Disclamer: This is a co-write between me and Katrina Kadabra and neither of us owns Salior Moon. I don't ownKatrina's characters, she doesn't own mine and we're cool with that.
Rating: PG
Note: You may want to read Katrina's Night for Uranus and Knight for Neptune before this you can find both fictions on this site
Setsuna walked down the street after getting some more material for a very special project. Haruka and Michiru were going to have a double wedding to Taylor and Nathan; and since she was the closest seamstress they knew they asked her to make the wedding dresses. She was honored of course, even though she never made a wedding dress before. It was hard work but they were almost ready. She was so excited about finishing that she wasn't looking where she was going and ran into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she looked up to see a young man with rust red hair and forest green eyes.
"No it's my fault." He said. He then looked at his watch. "Whoa look at the time; I'm late for an appointment nice meeting you!"
"Nice meeting you." Setsuna said to him. She couldn't help but stare at him until he disappeared into the crowd. "That was stupid of you." she said to herself. "You let him go without even asking his name and you probably won't ever see him again."
That evening, Haruka and Michiru sat musing over the final plans for the bridal party.
"Okay, so who do we ask to be our maid of honor?" Michiru inquired, tapping her pen on the pad of paper.
"Usagi," Haruka answered with an "obviously" kind of flare to her voice. Michiru looked hesitant.
"I was thinking Setsuna," she said.
"But Usagi is our princess."
"This isn't a coronation - it's a wedding. And we've known Setsuna longer," Michiru pointed out. Haruka shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, Mamoru is our best man right."
"Well, yes."
"And the best man escorts the maid of honor right?"
"Usagi's not going to care if Mamoru escorts Setsuna. She and the king are very close friends."
Haruka smiled mischievously. "Thought this was a wedding, not a coronation," she said. Michiru's face turned red, either for embarrassment at getting caught in her own comment, or irritation at Haruka for not letting her have her way like she usually did. In either case, it was a feeling short-lived as she sighed and turned her attention back to the list in front of her.
"Well, we could always have two separate wedding parties," she suggested.
"Oh right, and then who's going to be my best man?"
"You could always ask Seiya."
"I could always commit suicide the night before my own wedding."
Michiru sighed. It seemed to her there was only one logical way to settle the matter. She held out her fist. Haruka glanced at it and rolled her eyes.
"I'm not going to rock-paper-scissors to decide who our maid of honor is," she said.
"You have a better suggestion?" Michiru asked. Haruka pondered that for a moment and realized that in fact, she did not. Reluctantly, she put out her fist to meet Michiru's.
"Jan Ken Po." The two girl's hands shot out. Haruka smiled triumphantly at the outcome.
"Usagi it is then," she said, taking the pad of paper away from Michiru and scribbling the girl's name down. Michiru rolled her eyes.
"Well, better put Setsuna in the front right after her," she said. "And by the way, who are you going to get to escort Setsuna?"
"Hm... One of the guys on my racing crew is pretty cool. I actually had him on the guest list, but maybe he'd be better suited on the bridal party."
"Which one is he?"
"Hallen."
Michiru thought back for a moment. Hallen... if she remembered correctly, he was the dashing redhead on Haruka's team who was the only one who rivaled her in both spirit and competition. She thought he was rather cute when they first met.
"He might work," she said. Haruka nodded and wrote the name down. Six bride's maids and six ushers - this was going to be quite the wedding.
"Obviously Chibiusa will be our flower girl," she said, continuing to write.
"What about Hotaru?" Michiru asked. Haruka thought for a moment and wrote in an addendum.
"Obviously Chibiusa and Hotaru will be our flower girls," she said.
At about the same time Setsuna was looking at the wedding dresses she made for Haruka and Michiru. For Haruka she made a dress with a skirt part long enough to reach the floor and somewhat narrow, a bodice resembling a vest with small silk buttons going down a line in the front, almost bubble like shoulders and long gloves that went right to the shoulders. The veil was connected to a large gold tiara, almost like a crown.
Michiru's dress was more flowing and had a bodice with a number of silk buttons and spaghetti straps connected to transparent sleeves up to the wrists. The veil was connected to three large white silk roses.
Setsuna then decided to slump down in a chair, she had spent almost every waking moment working on them but now Taylor and Nathan would see their brides in Setsuna Meioh originals. She thought to herself about the wedding, no doubt she would be asked to be a bridesmaid. "I can't believe I've stayed this long." She said to herself. "I know it's mostly for Hotaru but I also must guard the time gates." She shook her head. "I probably have my own knight out there but with duty at the gates how can I have a love life? Maybe it's hopeless…No I can't think like that. If I do fall in love there must be a way to make it work.
Just then, there was a light knock at the door. It opened and Hotaru walked slowly into the room, gazing around at all of Setsuna's work.
"Is something wrong?" Setsuna asked, noting the solemn look in the girl's eyes.
"No," Hotaru replied. "Just looking." She walked up to Setsuna and stared deeply into her adoptive mother's eyes. Although Haruka and Michiru were also family to her, she more thought of them as older siblings than parents. Michiru was always in charge of the meals, and Haruka was somehow blessed with the job of diapering Hotaru in her younger years and being the one to come down hard when everyone else was too soft to enforce discipline. But Setsuna... she had taught her everything she knew. Stayed up countless nights reading her poetry and telling her about the cosmos and all its vast array. She was a source of endless knowledge in the young girl's eyes as she grew up. And yet, somehow, she also sensed the greatest burden from her.
"Setsuna?" Hotaru asked curiously. Setsuna rubbed her sleep-ridden eyes and turned to the black-haired girl.
"Yes, Hotaru-chan?"
"Are Michiru and Haruka gonna move away from us when they get married?"
Setsuna sighed. This wasn't a topic she was looking forward to discussing. Granted that the two outer senshi tended to be away more often than herself, Haruka with her races and Michiru with her concert tours. But they still were an energetic presence in the household; the thought of them leaving was a lonely one.
"I don't know, sweetie," she admitted. "But even if they do, I'm sure they will visit often."
"Are they going to have other kids besides me?" Hotaru pressed.
Setsuna had to think that one over. "It's always a possibility," she said. Then, upon rethinking the matter she added on, "For Michiru anyway." Somehow Haruka being a mother didn't click.
Just then the door opened up, this time without a knock as Haruka and Michiru entered.
"Thought we might find you here," Haruka said happily. Setsuna quickly set her work aside; she wanted the final product to be a surprise for both of them. Seeing it ahead of time would ruin the fun.
"Do you need something?" she asked.
"Actually," Michiru said, glancing at Haruka. "We came to ask if you would be a bridesmaid at our wedding."
Setsuna smiled at the request. She had expected to be in the wedding party, but hearing it anyway was rewarding.
"You'll be next to the maid of honor," Michiru went on, still feeling bad about giving the place to Usagi instead of Setsuna.
"You'll be escorted by Hallen," Haruka added. "Do you remember him?" Setsuna shook her head.
"The guy from my racing team?" Haruka prodded. "Green eyes? Red Hair? Quiet but nice? Sound familiar?" Setsuna shook her head again. Michiru sighed and opened up the photo album to the group shot of Haruka and her crew, taken at their victory celebration after the championship race. Setsuna stared long and hard at the young man that Michiru had pointed out. He looked vaguely familiar somehow... my gosh, could he be the same one she bumped into at the fabric store? Setsuna shook her head. My, my, it's a small world after all, she thought to herself.