Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! I own myself, and that's all I need to own.

CHAPTER 20: Happily Ever After

            "No way!" Seto exclaimed. His parents echoed. "This cannot be happening…" He backed up a few steps. Serenity held up her gloved hand triumphantly, and Pegasus and Cecilia could do nothing but stare. Mai and Téa were rendered speechless as well.

            "Of course it's happening!" Serenity replied in her British accent. "You better believe it Seto, cause Shizuka Jounouchi and Serenity Wheeler Kaiba are both the same person. Me! So… Seto… how does it feel to figure out you've fallen for me twice?" Seto gaped at her as she spoke those words, flawless in her accent as "Shizuka" had been.

            "Whoa! Hold on a minute!" Téa interrupted. "What do you mean fallen?" The others skipped her question.

            "This is Serenity?" Cecilia asked incredulously. "The one Mokuba told us about?"

            "Yes, who did you think?" Seto answered.

            "Hello, is anyone going to listen to my question? What does Serenity mean by Seto falling for her twice?" Everyone ignored her, except Mai, whose eyes widened. She leaned over to her sister and whispered.

            "Do you remember this morning?" Téa's eyes widened. The others were still ignoring them. Seto, Pegasus and Serenity were eyeing Cecilia as she teared up.

            "Cecilia dear, are you okay-,"

            "SERENITY!" Cecilia cried, flinging her arms around a very surprised Serenity. "I can't believe it's really you!" Seto and Pegasus raised their eyebrows. Cecilia noticed, and she turned to them to explain.

            "Remember Serenity, Max? The poor girl who lost her parents that night and Mr. Kaiba had to adopt her?" Pegasus's eyes widened with recognition.

            "Ah, yes! I remember… this is her? My, you've grown!" Serenity was still confused, but she hugged Pegasus. Seto was confused as well, and things were starting to pile up on top of his brain. Even though he had mastered very complicated Duel strategies, this was far from anything his brain expected to comprehend.

            "Okay! I need some explanation. Serenity, you have to explain to me how in the name of Domino did you learn how to Duel. Second, mom…dad…how the hell do you know Serenity?"

            "I guess I should explain first then…" Serenity started. "Well, it all happened when you basically challenged me by saying I couldn't Duel. I decided to learn, and I did from Mr. Motou, to challenge you. My…friends got me to the tournament. Of course, I just came there for the pleasure of defeating you, but when I won and it was announced I had to marry you… well… my mind panicked and I ran…"

            "And you felt all guilty and tried to reason with me that I shouldn't have a crush on Shizuka because you don't want the blame of breaking my heart… I get it now…" Serenity nodded. Seto turned to Cecilia. "Your turn."

            Cecilia smiled and took Serenity's shoulders. "She is like a daughter to me. Ten years ago, her parents died in a carriage crash and she and her brother came to me. However, since they still had a relative living, I wasn't allowed to adopt them." Pegasus huffed.

            "That morning they were adopted, and that very night I couldn't sleep. I had to sit three hours in bed listening to my wife rant on and on about if we did the right thing, or whether we should have adopted them." Seto's jaw dropped.

            "That girl…with the reddish hair… pretty laugh… that was her!" Seto pointed an accusing finger at Serenity, who raised her arms in protest.

            "Excuse me! What did I do?"

            "What did you do? I don't know… maybe you just happened to run away from me twice, break my heart twice, and lead me to fall in love with three separate girls who just happened to be the same person?"

            "WHAT? HE FELL IN LOVE WITH HER? THE PRINCE FALLS FOR OUR SERENITY?" Obviously, Téa and Mai's shout clearly got through to the others. Serenity gave them a smirk. Seto gave them a smirk. Mokuba gave them a smirk. Cecilia and Pegasus smiled happily.

            "Anyway…" Seto turned back to Serenity and took a deep breath. "You are a very tricky person if you caused me all that trouble. There is only one thing I can do now…" Serenity cringed, expecting the worst. Instead, Seto kneeled down in front of her and took her right hand in both of his.

            "Serenity… will you marry me?"

            That's it. All hell broke loose. Mai and Téa gasped for a second, then screamed at the top of their lungs. Mokuba, Cecilia, and Pegasus shouted with glee, dancing around each other. Serenity shouted OH MY GOSH! at the top of her lungs before nearly jumping on Seto to smother him with hugs and kisses. The instant celebration/mourning lasted for a full ten minutes before they all settled down again.

            "Okay… calm, controlled," Cecilia reminded everybody. "Serenity tried on the glove, it fits, she's acceptable, and Seto proposed…all things I never thought would happen!"

"It's so twisted…" Mokuba whispered. "Like spaghetti!"

Cecilia was on the verge of crying with happiness again. "This is so wonderful. Max! Can you believe it? We're going to be………we're going to be…" Cecilia teared up again. Seto shook his head as he put an arm around Serenity. Mai and Téa gave them acid glares.

            Pegasus walked over and took Cecilia's hand. "I know, we're going to be parents-in law!"

            "No! That's not what I'm excited about!"

            "We're going to retire?"

            "No…"

            "We'll have someone else to argue about food with?"

            "Kind of… soon anyway… we might have a million mouths to feed…"

            "A million?"

            "Just think! We'll be grandparents soon too!"

            "Grandparents!" Pegasus and Cecilia looked at Seto and Serenity hopefully. The couple looked at each other then back at the king and queen.

            "NO!"

            "Yes…"

            "NO!"

            "Yes… what's a royal family that doesn't…"

            "NO!"

            "Come on…I would love to see cute little boys and girls walking around the castle again… you can have like four or five… I don't mind…"

            "No!"

            "We want to be grandparents!"

            "NO!" Pegasus and Cecilia backed off at their combined shout.

            "Sorry… jeez… it's not like we're going to ask you to kiss in front of a thousand people…"

            "What do you think a royal wedding is?"

            "Oh… anyway, why are we standing out in front of this mansion at midnight. We must get our sleep! We have a wedding to plan!"

            "Oh!" Serenity suddenly gasped. She hurried back into the mansion, leaving the others staring puzzled at her. She ran up the stairs to her room and nearly flung open the door. Rushing to her drawer, she opened it. She saw the box she had wrapped in chains. She unhooked the clasp, opened the lid, unwrapped the cloth, removed another lid, and unscrewed a bottle. From that, she poured two stones into her hand. Then, she skipped back down the stairs.

            "It wouldn't be complete without this!" she said, running out of the house, fitting two stones into her glove. "It proves I beat Mai and Téa. Now, we can go to the castle."

………

            "Cy! Bring it over here!"

            "Svrion! How many times do I have to tell you? This side of the door has ten strands, that has eleven! THIS SIDE NEEDS IT!"

            "Cy! Haven't you noticed it's lopsided? These strands are shorter. Bring it to my side!"

            "Svrion! You've never decorated a wedding before!"

            "You haven't either!"

            "Well I'm at an advantage cause girls are more artistic and they would know when one side of the door needs more strands of flowers!"

            "And I'm at an advantage because I am taller and can actually reach the top so I can make the flower strands straight so they don't look like they are going down a mountain!"

            "If…you…dare…touch…my…height…I…swear…I…will…" DMG trailed off as she and Svrion glared at each other on opposite sides of the doorway to the ballroom. Wedding decorations were already underway the morning after Serenity had been discovered. The wedding was planned in two days. Obviously, with DMG and Svrion arguing as they were and everyone else stopping their work to watch them, it wasn't going very far.

            At the moment, DMG was holding the last strand of roses, having been assigned the task of decorating the perimeter of the wall outside the ballroom. It was all fine until she and Svrion were down to the last strand. DMG was short on her side, but for some odd reason and the fact that her curves were smaller – she couldn't reach all the way to the top – it seemed there was less room for the last strand to fit than Svrion's side.

            "Shorty poo! I am way smarter than you!"

            "That does it!" DMG dropped her roses on the floor and ran after Svrion, who immediately noticed the danger and ran the other way. Female spellcastor on the loose! Hufanse, Aundren, and Clarrisa were watching.

            "They seriously are a sad case…" Clarrisa said. "Believe me, I know sad. Have you ever watched some of the girls in my class flirt after school? Puh-leaze. It's not like they get anywhere. It's one thing for Cy and he wild temper but for me… I'm much more… stable. I do have a runaway mouth but hey! It's all good. My mouth even saved me once… oh my gosh! I must tell you the story. I was walking down-," Clarrisa was cut off when she realized Hufanse and Aundren were not listening. Instead, they were intelligently cutting the rose strand in half so each side would be equal and fixing the strands.

            "Fine! Don't listen to me! You'll pay one day. Some people say some really important stuff. Like my first level teacher, she used to drone on and on and on. But one day she was teaching me how to make this potion for cleaning my wand and I messed up. Hey, I didn't mean to. I just accidentally put too much fish scales. Give me a break. I never like fish scales. Can you believe they use them in lipstick? The thought makes me shiver. Sorry, digressed there. Now, what was I talking about again…?"

………

            "That is not my color!" Serenity protested, standing in front of a mirror and wearing a long red gown. "This is a wedding! Don't you have any white gowns?" Lumina and Yami looked at each other.

            "Now… why are we using this color again?" Yami asked. Lumina rolled her eyes.

            "Let me remind you… I think red would be the perfect color because it goes wonderfully with her hair. I mean, in Duel Monsters, you equip cards to monsters only if they match. Otherwise, you can end up with some really crazy things." Lumina looked over at Yami with an exasperated sigh.

            "It's true…" Yami insisted.

            "You know what?" Serenity finally declared. "Here's an idea Yami. I am a person who is usually very calm and nice. That reminds me of Light monsters. And light is bright like white. So… I can wear white!" Yami clapped his hands.

            "That was brilliant. If we were playing Duel Monsters, you must have knocked half my LP off."

            "Well, it's no surprise, seeing as how she's been listening to you Duel Monster comparisons for the past hour…"

            "We're lucky. I can only imagine how things are going on in the kitchen…"

………

            "FOUR! Four, Max. I don't want the cake to fall on our subjects."

            "Cecilia! This is supposed to serve all of Domino! Do you think a cake no wider than your hips and four layers tall is going to big enough? Unless your waist is a mile wide or the layers are a mile high each…hate to break it to you honey… but it's not going to work!" Cecilia and Pegasus glared at each other. It was only mid-morning, and another food argument had started up again. Cecilia hadn't even changed out of her nightgown and Pegasus had half his face smothered in shaving cream. It was a funny sight to see the quarreling royals not even completely awake in the kitchen, fighting words in front of a very amused cook.

            "Mom!" Mokuba to the rescue! He appeared in the kitchen all dressed and fresh. "What are you doing? Oh! Is that cake batter? Mom, we should make a spaghetti cake!" Pegasus and Cecilia looked at him.

            "Spaghetti cake?"

            "Yeah! Get gigantic bowls of spaghetti for everybody! And put candles in them!" Pegasus and Cecilia looked at each other.

            "You know… that might not be a bad idea…"

………

            A couple of days later, all the problems were finally solved. Cy and Svrion agreed to put away their differences and agree on decorating plans. On the day of the wedding, they even helped compromise a new floor for the ballroom. It had many flowers surrounded by pictures of Duelist gloves.

            Serenity now had a new white wedding gown. It trailed down way past her toes and ended in beautiful flower embroidery. The halter straps were also embroidered with the same pink flower design. Her veil was sheer and bunched at the top of her ponytail, coming down to stop at her waist. Serenity had refused gloves – and for a good reason. Instead, her nails were freshly manicured and painted rose red.

            At the morning of the wedding, the royals were in panic. Pegasus was teaching Mokuba how to walk up the aisle and not drop the ring he was holding. They didn't know whom to hire as a flower girl so they chose Téa. Mai was elected bridesmaid and Duke was supposed to be best man. Then Joey managed to come home early enough and had to spend a very panic-ridden hour muttering about his sister getting married, and then figuring out that he had been led to believe that some stranger had been his sister at the tournament but really the stranger was his sister. Joey was very confused, and demanded that he be best man for his troubles. Now, this morning, he had changed his mind and declared he wanted to lead his sister down the aisle instead since Gozaburo wasn't coming.

            "Okay! Mokuba… check! Téa… check! Mai… check! Joey… check! Duke… check! Decorators…check! Cooks are preparing spaghetti… walls and floor decorated… everything clean. Serenity is dressing up… I am all dressed… Pegasus is all dressed… we have the ring… the flowers…Seto is all dressed and not even nervous… good, that's good… the guests are all here. The ballroom is packed and overflowing… that's okay, the castle is huge! Anyway…calm…" Cecilia smoothed her light yellow gown one more time and took a deep breath.

            "Okay people! Hurry up! Get in your places! Five minutes!" Cecilia looked around one more time. People were hurrying to chairs and Seto, Joey, Mokuba, Téa, and Mai took their places. The Duel Monster helpers were making last minute checks on setting the tables and security of flowers.

            "Honey!" Cecilia turned and Pegasus came closer to her. "Do you have a feeling we're missing… something?" Cecilia shook her head.

            "No…" Pegasus shrugged and walked off, leaving Cecilia paranoid.

            "Oh no… are we missing something?"

            Five minutes later, everyone was calm except for Cecilia. And Serenity, who was pacing back in the bride's room.

            "It's okay… it's only a wedding! Serenity, calm down!" Cy finally caught up to her and stopped her from walking.

            "It's… okay…it's time to go!" Téa and Joey appeared.

            "Come on Seren…it's the moment!"

            "Don' screw up, cause the whole city's watchin',"

            "Thanks, Joey." Serenity winked at him and prepared herself, and threw her veil over her face. It was here. The moment of truth…

            A few minutes later, Serenity was standing in front of the floral arch with butterflies in her stomach. A large crowd was gathered all around her, and even more seemed to be pouring in through the entrance. Joey was standing next to her in his white tuxedo, grinning ear to ear as he watched all the girls in the crowd. Mokuba and Téa stood to the side. Téa scowled. She did not enjoy wearing a fluffy pink dress and carrying flowers. She felt she was much too old. Mokuba was grinning, however, looking smart in his own cute tuxedo and carrying the ring on the pillow as if it was something he did everyday. Pegasus was standing next to his son in the front, and Cecilia was right behind him.

            I think something is missing…Serenity mentally said to DMG. She noticed DMG shrug.

            I don't know, Serenity. It seems perfectly fine to me. I mean, there's the ring bearer, the flower girl, the bridesmaid, the best man, your brother, the groom and his parents, the bride and her friends… wait… something is missing… Serenity looked at her frantically, but "Here Comes the Bride" suddenly started playing and Serenity's stomach did a flip-flop.

            "Ready, Seren?" Serenity shook her head. Joey shook his own in exasperation and nearly dragged Serenity to the first few steps down the aisle. Serenity finally started walking. Everything was perfect for a grand total of three seconds.

            "Wait! When am I supposed to start?" Mokuba whispered to Téa. Téa was too angry to pay attention. "Do I go now?" Téa started walking behind Serenity, throwing flowers as if they were daggers. Mokuba shrugged and took that as his cue, skipping down the aisle after her.

            "MOKUBA!" DMG murmured frantically. "Come back here!"

            "What?" Mokuba queried, turning around. He bumped into Téa and upset her flower basket.

            "Mokuba!" she cried. Serenity turned to see what the matter was and walked right into Joey, who walked right into the crowd. DMG tried to run after them but she tripped on her gown and went sprawling to the floor. Mai cracked up in laughter.

            "Are you alright?" Cecilia asked, rushing to the scene. She clearly was so stressed she did not need another thing on her mind. Mokuba quickly jumped up, throwing the ring in the air.

            "Catch that!" DMG and Mokuba both dived for it and crashed. Joey rushed to his feet and dragged Serenity away from the mess.

            "Hurry, befo' we make a scene!"

            "Joey, it's a bit too late for that!" Serenity finished her sentence, panting, just as they reached the steps. Seto extended his left hand.

            "No!" Pegasus whispered to him. "She has to be on your right side!" Seto quickly switched hands, but not before Serenity grabbed his left and was yanked forward. Pegasus mouthed it's okay and motioned for Seto and Serenity to continue. They looked at each other and shrugged. They walked up the final steps and faced each other. The whole room was silent for a while.

            "Where's the guy who is supposed to marry us?" Serenity queried. Seto looked at the empty spot.

            "How can we get married if no one marries us?" The crowd started noticing the confusion and started up a flurry of whispers. Pegasus walked over to the couple and asked what was wrong. Suddenly, Cecilia came bustling through the aisle.

            "I remember what we forgot!" she cried.

            "It's a bit too late for that!" stated DMG as she came up behind Cecilia.

            "Who's going to do it then?" Cecilia asked. By now, the crowd had completely figured out what was going on and there was widespread panic.

            "I don't know… pick a random person," Mokuba suggested, running to the altar while trying to keep the ring on the pillow. "Why not her?" He pointed to DMG.

            "You must be joking… I don't know-,"

            "Perfect! Was your name Cyrrielle? Anyway, Cy, you can do the honors…"

            "But! What? Huh?" Cy was left as Pegasus, Mokuba, and Cecilia went off to the side. Serenity and Seto looked at her hopefully. She sighed.

            "Alright, fine, I'll do it," she muttered, getting on the other side of Seto and Serenity so the crowd could see the three of them. They applauded loudly and it seemed the whole castle had exploded with the force of a bomb. DMG cleared her throat when it died down.

            "Okay…" she announced. "I really don't know how to do this, so I came going to try it anyway. I have never been to a wedding or gotten married…"

            "Yet!" Mai butted in. "Remember, you told us that you were engaged to Svrion…" DMG winced. Serenity looked at her wide-eyed and DMG tried to be subtle in saying that was false. It didn't work.

            "Ahem… anyway… we are… let's say, we are all… here…gathered here to see… to witness the marriage of two Duel monsters…humans! Sorry, humans! Okay, we are gathered here to witness the marriage of two humans… people blah, and yada yada yada, these two have proven their love to each other, which I never expected but anyways…"

            "Just skip to the important part!" Pegasus suggested.

            "Oh… yes… Do you… Serenity Wheeler Kaiba… take this Duel mon-human to be your husband?"

            "What's a Duel monhuman?" Serenity asked. DMG scowled.

            "Serenity… do you want Seto to marry you… nod your head and say yes… thank you. Now, Seto, do you want Serenity to marry you? Nod your head and say yes… good! Jeez, how long does it take for people to get married anyway…? Okay, now I pronounce you Duel Monster and wife… uh, sorry. Human and wife… wait, how do you say it? Yes, husband and wife… or is it man and wife? Something like that… oh forget it, just kiss and get it over with!!!" Seto leaned over, but before he could quite make it the ballroom erupted into a sea of cheers and applause that seemed like ten atomic bombs had gone off at the same time.

            "Their timing is off!" Serenity complained. Seto shrugged.

            "Should I still kiss you or-,"

            "Whatever you want… but it won't be complete without a kiss… wait! We never exchanged rings!"

            "This wedding is so messed up…"

            "Okay, screw the rings, but at least kiss me twice as long to make up for it…"

            "Deal…" they leaned forward but DMG quickly walked between them.

            "If you are going to make out… get me out of here!" Serenity rolled her eyes and Seto leaned forward and kissed her. Since obviously no one was looking or listening over the early celebration, the kiss was dragged along a lot longer than normal. No one even noticed as they sunk to their knees, kissing passionately. When they finally broke apart, Serenity's hands on Seto's shoulders and his on her hips, the ballroom was still not paying attention to them.

            "Well, that was a nice wedding…"

            "Oh well… the important thing is we got married…"

            "Without a proper ceremony or even exchanging rings…"

            "The kiss was good…"

            "Yeah…it was…"

………

            "And we propose this toast to our newlywed prince and his bride. Forever let their life be filled with happiness." The whole kingdom raised their glasses, and a never-ending sea of glittering cups rose up all around the castle. The sun's rays only added to the blinding brightness. Everyone drank from his or her cup.

            "When are we going to cut the cake?" Mokuba asked. He turned to his parents and they looked at Serenity and Seto. Pegasus shrugged and Cecilia looked as though she was lost in another world.

            "How about now?" they asked. Serenity nodded. Pegasus clapped his hands and announced for the cooks to bring the cake. Serenity smiled, hoping for an extra big cake with layers and layers of icing. Instead, five cooks dragged out an enormous bowl.

            "What is that?" Serenity gasped. The bowl had a hard time fitting through the entrance of the ballroom.

            "Spaghetti Cake!" Mokuba cried, beaming. Serenity raised a quizzical expression at the royals.

            "What the-," Before Serenity could say another word, Cecilia and Pegasus pointed fingers at each other.

            "It's his fault!"

            "It's her fault!"

            "You know, let's not even go there." The cake was finally trudged up and placed in front of Serenity and Seto. It was wide enough for the both of them to sit it, if it wasn't filled to the brim with spaghetti. More bowls soon followed until there was enough to make a big circle. People crowded around them as if they were gold.

            "Wait!" Mokuba instructed. "My brother has to blow the candle and cut it first!" On cue, two cooks came in with a giant candle and another with a sword. The first two cooks helped position the candle. It was as tall as Mokuba, but still it barely peeked up over the spaghetti. It was lit and the sword was handed to Serenity and Seto.

            "Hope that is big enough to cut it," Cecilia said, still deep in thought. Seto and Serenity blew out the candle together and the whole kingdom clapped – the noise equaling the explosion of a lot more atomic bombs. Then, Serenity took the sword and cut the spaghetti. Well, she tried to anyway. But when she first sliced through the long strings, more came and filled the empty space. Serenity tried again, in a different place. Still, the spaghetti still covered up whatever she cut. Frustrated, she stabbed the spaghetti.

            "Okay, hold on, it's okay. Don't kill it! NO! MY SPAGHETTI!" Mokuba came over and nearly fell on the bowl. Cecilia sighed.

            "Now what?" Serenity and Seto looked at each other.

            "Isn't it a tradition that the bride and groom smother each other with cake?" Mai asked. Cecilia sighed again, and placed her hands on her hips in a really exasperated way. She hated being disturbed in mid-thought.

            "Do we have any cake?"

            "I have an idea!" Serenity suggested. She reached into the bowl – carefully, to avoid getting food on her bright white gown – and grabbed a handful of marinara sauce. Then, she smothered it over Seto.

            "Hey!" Seto grabbed a handful and slathered it on his new bride. The people laughed, and soon participated in "Smother the Newlyweds". At the end, Serenity's dress was no longer bright white but tasty red.

            "I knew red would look good!" Yami suddenly remarked, emerging from the crowd with Lumina hanging from his arm. She seemed very annoyed. "Red as a rose…"

            "ROSES!!!" Cecilia's sudden shout made everyone in the ballroom and beyond freeze, arms still submerged in spaghetti. "That's what was bugging me this whole time. Serenity, you never threw your bridal bouquet."

            "Do I have to?"

            "Of course!" Cecilia beckoned to the servants to bring the bouquet. One did and gave it to Serenity. She studied the ten roses inside.

            "Well… throw the whole bunch! The girl who catches it is said to marry next!" Suddenly, a whole flock of girls rushed to the front.

            "Throw! Throw! Throw!" Serenity cringed.

            "There are so many… and only one gets it? That's not fair. You know what, I'm going to throw them one at a time!" Cecilia sighed…again. Serenity grinned and untied the bouquet, letting the roses fall on the floor. She picked one up.

            "Okay… the first one goes to…" Serenity threw one in the air. Screams, shouts, and gasps followed until someone finally caught it. When the crowds parted, it was Mokuba who had caught the rose.

            "Huh?" he asked. "What's going on?" Serenity shrugged and threw another rose out. Everyone quickly ignored Mokuba as they rushed for the second rose. However, one small blonde girl walked up to him.

            "Aren't girls supposed to catch the rose?" she asked in her very bratty sounding voice. Mokuba blinked at her. Quickly, he stuffed the rose into her hands.

            "Pretend you caught it!"

            "Okay, thanks. My name is Rebecca Hopkins by the way…"

            "Nice to meet you…" Mokuba copied his father's formal bow. Rebecca giggled. Mokuba looked really grown up doing that in his tuxedo.

            "What happens now?" Mokuba shrugged and looked over at Serenity. Just then, she threw the third rose. The mob gathered around the rose, but Lumina snatched it out of the air.

            "I won!" she cried.

            "It always feels nice, doesn't it?" Yami asked. "After a long battled game of Duel Monsters, winning makes the whole thing enjoyable. However, how you play the game also matters-," Lumina kissed his lips to make him shut up. Mokuba raised his eyebrows and looked over at Rebecca. He wasn't the only one who noticed. Téa had been sulking near Mai. She nearly boiled over.

            "WHAT?" She stomped her way through the crowd. Mokuba, meanwhile, looked at Rebecca.

            "Is that what you're supposed to do?"

            "I don't know!" Mokuba leaned over and kissed Rebecca on the cheek.

            "I'll do it anyway…"

            "Aww… how sweet!" Rebecca linked her arm with his and they both walked away to avoid being trampled by the crowd. Cecilia saw them and nearly panicked. She tugged on Pegasus's sleeve furiously.

            "What?"

            "Oh my goodness! Look at Mokuba! He has a girlfriend! Oh my gosh! Now I'm going to have two daughters-in-law and a bunch of children! I'm going to be a grandmother! NO! I'm growing old! Look… white hair!"

            "Cecilia…relax…it's o...k…a…y!"

            "I can't handle this! First a messed up wedding! Then white hair…"

            "Actually, Cecilia, you have had that white hair for the past year… whoa, what's up with her?" Pegasus and Cecilia jumped back as Téa barged through them. She hurried over to Yami, who had his arm around Lumina with a big grin.

            "What is the meaning of this?" She ducked as the fourth rose sailed over her head. A young girl snatched it out of the air. Lumina smugly put her head on Yami's shoulder.

            "He's mine… and you are not gonna steal him again!"

            "Steal? It's you who was cheating-,"

            "I know you played with his head, Téa! I had him first. If you are so jealous, then take a chill pill. Maybe you should go marry your darling Seto… oh wait, today is his wedding…" Lumina snickered. Téa stormed off, brushing past quite a few people angrily. One of them was Joey.

            "Hey! What's wrong?" Téa didn't answer. Instead, she magnified her glaring scowl and trudged off. Joey scratched his forehead. Suddenly, a flying rose made contact with the back of his skull. It was flying pretty hard to hurt him.

            "OW!" The scene around him suddenly split into two images, making him feel dizzy. The blurry image focused on a black haired girl hurrying over to him.

            "Are you okay?" she asked. Joey looked down at his hands. He still held the rose. Around him, he could faintly make people rushing around him. Their voices were like a blur.

            "Yeah…here…" he shakily handed the rose to the girl. "You are as pretty as this rose…is…um…um…pretty…"  The girl's lips formed a small smile.

            "Why, you are so cute!" she walked over and grabbed his arm.

            "You are too… hey, you wanna go out to dinner this weekend? I just got out of the Academy…"

            "Excellent!" The black-haired girl licked her lips, digging her nails into Joey's arm. He winced. "By the way… my name is Mikatsu. My friends like to call me Long Fangs…" She grinned brightly, and Joey was sure he could see fangs protruding from her gums. He tried to loosen her grip on him, but she held on so tight. He gasped when he saw claws on her fingers ripping into his skin. When he looked back up, her eyes were red.

            "I WANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD!" Joey yelled as she pounced on him. The world went black.

            "Oh! So sorry! Did I bump into you? You looked kind of dazed there! And your arm is bleeding! You must have scratched it with the rose!" Joey woke up with a flash. A crowd had gathered around him. In front of him, a raven-haired girl was standing with a worried expression.

            "Sorry," she pointed to the rose in her hand. "This was the sixth rose Princess Serenity threw, and I bumped into you when I caught it." She extended her hand and helped him get up. "The name is Mikatsu by the way, but sometimes my friends like to call me Long Fangs…" She tried to smile, but Joey gave a loud yell and ran away.

            "Was it something I said?" Meanwhile, Serenity threw out the seventh rose. Another random person caught it and squealed. Serenity took the next rose and threw it as well. Just before it was thrown, DMG pushed her way through the crowd.

            "Hey Seren! Did you-whoa!" DMG gasped as a rose fell into her hands. "What is…" The girls around her cheered.

            "She caught the rose!"

            "Makes sense, she's engaged!"

            "Where's her fiancé?"

            "There he is!" Svrion, Hufanse, and Aundren pushed through the crowd.

            "What happened?" Svrion asked. The crowd of girls around him cooed. Svrion looked at them with eyebrows raised. DMG gasped. She had a feeling she knew what they wanted.

            "Aren't you going to kiss her? She caught the rose!" Svrion nearly gaped, and Hufanse cracked up with silent laughter. Even Aundren was laughing. DMG winced.

            "Kiss her?" Svrion asked. DMG glared at him. "I mean… kiss her now?" All the girls around him nodded. "But-,"

            "Come on! Just one, really passionate kiss…I mean, you are engaged…" Svrion glared at DMG.

            Come on, she told him mentally, we can't get out of this lie so we'll just play through. It's only one small…

            Passionate kiss? Are you crazy? I'm not going to waste my first kiss on you.

            Svrion! You are not the only one. I'm going to waste my first kiss too. Just, for the Mortals' sake? Or else they'll never leave us alone…

            Fine, and I'll make it passionate for their liking… but if you dare get an idea… or spill it to my grandfather…

            Promise! DMG took a deep breath and stepped forward. Suddenly, Svrion swept her into a kiss. Hufanse's jaw nearly hit the floor, and Aundren slapped his forehead. The girls around them cheered as the kiss got more passionate. Finally, Svrion pulled away, forcing a smile.

            Happy?

            That should satisfy them…

            You know? That actually wasn't too bad…

            Don't say you are…

            Think about it Cy. How long are we going to keep fighting? Wouldn't it be much easier if we just turned over a new leaf?

            Oh… no…

            Come on Cy, I really do like you. If you just weren't so argumentative… okay, here…I won't tease you about your height anymore…

            I don't know…

            Please? I really, really do like you. Just we'll put aside our differences, height, and personality, whatever…and just be friends…or you could be my fiancé for real…

            You want me to marry you?

            No…I'm not saying…well…I was…just…um…yeah…yes…will you?

            Sure.

            You do realize I'm being serious…

            And you do realize I just caught the rose…

            I can't believe you are serious…

            I can't believe it either, but hey! If the staff's good, use it! DMG broke the mental connection and raised her eyebrows at Svrion.

            "You are serious," Svrion checked one last time. DMG nodded solemnly. Svrion grinned.

            "This day is the most interesting one I have had ever since I found myself cornered by a Griffor who was only angry because no one would play checkers with him…"

            "Uh…" Before DMG and Svrion could talk anymore, Aundren and Hufanse looked at them.

            "That's taking the fiancé joke too far!" Hufanse remarked. Svrion put his arm around DMG.

            "Who said it was a joke?" Hufanse's jaw dropped again and Aundren's forehead earned another slap. Meanwhile…

            "Okay, everyone!" Serenity announced. "I'm going to throw the last rose now. I'm keeping one for myself, but this one goes out to the last lucky person out there." Serenity took a deep breath, kissed the rose for good luck, and threw it as hard as she could. She was surprised when it cleared the ballroom and hit the other side and fell in the mob. And, the most unlikely person of all squeezed through the final part of the crowd and picked up the final rose. Serenity gasped when he came into a clearing.

            "Stepfather?" Gozaburo looked up and squinted at Serenity.

            "Why, good day. I saw my stepson running like a maniac there so I had to come see what was going on. It seems like a wedding. Serenity, why are you wearing a veil and a wedding gown?" Serenity smiled as Seto came next to her, helping her fit the last rose into her hair.

            "Cause…I just got married…"

            "Okay, to whom?"

            "Prince Seto."

            "Okay…" Gozaburo turned around and walked a few steps before swiftly turning around.

            "WHAT?? WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

            "I figured you'd have a late reaction…" Serenity rested her head on Seto's chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Yep, now I'm Princess Serenity." Gozaburo gaped, and Téa and Mai came running to the scene. They immediately launched into incoherent blabbing. Gozaburo only heard a few words that made sense.

            "…There was…a Dueling Tournament…"

            "We went…Serenity went…"

            "Serenity beat Seto! She…"

            "…And now she has to marry him…"

            "Dad! Yami dumped me…"

            "Dad! I want to marry Seto!"

            "It's not fair!" Gozaburo massaged his temples.

            "I'm not going to contend with this… as far as I know, Serenity and Joey aren't really part of my family. Joey got a bad reputation in Domino Academy by sneaking away, and I don't want to be related to him anymore. In fact, Téa, Mai… we are leaving!" He firmly took his daughters by the arm and led them out of the castle.

            "Gee, that was nice," Mokuba remarked. Serenity giggled.

            "Oh well, now that that's settled… what now?" The royals looked at each other.

            "We should probably serve the meal, since the spaghetti is rather…messy…" Cecilia hurried to the kitchen. Pegasus hurried after her.

            "Knowing them, they'll start another argument. I better go help them," Seto left as well. Serenity turned to find her Duel Monsters friends. She saw them in a clump to her left.

            "Hello…what's wrong?" She looked at Aundren and Hufanse, who were sighing with bowed heads.

            "Ask them!" Hufanse said, pointing to DMG and Svrion smiling and holding hands. "They are the ones who-,"

            "HEY BRO!" Serenity turned around and Belial nearly bumped into her. "Oh, hello Ms. Serenity. Or should I say Mrs. Serenity Wheeler Kaiba Pegasus, boy that's a mouthful… congrats!"

            "Thanks…" Belial hurried to his brother and Aniron and Rowen appeared behind him.

            "Serenity, congratulations!" they said simultaneously. Serenity smiled. The three turned to Svrion, DMG, Hufanse, Aundren, and Belial.

            "So, what's up?" Belial asked. "Sorry we're late. Our mount…got…feisty… anyway, so, what's new?"

            "Oh… Serenity got married, and I have a new girlfriend who is now my fiancé," Svrion replied.

            "Okay, who?"

            "Cy…"

            "Okay. Anyway…WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

            "I expected a late reaction…" Before Svrion could explain, Clarrisa joined them.

            "I feel so depressed… I didn't catch a rose. Oh well, I don't really need to marry anyway. I came over here cause I saw Cy kissing Svrion… yeah, Belial, don't have to make that face. Anyway, I came here to ask what got into my sister's mind."

            "Oh…I'm just engaged to him…"

            "Okay, I just wanted to make sure because I never would imagine… wait! WHAT?"

            "Yep, late reaction…" Cy cracked up.

            "Let me just pretend I didn't hear that…anyway…" Clarrisa rattled on and the rest had a lovely conversation. Finally, Serenity interrupted.

            "I'm going to go check on Seto, kay?" She turned to leave.

            "Wait Serenity! I've been dying to say something!" DMG called. Serenity turned.

            "What?"

            "NO WAY!!! I don't have an infatuation, crush, love interest, or any damn thing on him!" The Duel Monsters cracked up as DMG made a perfect impression of Serenity.

            "Oh shut up!" Serenity turned around with a sigh and hurried off to find Seto. He was standing near the balcony, looking tired.

            "Hey!" she called, hurrying over to him. She snaked her arms around his waist. "What's wrong?"

            "You would think telling the cooks to cook spaghetti would be simple enough… but, of course, the chef runs out of sauce and now my parents are back to arguing about lunch. At this rate, it will be nightfall before they figure out what to eat."

            "Life is weird. I mean, two weeks ago, I could have never have imagined this would be happening. I mean, marrying you?"

            "Same here. If I didn't know better, I'd say this is much like a fairy-tale."

            "You're right. I would imagine it's like Cinderella. Me, the poor orphan girl adopted and then made to work. Then, she goes to a ball thing in disguise, the prince falls for her, and then she marries him while her stepsisters look on with envy."

            "And…" Seto turned around and kissed Serenity gently. "They all live happily ever after."

THE END!

…………………………………………………………

Oh my gosh! It's over! Ha ha! I can't believe it's finally over! It doesn't seem like it is, but it is. I actually have to go back and take out all the author's notes from each chapter to make it more professional, but other than that I am done. Twenty chapters! Well, I hope you all enjoyed that extra-long chapter. Of course, it had to end with "and they lived happily ever after", but it's a fairy tale after all. I'd like to thank all my reviewers for supporting me! I would have never thought I would reach more than three hundred reviews! Well, for all who loved my stories and all who haven't heard the news, I am going to write a DM/DMG story starting August 1st, after vacation, called Rising to the Top. It will feature all of my Duel Monster characters! In this story, only Svrion was a little out of character of what he is supposed to be. He's actually more like Aundren, sweet and less argumentative. Anyway, thanks for all who reviewed once again, and I hope to see (not actually see, you know what I mean) when my next story comes out. Adios, and review!