Twice Upon a Time

"You're enjoying this way too m- urk!" Ranko sputtered as the woman in red pulled back on the satin laces in her hands as hard as she could behind her.

"Yeah, well," Akane said with a snicker as she tied the long, white strands of fabric in a large bow just above Ranko's waist. "Be patient with me. I'm not too used to getting you into these kinds of getups, just getting you out of them again!"

Ranko turned, her bright blush only amplifying her smile. "Yeah, well, with as tight as you tied that thing, you better hope this time Yui got us a fuckin' can opener for the honeymoon!"

Biting her lip, Akane's own smile faded a bit. Her voice lowered to a soft, quiet tone. "Hey, just remember. If you don't think you can…"

With a nod and a wave of her hand, Ranko closed the step of distance between herself and Akane and wrapped her arms around the neck of her bridesmaid and imminent groom. "Don't bring that up today. I don't want to think about anything but you right now. And as for tonight…" Her cheeks somehow reddened further, almost becoming a perfect match for Akane's puffy bridesmaid gown. "I know, and I'll stop if I have to, but…"

The blushing bride traced her hand slowly down from Akane's neck until it rested in the valley between her breasts. "I wanna try. I would truly hate to disappoint my husband."

Giggling as her grin returned, Akane flashed her lover a coy smile with a cute little tilt of her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but stepped back quickly as Ranko leaned forward to kiss her. "Uh-uh-uh! It's not nice to fool around with the bridesmaids. What will Aki think?"

"Somehow, I think he'll get over it," Ranko said with a smirk. Her loving gaze into Akane's eyes was broken by a retching sound coming from behind her, and she whirled to find Mei making a silly face with her nose scrunched and her tongue extended.

"This is why they don't let the groom in the dressing room. Save the mushy shit for out there, would ya?!" Mei giggled, turning her attention back to the braid she was working Ayako's hair into.

Snickering, Ranko rested her fists on her pearl-encrusted hips. "You better be careful making sounds like that this early in the morning, sis. For a second, I thought you might be pregnant."

"You bite your damn tongue, girl!" Mei stood and wagged her finger in Ranko's direction over her eldest sister's shoulder. "We do not need to tempt karma and joke around with that kind of crap." Especially not when I'm almost a week late, she fretted in her mind.

Ayako giggled in her formal gown as she took in the rare experience of looking up into the eyes of her much shorter little sister. "Don't listen to her, Ranko. She's just pissed that the baby would have ten centimeters on her before it was out of diapers."

"Honestly," Izumi called out from behind her mascara brush as she squinted down into her reflection in the lighted portable makeup mirror she had set up on a long white plastic folding table. "At her size, I don't think she would have a baby the normal way. I think the gnomes would just bring it to her wrapped in a leaf or something."

The black drape that served as the door in the unfinished dressing room slid aside with a metallic grating sound on a hastily-hung and slightly crooked aluminum curtain rod. The severe ca-clack of stiletto heels on the bare concrete floor silenced the sisterly teasing, and all looked up to the tall brunette that had entered the room in an orange gown matching those on everyone but Ranko. Nabiki waved the Canon camera strapped around her neck at shoulder level, almost clipping herself in the forehead with its telephoto lens. "Are we about done up here, ladies? The next shift needs to come through if we are gonna get everybody dressed on schedule. Shame you couldn't have waited to do this little shotgun shindig until the other dressing room was done."

"Sorry," Izumi said glumly as she capped her mascara. "Kaito did the best he could. I don't think he's slept more than a few hours since Tuesday."

"It's perfect, Iz," Akane retorted as she began gathering her makeup. "The fact it's in the state it's in, with how little time he had, is a freakin' miracle, and we couldn't be more appreciative of it. We know everyone worked their butts off to help us put this together so fast, and it means the world to Mrs. Tendo and me."

Indeed, the women's dressing room in the new nightclub were barely framed, and the men's had yet to be started. Bare drywall had been hastily affixed to the interior of the wooden frame to provide a modicum of privacy, but it had not been painted, nor had the screws even been covered with plaster. The room had not been wired for electricity yet, but a thick orange industrial extension cord had been run under the black drape that obscured the doorway. The lone cable powered the power strip tucked under Izumi's table, which in turn supplied energy to her portable makeup mirror and the four large shop lights on yellow tripods positioned in the corners of the makeshift space. No counters or other furniture had been installed, so more of the same rented folding tables and chairs were spread throughout the room to create temporary beauty stations.

"Anyway," Nabiki said. She started to lean on the wall, but thought better of it at the last moment, as she was not entirely certain it wouldn't fall over under her weight. "We need to get a move on."

Ranko opened her mouth to speak, but Nabiki waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. We know. The bride needs longer on account of her being a fairy princess, yadda yadda. You stay." Nabiki glanced down to the clipboard in her left hand, letting her camera hang loose around her neck. "Let's see… Mei, Ayako and Akane cycle out for photos. Izzi, you go hair and makeup girl mode on Ranko, and Hitomi, Emi and Ukyo rotate in. That'll just leave Kumiko and Shiori in group three, but I might tell them to use Sakura's office next door so we can make up some time."

Nodding, the Phoenix's fashionista-in-residence bit her lip nervously. "What time is it? Any idea how the boys are doing?"

"It's almost eleven-thirty. The guys are almost done, save for our tardy groom." She snickered at Akane. "They're in good hands. Hitomi's been rating them as they come downstairs in their tuxedos." Nabiki scoffed once, her nose crinkling with amusement. "Shinji's none too pleased that Zoe got a higher mark."

Ranko laughed as she made her way to the chair opposite Izumi at a wobbly white plastic table, hiking up the skirt of her custom-made wedding dress to keep it from dragging on the unfinished concrete floor. "'Tomi's just trying to butter Zoe up. It's absolutely killing her that they haven't gotten Zo in bed with her and Ems yet."

"Are those two trying to bang the whole freaking band?!" Akane asked as she finished throwing her cosmetics into a sparkly red clutch purse.

The bride nodded emphatically. "They can try, but they're not gonna, because the lead singer is a one-wo…" She giggled brightly as she eased herself down onto the wooden chair in her restrictive gown. "One-man girl."

"Good girl," Akane said with a snicker as she gave Nabiki a side hug, turning back to her wife while still in her sister's arms. "I'll see you soon. I love you, flower girl."

Ranko waved without turning her head much, as Izumi had already begun work on her foundation. "No, dummy! I'm the bride! We decided not to have a flower girl, remember?!"

"Hey, blockhead! You mind holding still? That is, unless you wanna get married bearing a striking resemblance to a panda?" Izumi reached out, nudging the bride's shoulder to get her attention. She blinked as both Ranko and Akane cackled in unison. Must be some weird inside joke with them, I guess, she thought as she resumed daubing at her sister's cheeks with the powder puff in her hand.

"Sorry, Iz-" Ranko rocked back in her chair at the sound of an ear-piercing screech coming from behind Nabiki as the heavy black curtain slid to the side anew.

"Dammit, Ranko! Hold st…"

"OMIGODS GIRL! YOU'RE FUCKING GETTING MARRIED! AGAIN!"

Hitomi and Emi charged forward, surrounding Ranko's chair and wrapped their arms around the giggling bride.

Izumi threw her vat of powder to the tabletop with a loud groan. "I friggin' give up."

"Okay, on three! One! Two!"

"FUCK YOKAI!" came the jeers from the bride and twelve of the thirteen formally-dressed bridesmaids packed in tight around her as a series of bright flashes illuminated them. Only Kasumi refrained from the invective, but she joined her companions in a bright smile as she leaned in close to Nabiki and posed for the professional-grade cameras wielded by Natsuko and Hana.

"Okay," Hana said, waving her youngest daughter closer to herself with the hand not bearing Nabiki 's camera. "Let's do shots with Ranko and each of you individually, starting with Akane so she can go get changed."

"Ugh!" Ranko said as she trudged forward. "I swear, we are gonna spend longer doing pictures than the actual party at this rate!"

"I mean," Akane replied as she stepped up next to her wife and put her arm around her corseted back. "The pictures are the whole reason we're doing this, remember? We have to capture everything for posterity."

Ranko nodded, answering through a toothy smile. "I guess s- eep!" Her eyes widened and she jerked straight up in her heavy dress. When her eyes adjusted from the bright flash, she saw Hana smirking at the couple.

"Okay," Hana said, chuckling quietly as she readied her camera. "Now, Akane, can we get one where you're not grabbing her ass, if you don't mind?"

Akane giggled, rolling her eyes at her mother-in-not-quite-law. "But… you said act natural…"

"I swear, Akane!" Ranko giggled as she repositioned for another photo. "It's a damn good thing I'm marrying an upstanding gentleman like Aki, because you're a total pervert! Pawing at girls like that? Honestly!"

Another volley of flashes bombarded the couple, and when they subsided, Akane turned to her lover, biting her lip. "Well, I guess I gotta go get all unpretty now. I'll see you soon, gorgeous." She peered over Ranko's shoulder, waving to Izumi to get her attention. "You ready to do your magic, girl?"

Ranko looked up into her wife's eyes, the angle even steeper than usual owing to Izumi's suggestion to have Akane wear ten-centimeter heels while Ranko wore pearlescent white flats in order to exaggerate the height difference between the two. It will make Aki and Akane look less similar when they're standing next to you in pictures, she'd said. "You are the most beautiful girl in the whole world, and the handsomest man, too. Don't even start with that."

"Awwwww!" The chorus of affectations rained down from every angle as Akane wrapped her lover in a tight hug. Ranko's romantic sentiment must have had an effect on its observers, because Sakura turned to lock lips with the slender blonde standing behind her in an identical yellow dress. Emi's hands traced Hitomi's back, taking a firm handful of the shorter girl's backside. Off in the corner, a man in a tuxedo with a bright green mohawk had already backed another of the groomsmen, a shorter one with a shock of pink hair, against the wall of the bathroom. The pair were engaged in a furious kiss.

"I swear," Nabiki said in a droll tone, rolling her eyes as she took in the scene. "This has to be the gayest fucking straight wedding I've ever seen."

"Hey, if there's one thing our side of the family is known for, it's anything go…" Ranko's amused retort was cut off by a loud bang and a high-pitched shriek of shock.

Zoe leapt back out of Jacob's arms as the drywall behind them collapsed to the floor. "CHRIST on a pogo stick! The 'ell?!"

Turning just beyond where the partition had stood a moment before, Shinji Yokota glared as he finished zipping his fly. The water was still running from the toilet he had just flushed. "Really?!"

Sighing, Kaito shook his head as it fell into his palm. He pulled off his black tuxedo jacket, handing it to his cackling wife. "I knew I forgot something. Hang on, lemme go get my drill real quick."

"We've got to stop meeting like this."

Akane laughed with the aging woman in the gray pantsuit standing on the newly-built stage with her. "I promise, Mom," she said quietly in response, "... If I think of any other genders to marry your daughter as, you'll be the first to know."

Hana nodded, a mirthful smirk in her eyes. "I hope so. I do one more of these, and I think I get a free sandwich somewh…"

She trailed off as the sound of Jacob's synthesizer began blasting through the massive speakers bookending the stage, courtesy of Ariel's portable CD player. The instrumental piano cover of You're My Song turned every head in the audience to the back of the room, where, less the groom, the entire twenty-two member bridal party waited behind a pair of black curtains hung on aluminum rods suspended two meters off the floor by a quartet of heavy metal stanchions.

"Here we go, Aki," Hana said with a grin as Hoshi appeared from behind the curtain in his dapper black tuxedo. The young man - as he was becoming far too rapidly for Hana's tastes - strode past the first two rows of seated audience members, consisting mostly of several of Ranko's high school cheerleading squadmates and Akane's volleyball teammates. He carried Ranko and Akane's wedding rings - the former pried with much coaxing from Akane from Ranko's hand earlier that morning - on a square pillow of white satin sewn by his mother.

A few other girls he didn't know dotted the third row; most were Ranko and Akane's age, so he assumed they went to school with them, too. There was a tall blond boy in a blue silk suit holding hands with a shorter man with black spiky hair with frosted tips. The latter wore an open-collared black dress shirt and gray slacks. Hoshi recognized him from the Phoenix, having met him one night while his aunt was in Indonesia somewhere - Orochi, he was fairly sure the guy's name was. Another gaunt man with dark hair sat alone in that row, maybe in his mid-to-late twenties, and there was a sadness in his eyes Hoshi didn't quite understand.

On the other side, Akane's friends Mitsuru and Nanami positively jittered with excitement. Hoshi wondered if it was harder to understand Mitsuru when she was overly emotional, because her hands moved faster and more erratically than he'd seen at Akane's birthday party. I mean, sometimes Mom tells me I talk too fast when I'm excited; I guess it's the same thing, he mused as he walked down the carpeted aisle between the chairs.

He tried not to blink at the sudden bright flash in his eyes. Hoshi smiled, pausing for just a moment as Natsuko Ogawa stooped down to eye level with him, her professional camera shutter clicking several times a second. The photographer, and his Auntie Ranko's de facto publicist, wore a green pencil skirt and a cream-colored satin blouse with a large pussy bow at the collar.

The last row, closest to the stage, was almost entirely populated with people Hoshi knew. Ranko's bandmate Ariel had the seat closest to the outer edge on the right side, so he could easily get to his radio to control the music. Mei's boyfriend Seiichi and Kasumi's fiancé Tofu sat next to him. On the left side, only the two seats closest to the aisle were occupied: one by Ranko's biological mother in a white silk kimono dotted with large red flowers, and the other by a middle-aged woman with black hair in a yellow skirt suit. Hoshi didn't recognize her. The rest of the seats remained vacant for him and Ranko's father, once their roles in the ceremony were concluded.

He smiled as his grandmother waved to him from center stage, turning to his left and making for the stairs up to the stage platform. There, he passed one final person, an enormous man with no hair and dark skin. He wore a tuxedo too, and he broke the adamantly stoic expression on his face to give Hoshi an encouraging smile as the boy ascended the stairs.

"Hi, Hoshi," Akane whispered, smiling down at the young man. It wasn't too far down, though, as Izumi's son had undergone something of a growth spurt over the summer and now stood less than twenty centimeters shorter than his aunt. "You're looking very handsome."

"Thanks! You too," Hoshi said, grinning at his masculine-presenting aunt. "You should see Auntie Ranko. She's about to bounce out of her skin back there."

Akane giggled, trying to stifle the sound for the benefit of the microphone positioned in front of Hana. "Yeah… she does that, doesn't she?"

Next, Zoe King emerged from behind the curtain in their black tuxedo. Their floppy pink hair was held back with a plain black headband. On one of their arms was Shiori Nagata, and on the other, Kasumi Tendo. Both wore matching lavender gowns, and bore bouquets of freesia and baby's breath on the arms not clutching Zoe's elbows. In the front row, Dr. Tofu frantically snapped pictures. In the back row, a girl with a purple-dyed bob stood, pinching her thumb and index finger together in her mouth to emit a shrill whistle.

Dammit, Kiku, Shiori thought, blushing brightly in the direction of the sound she walked. That's not appropriate to do at a wedding, ya jackass! She issued a shy wave with her fingertips under her bouquet, hoping to placate her date before she disrupted the proceedings further.

Zoe led the girls to the left, waiting at the foot of the short staircase up to the stage. They took Shiori by the hand, offering a chivalrous assist up the stairs from the ground that was largely symbolic. Kasumi, receiving a similar offer from Lance, found his gesture to be far more believable given that Zoe's hand was almost over their head by the time Shiori made it to the stage platform. Zoe themselves followed the girls up, taking their place to Akane's left. Shiori and Kasumi passed behind Hana, positioning themselves to her right after leaving space for Ranko. Shiori, the shorter of the two women, stood off-center in front of Kasumi so that both could be seen by the audience, but staggered to preserve space on the stage that wasn't quite wide enough for twenty-two people to comfortably stand abreast.

The gap between the black drapes at the back of the room filled again, this time with Jacob Trimble leading his pair of charges up the aisle. His green mohawk seemed out of place bobbing over his sleek black tuxedo, even despite the similarity to the electric blue buns of the woman in the deep cerulean gown clutching his left arm at the crook of his elbow. Opposite Mei, in a matching blue bridesmaid dress, Kumiko Iwata beamed as Natusko's rapid-fire camera flashes all but blinded her. Flashing a bright smile at her boyfriend Hideo in the second-to-last row, she strode nervously alongside Jacob and Mei, cradling her long bouquet of delphinium in her right arm.

The trio had scarcely taken their places when Shinji Yokota emerged from behind the curtain. On his right arm, Nabiki was almost an identical match for his height owing to her burnt-orange stilettos, but nothing short of stilts could have done the same for Hitomi on his left. Both girls wore deep orange gowns, their arms overflowing with large matching calla lilies. Each flower was nearly the size of Hitomi's splayed hand. Hitomi made a silly face, sticking out her tongue and crossing her eyes just as Natsuko snapped a photo. Rolling her eyes, the blonde photographer blocked the aisle and forced the trio to stop until she had taken satisfactory photographs.

"Good news, Shin," Jacob whispered as his bandmate took a standing position on the stage to his immediate left. "All these people saw you in a white shirt, and you didn't even catch fire."

"Give it time," Shinji muttered with a barely-amused smirk, crossing his hands behind his waist as he took a comfortable stance at almost a parade rest. "It's already getting pretty warm in this monkey suit."

Next, Kage emerged from the cordoned-off area next to the bathroom. He escorted his wife on his left arm and Emi Kimoto on his right, both resplendent in their red gowns. Ayako grinned, offering her mother a little wave under her bouquet of red tulips as she posed for Natsuko's camera.

She has a lot of gall showing up here, Emi thought as she glared at the black-haired woman in yellow seated next to Ranko's mother. Yeah, Ranko said Amaya was on our team and all, but she still sat by and let them do this shit to us - to her - in the first place. She hid her anger behind a stage smile befitting a beauty queen as Natsuko's camera trilled away. Yep, Kondo, look at all the pretty girls. Absolutely nothing to see here, ya prick. Definitely nobody gay here!

"Would you… hey, c'mon! We gotta go now!"

As Ayako reached her position next to Nabiki, her eyes snapped up to the back of the room to identify the source of the voice, even though she recognized it. A moment later, her sister Izumi emerged from behind the drapes. She and Ukyo, in their matching green gowns, all but held Kaito up between them as the exhausted contractor yawned widely.

Izumi released his arm, giving her husband a soft slap on his cheek with her opera-gloved hand to help arouse him. "Come on, babe," she pleaded. "Get it together for half an hour, and then you can go pass out."

The bleary-eyed groomsman managed a few believable smiles for Natsuko's camera before being all but dragged up the steps to the stage.

That left the best man and maid of honor, and Crash emerged from the curtain with Ranko's maid of honor on his left arm and her wife on his right. Both Yui and Sakura wore yellow gowns, and like the other five groomsmen before him, Crash wore a yellow bow tie to match the pair of bridesmaids he escorted. Both women carried large bouquets bursting with yellow daisies, and Crash's boutonnière was a daisy as well.

Lucky, getting to walk with her girl, Emi thought with only the hint of a glare as she watched Yui pose for photos in the aisle alongside Sakura and Crash. Advantages of being with one of the original bridesmaids, I guess. Still sucks. But hey, at least Crash didn't get to walk with the girl of his dreams, either. Emi snickered silently, her cheeks warning at the joke in her head that no one else would hear.

After all, she's still back there with her dad.

Her face had barely returned to its normal shade when the piano rendition of You're My Song faded, and a clatter of chairs screeching on the floor filled the room as the audience stood and turned their backs to the stage.

As a new song, also a piano solo, began to fill the framed-out night club, Mayor Soun Tendo of Nerima Prefecture emerged from behind the curtain, resplendent in a white tuxedo.

The room filled with gasps. No matter how dapper the aging martial artist may have looked, they were not for him, but for the youngest of his four daughters.

Here we go again, Ranko's mind coaxed her behind bright red cheeks. How the hell is being a bride the final boss of being a girl, if you gotta beat it twice?

She wore the same handmade, pearl-encrusted gown Izumi had crafted for her first wedding, fresh from the drycleaners the day before. She had begged Izumi for the addition of a veil to hide her furious blushing, but her sister and stylist had refused on the grounds that her recognizability in photographs was paramount to the success of the ruse they were attempting.

Her face reddened deeper still as she stood at the entrance to the aisle, trying to look calm and comfortable for Natsuko's camera. These are the most important pictures of my life, she fretted. She had to force herself to refrain from singing as the music reached the point where she would normally add her voice to its harmony. There's a long white dress, hanging over there… Ranko smirked, looking down at herself. Well, okay, not quite so much "over there…"

"Are you alright, honey?"

A pat on the back of Ranko's hand drew her attention back to her escort.

"Do you need a moment?" Soun's whisper was soft and soothing, and he rubbed the back of Ranko's hand as gently as he might have done with Kasumi's.

Shit. Gotta look happy. Gotta look excited. Dial in. Don't look nervous. Gotta calm down. How can I… Her eyes rose from her dress to the center of the stage, where the love of her life stood surrounded by most of her family and friends. Sure, Aki may have been wearing a man's suit, and her breasts were bound tighter than Genma Saotome's pants on all-you-can-eat sushi night, but Ranko would know the other half of her heart anywhere. Her eyes brightened, and her smile relaxed from a forced, uncomfortable grin to a contented, joyful smicker.

"Nah, I'm good, Dad! Better than good." Ranko said in a bright, chipper tone, not bothering to lower her voice for the benefit of the audience. I just have to remember I get to spend the rest of my life being Akane's wife, and I can smile through anything, she thought as she and her adoptive father began the slow, stilted march toward the stage.

Her eyes scanned the audience as she walked. Oh, good. Ryo came. I was worried he wouldn't make it. And Yumeko! Hey, girl! She offered a tentative wave under her massive bouquet of white roses to the girl in the thick glasses seated on her left, wearing a short, pale yellow skater dress printed all over with golden triangles. Each had a triangular hole cut out of its center, so that it looked like a triangle made out of three smaller triangles with the fourth one missing.

She turned her head to the left, offering a respectful nod to a handsome young man in a gray pinstripe suit. Good. I'm glad Sho ended up coming. I've been such an ass to him about everything. Dude might be carrying a torch, but as long as he's respectful, it's no different than what Crash did with me. And he's important to Akane. Fuck, I'm glad she stopped me before I performed Mine. That would've been awkward as hell, unleashing the Viper on somebody who didn't deserve it.

Aw, man! she thought as her eyes finished surveying the room. Mr. Gao didn't show up. Didn't think he would, but, after all this time, dude deserved to see for himself why he hasn't slept right in years, she thought with a snicker as she passed Eiji and Orochi on her right.

"Anybody getting out of line?" The young bride offered a smirk to her tuxedoed head of security, flashing Lance a wink as she and Soun approached the steps.

"Nothing I can't handle, ma'am." Lance chuckled with a sharp nod of his head, trying to maintain his serious expression. Despite his efforts to keep it quiet, the laughter boomed from his cavernous chest. "You look incredible, girl."

The redhead stifled a giggle. "You should see my husband." Ranko gently took her father's hand with her right and Lance's with her left, letting her wrists go limp as she was guided up the steps to the stage surface by the two much taller men. Soun followed her up, and Ranko paused, looking up at him with the sweetest expression she could summon on her face.

I want to… but it's stupid. Such a girly thing to do with someone who knows what I used to… ya know what? No. It's not stupid. I'm a girl. I'm a bride. I'm allowed. And it'll feel special for him, too. He's my dad. He asked to be. Unlike Pop, he actually wants me to be his… little girl.

She rose to her tiptoes, leaning in close and planting a soft kiss on Soun Tendo's cheek. She did her best to ignore the Full-Body Cat's Tongue's amplification of the tickle from his moustache on her face. "Thank you, Daddy. I love you."

Soun all but glowed. It wasn't a blush, so much as it was an overwhelming wave of pride crashing over him. He reached his arms around her shoulders, pulling his youngest daughter into a tight hug on the stage. "I love you too, Ranko. I'm so proud of you, sweetheart." He grinned at Akane over the bride's shoulder. "You take good care of 'him', now, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir!" Ranko turned to face Akane, her face aglow with bliss. "I promise!" She thought back to a day less than two years ago, where she'd sworn it to him for the first time, her forehead on the floor of his living room as she begged him to reconsider his disapproval of their relationship. We've come a long way since then, though, Dad. We've grown so much, all of us.

The father of both bride and groom strode the few steps to the center of the stage, offering Akane a proud smile. Although everyone in the audience knew the groom's true identity, they had agreed to keep up appearances, just in case. He therefore tried to let his eyes say what his lips could not, offering a bow to Akane. "You look after my little girl, okay? And let her look after you?" His words were carefully chosen, as on any other day, Soun's little girl could have meant Akane herself as well.

Akane bowed in response, finding it uncomfortable to do so given the tight bindings flattening her breasts under her tuxedo. She couldn't avoid a blush at the thought, as she clearly understood what her father meant. "It will be my honor."

Smiling, Soun straightened himself, turning and descending the stairs to the floor of the half-constructed nightclub. He made his way to the empty seat next to Nodoka.

"She looks even more beautiful than she did last time," Nodoka said, beaming up at her daughter's adopted father.

Probably because she didn't have the snot beaten out of her this morning, Soun thought. He reached to his side, taking Nodoka's hand in his. "Happiness looks good on her."

"So," Hana began, grinning at her two youngest daughters in her gray pinstripe pantsuit. "I understand you two want to get married?"

"I mean…" Ranko blushed at her wife, looking down with a coy grin on her lips. "I suppose I did promise."

"Yeah, you did! I got down on one knee and everything!" Aki laughed, shaking 'his' head. "Silly girl."

"Your silly girl," Ranko said, an almost insistent tone in her voice. "Don't forget that part. It's important." She reached out for Akane's hands with both of hers. "The most important part."

Hana laughed as the couple joined hands. "Not yet! We still have to, you know, do the thing."

"Then get on with it!" Ranko and Aki spoke in unison, much to the amusement of the observers in the audience.

Chuckling, Hana threw up her hands. "Alright, alright! Sheesh! You'd think these two wanted to be married, like, a year ago or something!"

A year, three months, and nineteen days, Ranko thought, another easy smile forming on her crimson-painted lips. Not that anybody's counting.

Hana glanced down at the sheet of paper in her hand. It was a little worn around the edges from being folded and shoved in a pocket a few times, but still more than readable. She read over her words, pausing for a moment to consider them. You know what? No. The Phoenix clan's matriarch folded the paper again, stuffing it back into her back pocket. They're not getting the same speech as last time. I'm just gonna… talk. We're doing this for show, but we're not going to get so caught up in the dog and pony show that we forget what it's all really about.

"Ranko… Aki…" Hana grinned at the young "man" to her left, a bit mischievously. "For the last eighteen years, I've been finding lost people in the world, and showing them how to be part of a family. Three years ago next month, I was blessed enough to find this one." She turned to Ranko, giving her a nod of appreciation.

"And she, in turn…" Hana again redirected her attention to Aki. ".. was blessed enough to find this one."

Actually, Mom, she found me, Ranko thought, stifling her giggle. Well, I guess if we're being real technical about it, Nabiki did.

"And together, they have become a family in their own right." Hana smiled out at the audience. "A family that we formalize here, today, in the presence of their own families, and their friends. Because, that's the thing about lost people. They can be found. And when they are, gods, how special they can be.

"Ranko, I have not only grown to love, but admire, you. You are brave to a fault, and endlessly giving. You tilt when you should withdraw. You inspire thousands - maybe millions - with your music, but all of us in this room are lucky enough to also get to be inspired by your presence. You love as fiercely as you fight. You think of everyone else first, always." Indeed, it had been Ranko's desire to provide for her family, no matter the cost to herself, that had necessitated the show ceremony over which she now presided in the first place. "Kiddo, I am just so proud of you. You don't even know."

"Mo-om!" Ranko blushed, looking down at her hands as they rested in Akane's. "You're not the one that's s'posta make me blush today!"

Hana swiveled again to her left. "And as for you, mister." She smiled softly at the masculine-presenting woman holding her daughter's hand.

"Yes, ma'am?" Aki grinned, but not at Hana. Her eyes were entirely locked on her bride.

"I have seen Ranko grow so much these last few years. When I first met her, there was a sadness in her I didn't think I'd ever see the end of. The only spark of a smile I ever saw in her when she would think about her life before joining us was when she would talk about this boy she used to know. Then, he showed up on our doorstep, and let me tell you, that girl blossomed overnight. As Ranko's sisters and I got to know that boy, we quickly came to understand why. Your love and support for her has awed us all, Aki. Your strength in the face of adversity, and your tenderness when the challenge has been faced and met, are an inspiration to everyone around you. You are generous and kind. One of the greatest hopes a mother has for her children is that they will find someone who will love them with all their heart and soul, care for them, support them, and keep them safe and happy."

Hana glanced behind Akane, offering tender smiles to Kage and Kaito. She then nodded to Seiichi in the audience as her head turned left, giving a soft smile of acknowledgement to Sakura. "And, I am blessed to say, my girls have done so."

"Me most of all," Ranko said, squeezing Akane's hands tighter in her own.

"The wonderful thing about this family we've built here is that everyone in it is here by choice. There are no accidents. Every person here is bound by love before anything else. And, in that spirit, Aki, we are so happy that Ranko chose you to be a part of it."

I mean, if you wanna get real technical about it, she's legally my sister, Akane thought with a smirk.

"So, on that note," Hana asked, a gentle smile on her lips as she regarded Akane. "Do you, Aki…"

"Does it have the word wife in it somewhere? 'Cause, if so, yes!" Akane grinned playfully, nodding in the direction of her bride as she repeated Ranko's interruption of her first wedding verbatim. The humor was not lost on those in the audience who had attended that ceremony on a summer's day a year prior, and they laughed along with her.

"Yeah, yeah." Hana waved her hand in the air, dismissing the joke. "Anyway. Aki, will you take my daughter Ranko to be your wife? Will you love her and cherish her every day for the rest of your life? Will you support her, no matter what life throws at you, with a song in your heart? Will you be faithful to her first and always?"

"I'd be honored to." Akane squeezed Ranko's hands tighter, cocking her head to the side as she regarded her lover. For a moment, all the facade of her disguise and the re-enacted ceremony around her was lost to a simple truth - she loved the girl sharing the stage with her more than all the stars in the sky. No law of man or nature could have prevented it. It was as immutable, constant and sure as the passing of time itself. "I am honored to."

With a smile and a nod, Hana's head turned to her right, regarding the redhead bouncing excitedly in her pearlescent ballet slippers. "And do you, my sweet, beautiful little star, take Aki to be your husband? Will you love and cherish him every day for the rest of your life? Will you support him, no matter what life throws at you, with a song in your heart? Will you be faithful to him, first and always?"

"Eh, I dunno…" Ranko smirked mischievously, taking one of her hands back from her bridegroom and scratching her chin thoughtfully.

The assembled guests cackled, but Akane rolled her eyes. "Oh, c'mon, really?!"

Laughing, Ranko slipped her hand back into Akane's. "I never pictured myself as the kind of girl that would ever end up having a husband." Her gaze softened, a simpering glaze painting her face as a tear rolled down her left cheek. "But for you, I can make an exception. For you, I can do anything. I can be anything. With you by my side, I am absolutely limitless. And it gives me the greatest joy I will ever experience, knowing I get to be your wife for the rest of my life."

In the front row, the woman seated next to the bride's mother wiped a tear of her own. And this is why we're fighting you, Kondo, Amaya Uyehara thought. Because, damn it, look at how they feel about each other. Who are we to try and stop it? How could anybody see the smile on her face right now, and think it's wrong?

"Then, I suppose it's time we get some jewelry involved, huh?" Hana turned to her grandson, an ear-to-ear smile growing across her unpainted lips. "Hoshi, honey?"

The young man stepped forward from his place alongside his stepfather, holding the pillow up between the bride and groom. "Here you go!"

"Thanks, buddy," Ranko said, leaning down and giving him a shoulder hug with her right arm as she plucked Akane's wedding band from the pillow with her left.

"Aki…"

Ranko swallowed hard. It was harder to keep up the act when she had to look the person she loved the most in all the world in the eye and use a different name for her. Then again, I suppose it was pretty tough for her to stop calling me Ranma, too, and she had to do it for a lot longer than a day.

"With this ring…" Ranko's trembling right hand slipped the band onto the third finger of Akane's left. "I take you as my husband."

Akane grinned, looking down at her hand. Oh, I've missed the sight of that on my finger all day, she thought, sighing with quiet relief as if she could finally relax for the first time all afternoon. After taking a moment to savor it, she reached down to the pillow for Ranko's conjoined custom diamond engagement ring and wrap, etched with the notes to You're My Song. His pillow emptied, Hoshi scurried to the steps, descending them and taking his seat.

"Gimme that ring, ring, ring!" Ranko sang quietly, wiggling slightly on her feet in her restrictive wedding gown. "C'mon, put it on my finger!"

"That ring, ring, ring!" Hitomi sang from behind her. The brunette giggled nervously as the assembled wedding party looked up at her. "Sorry," she muttered, a slight cringe forming on her face. "Force of habit."

Laughing, Akane lifted Ranko's hand. "Ranko, my princess, my silly, silly girl… with this ring, I take you as my wife." Again, and always. She gently slid the silver band down Ranko's slender ring finger until it found its home at the base of it.

"Then, I now…"

Not waiting for Hana to finish her pronouncement, Ranko curled her finger toward herself at eye level. "Get your ass over here and kiss me, lover boy."

Akane happily complied, wrapping her arms tight around her bride.

With a chuckle and a shake of her head, the officiant shrugged, standing on her tiptoes to be more visible over the smooching couple in front of her. "Yeah, that! I pronounce you to be, now and for all time, husband and wife."

Every seat on the floor of the nascent nightclub emptied as Ranko and Akane's friends and family rose and applauded. Ariel slid off behind the curtain, pressing play on the third track on the CD Jacob had burned for the occasion. A third piano solo began playing over the large speakers resting on either side of the stage. Of the assembled guests not on the stage, only Ariel and one other person had ever heard the melody before.

That's right, Ranko, Amaya thought, recognizing the tune as the starlet of the Yokai Records roster took her partner's hand and began to descend the stairs to the floor.

You really are Defying Destiny. And, gods help us all, we're gonna help you do it if we can.