, felt better looking down. She settled on Yang, Blake, Weiss, Ruby, Nora and Ren all at one table. The kids at a table next to them with Tai to keep order. Rosy, Fern, Troy, Prince, Rye, Venere and Raiden and a table together, Tegan having refused to come. Jin, Scarlet, Raven, Qrow, Sterling, and Indi, Sterling's plus one, at another table next to the one with most of the parents. Whitley, Willow, Klein and Winter had a table as well with room to spare should Dakota or Tegan change their minds placed next to Weiss's table near her seat.

There was a spot reserved at that table for a photo of Jaune and Pyrrha, whom Loki had been raised to believe where her aunt and uncle passed before she was born and was raised heavily on stories about them so she wanted to have their photo there. They had invited Dakota but he had declined due to still being in and out of things with his health and trauma and the crowd being a bit much. Dove was sure he didn't want Sterling to see him so broken and injured as well.

There weren't many others coming as Dove and Loki didn't exactly have a ton of friends but it was fine by her. When they finished, Winter grasped her shoulders and kissed her head, "There see? You hand it all along you just needed to trust yourself."

Dove smiled,reaching for her tea and watching winter write it all down and take photos of it for her, "Thanks Mom. Do you think Dad is upset that I asked you to walk me down the aisle and not him? It's not really traditional, not that any of this is, but… you were the one who did it all. I don't want anyone else handing me off to the next person to step into my life but you."

Winter could only smile. The day Dove had asked her to do this was one of the happiest moments of her life, coming second to the day Dove was born being her first. She had worked hard to be her best for her daughter and learned to manage most of it alone though Weiss was a big help too once she started working her current job. It meant the world to her that Dove had asked her and not Qrow even as Dove had grown close to the man over the years and he was proving to be a good father. She tucked a loose hair behind her ear, making sure she didn't tear up, "I'm sure it's fine dear. If he were mad, he would have called to argue with me. One thing that has stood true since he learned of you is that he respects all the work I have done on my own even if he doesn't agree with it. He knows he could never replace any of that."

Dove nodded, sipping her drink and pulling her legs up, slouching a bit in her chair, "Yea… well… I did put him in my 'bride's maids' so I'm sure he's fine. We did decide to say fuck it to gender when it comes to those things after all."

Winter rose a brow but had gotten used to Dove's foul mouth as an adult, joining her with her own drink. Loki had Fern, Troy, Prince, and Raiden while Dove had Qrow, Venere, Rosy, and Rye. Rosy was the maid of honor and Fern was the best gremlin as Loki was calling her which only seemed super fitting for Dove. Autumn was their flower girl and Sterling had agreed to be the ring bearer with fake reluctance as they were more like siblings then cousins to her after practically growing up in the Rose household as a little girl. She and Loki had settled on dog-roses, holding a special place in their relationship for the flowers across the board and their wedding bands were simple and silver, neither fond of gold.

Her dress was in a concealed bag in the closet and Loki's tux was also in a garment bag in the closet. Catering was figured out already with much planning done in advance in preparation for Fern, Nora and Loki's appetites and Ruby had really wanted to make the cake which after offering a test of one Dove was more than happy to allow. They had settled on red velvet, a secret joke for herself and Loki at the color being reminiscent of bruising and blood, with cream cheese icing and decor on it in black, white and pink in standard petals and such, toppers ordered to look like them.

Weiss was now the wedding planner after yet another quit weeks ago, refusing to let anyone else stress out her niece and insisting they were just incompetent and she could handle it just fine. And she was handling it way better than fine. In fact Dove was mad she didn't ask Weiss from the beginning her aunt was crushing it so well. Winter was giving them the Beacon courtyard for the wedding since it was going to happen over the summer and it was gorgeous. Now all there was to do was wait really.

Winter stuck around while Loki was out of town, Dove too stressed to want to be alone, watching her with that stuffed crow, as they were getting ready for the night, "You still have that old thing?"

Dove nodded, smiling fondly at him, "Yea… He's family now as Loki puts it. He just… still helps me relax, you know?"

Winter nodded, leaning and running fingers through Dove's hair as she sat next to her, "I can't believe you are all grown up already and getting married. It feels like I blinked and my headstrong toddler running around with that bird in her hands, became this brave, strong woman who doesn't need me anymore."

Dove leaned into Winter, feeling her mother's arm wrap around her, tearing up, "Mom… I'll always need you."

Winter hugged her tightly, refusing to cry as she smiled, "I love you so much my dear. That girl should consider herself the luckiest woman alive. Get some sleep."

Dove nodded, pulling away softly, "I love you too Mom."