Wedding Day

Summary: Nathaniel and Kitty's wedding. Or what could have been their wedding. Now why on Earth did he say that her dress was just a little tight on her? [Nathaniel x Kitty] [One-shot]

Bartimaeus Trilogy © Jonathan Stroud

"So much for your promises."

Lying in their bed, Nathaniel sighed and set his book down. Kitty was glaring at her reflection in the mirror or – more likely – glowering at him through the mirror.

"What is it this time, Kitty?"

"You promised that we'll have a perfect wedding, and now it's not going to happen," she said sullenly, doing the impossible of both gritting her teeth and pouting that Nathaniel thought incredibly adorable. "We ordered magenta roses at the reception, and now we're going to have red, and how's that – "

"I already called about that and fixed it," the magician quipped, hopping off the bed and stretching.

"What?" Kitty frowned, as if he had aggravated and not solved the problem. "Well, what about the seating arrangements? Oh, wait. We fixed that three days ago. Oh, what am I doing?" She covered her face with her hands. "I just sound so incredibly foolish, don't I?"

Chuckling softly, Nathaniel wrapped his arms securely around her waist.

"Don't worry about it," he kissed the top of her head before resting his head on her shoulder. "You've been doing so well and it's perfectly natural to feel flustered on the day right before the wedding."

Kitty straightened and stared resolutely at herself.

"You're right, you're right," she said. "I mean, I haven't complained that much in the last few months – "

"Of course not."

" – and I wasn't that picky – "

"Definitely not."

" – and I did my very best to stay calm and positive and bloody chirpy to keep these awful wrinkles off my face."

Scowling, Kitty then tentatively touched her cheeks and her forehead.

"You've been doing fantastically, love," Nathaniel whispered in her ear, hugging her more tightly.

"Oh, shut up," she huffed, but she was blushing and he congratulated himself.

Most of her gray hairs and ridges had disappeared, he noted, smiling and watching his fiancée inspect the mostly nonexistent signs of her adventure in the Other Place. Stress and anger often caused them to come right back, though, so they had both done their utmost best to have a hassle-free wedding preparation. And finally it was all coming together.

"It's pretty stupid to want a perfect wedding, isn't it?" Kitty suddenly made a face before laughing. "As long as it's good enough and we're happy, right? I mean, I'm still worried about my face and I'm not sure the dress quite fits, so…"

"Hm, yes, you still have a wrinkle here and there and the dress is a little tight at your chest," Nathaniel agreed distractedly.

Later, he would faintly remember that this was exactly where he had messed up. One minute he was lovingly nuzzling Kitty's neck and the next he was on the floor with his love glaring venomous daggers at him.

"How could you?" she all but shrieked.

He blinked.

"… What?"

"I've been trying so hard – I should've known – you bloody prat – " she was almost hyperventilating and he would have stood up and comforted her if her heated stare did not keep him frozen in place. "So I'm not good enough for you?" she demanded when she could at last form coherent phrases. "My commoner face isn't good enough for you?"

"Darling," Nathaniel said, alarmed, "what are you – "

"Don't 'darling' me!" she snapped. "You never wanted this wedding, did you?"

"Of course – "

"No wonder you didn't want me to have your last name!"

"Well, I don't have a last name, unless you wanted to be Mrs. Mandrake for the rest of your – "

"I'm leaving!" Kitty abruptly declared, grabbing her jacket. "And I'm not coming back!"

In a second, Nathaniel was up and reaching towards her, but even that wasn't fast enough. Kitty shut the door right in his face and had stormed down the stairs and had run out their yard when he stumbled out of their bedroom.

Dumbfounded, he watched her retreating back from the window as she sprinted off in the streets. Long after she was gone, he couldn't tear his gaze from the window.

"I can't believe this," he said at last.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

With a groan, he turned and ignored his alarm. It was too damn early. Besides, he reasoned, drifting back to sleep, Kitty would wake him up as always anyway. His hand automatically reached out to bring his fiancée closer, and his eyes shot open when all he found was cold, empty space. Groggily, he sat up, blinked wearily at the lights overhead, and tried to gather his thoughts. When he did, he moaned.

"I can't believe this," he mumbled, burying his face in his hands.

When he had decided to marry Kitty Jones, he knew he had agreed to love and live with the most temperamental, the most unpredictable, and often the most aggravating lover. But even he wouldn't think that a simple, nonchalant comment about her dress (And don't forget her face, a snide voice commented in his head) would set her off like that. And just when he thought he had her all figured out. He moaned again.

"And I'm not coming back!"

… She didn't mean that, did she?

He swiftly rolled over and grabbed his phone on his desk.

"Hello?" a voice said after he had dialed the number.

"Piper, do you know where Kitty is?" Nathaniel asked. He figured that his fiancée had nowhere else to go but Piper's place.

"No… and yes, sir."

"… What does that mean?"

"Ms. Jones came here last night quite distraught and today she left before we could really talk."

"What did she say last night? This morning?" Great. Now he was beginning to panic.

"She wouldn't tell me anything last night, sir, and this morning she left so fast I didn't have a chance to say anything. Oh, wait," Ms. Piper paused. "Before she left, she yelled, 'We are going to finish this!'."

What does that mean?

"I don't know what Kitty's going to do," Nathaniel confessed. "Does that mean she's going to call off the wedding?" When he received no answer, he persisted: "Maybe I should find her and talk to her – "

"Um, Mr. Nathaniel, sir – "

"Nathaniel," he corrected her quickly.

"Yes, Nathaniel. I wouldn't advise you to do that. Let me explain," she added briskly when he began to launch a tirade of protests. "In the last months, I've been helping you make some arrangements for the wedding, is that correct? Yes, and in that time, I came to understand that Ms. Jones was fretting about the perfect wedding. Now, I'm not sure whether you ruined this 'perfect wedding' image yesterday," Nathaniel flinched, "but understand that if you see her today before the ceremony, you will ruin it. The groom and the bride do not see each other before the ceremony. That is the rule.

"Besides," Ms. Piper continued more gently, "from my time spent with the two of you, I also know that you love each other deeply. I'm sure that Kitty will not do anything drastic because of last night. So relax, Nathaniel, and start preparing. It is your big day, after all," she added cheerfully and hung up before Nathaniel could shoot any more inquiries.

The magician frowned at his phone. With a speed that would put lightning to shame, he then dialed Kitty's number. And fell back onto their bed with a cry of frustration when he heard her cellphone ring in the other room.

But was there anything to worry about? Nathaniel kept asking himself furiously as he began dressing. Kitty wouldn't seriously call the whole thing off and ruin his – their – biggest day on a silly whim like that, would she? Or even worse: what if she still went through with the wedding, only to look at him in resentment when she accepted the ring? He couldn't call her, he couldn't see her, but he couldn't just continue without knowing how she felt after last night. So what could he do? Adjusting his tie, he scowled at himself. He couldn't perform miracles.

A glint caught his attention and he glanced at his ring which held an imp inside. And then he grinned.

"So, uh, it's been a while."

The Egyptian boy blew a raspberry at him.

"Not long enough," he retorted.

"Hey! It's been two years since the last time!"

"Like I said, not long enough."

Nathaniel glared at the djinn in the pentacle. He hesitated for a moment but then smudged the chalk of his pentacle. Bartimaeus narrowed his eyes, leered at him, strolled out of his own pentacle, and – Nathaniel braced himself – walked right past the magician to lounge in Nathaniel's plush chair.

"Relax, Nat," the djinni rolled his eyes. "If I wanted to kill you, I'd have done that the last time you two summoned me. Or I would have simply left you to die in Nouda's hands."

"Yeah, yeah," the man crossed his arms, "and you wouldn't shut up about it when we summoned you last time."

"You can never appreciate my sheer and limitless glory," Bartimaeus smirked. "By the way, do you have anything to eat here?"

"You can't just make yourself at home and demand food like that and djinn do not eat anyway!" Nathaniel contested hotly. "But I didn't summon you so that we can argue like this!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I need your help on far more urgent problems!"

"Yes," Bartimaeus drawled, putting his arms behind his head, "because your love life is so very much urgent. And don't act so shocked," he laughed at Nathaniel's flabbergasted expression, "Kitty isn't here and you're wearing a tuxedo. It's so obvious that it almost makes me cry. By the way, wouldn't you want a human to solve human affairs? Oh, wait," he feigned an innocent face, "you don't have friends."

Fuming, Nathaniel marched up to him and grabbed his collar.

"I should have kept you in the pentacle and inflicted you with the Red-Hot Stipples until you singed," he hissed.

"A joke, Nat, it was a joke," Bartimaeus sighed before pushing the magician's hand away. "You would have thought that a love life would have at least given you a sense of humor, but you're as dry and boring as always, unfortunately. So you want me to spy on your fiancée?"

"No," Nathaniel answered, "I want you to apologize to her on my behalf, tell her that I am an utter idiot and she looks absolutely gorgeous always, and ask her if she still wants to have this wedding."

"… I'm a djinni, not Cupid."

"But you're the only one she'd really listen to, especially since she knows that I'm still very uncomfortable summoning you and then releasing you from the pentacle!"

The two of them stared haughtily at each other. Finally, Nathaniel sighed.

"… Please?"

With an exaggerated groan, Bartimaeus stood up from his chair and put his hands on his hip.

"No need to grovel at my feet, Nat. I shall be my usual generous self and do you this enormous favor. Even though," he raised his voice, "I saved your life last time – "

"Oh, shut up – I mean, ahem, thank you very much, Bartimaeus."

With a smirk, the Egyptian boy turned around to turn into a hummingbird before flying out the window.

He was running out of time.

Curse you, Bartimaeus, Nathaniel thought grimly as he was ushered out of the dressing room to make the final rounds before the ceremony. It had been hours since he had sent the djinni to Kitty with his message, and he had yet to return.

"Hey Mandrake! Snap out of it!"

He glared at the man to his right who was now busy jotting last-minute notes on the clipboard.

"Don't call me that," he narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, sorry about that," Jakob said flippantly. "But seriously, we have a few minutes to go before the ceremony and you've been out of it the entire day. Don't ruin this for Kitty, okay? So let me repeat myself and pay attention this time: the guests have all arrived but the order of the bridesmaids has changed (but that doesn't really matter since you guys have, like what? Three of them?), remember to go after Mr. Farrow, not before, and – Urgh, your tie is crooked again, Mandrake…"

Hurriedly, Jakob adjusted it before Nathaniel could chastise him again for using the wrong name.

"Jakob! We need your help!" Ms. Piper suddenly called from the other hallway, and to the magician's relief, Jakob gave him one last meaningful look before running to assist his former secretary.

Only a few minutes left, Nathaniel remembered tersely. Where in the world was Bartimaeus?

And right on cue, a slim boy handsomely dressed in a tuxedo walked up to him with an outwardly charming (inwardly infuriating, Nathaniel thought) smile. Immediately, the magician grabbed the other's arm and yanked him into a small private room.

"So?"

"Like always, I have accomplished your request flawlessly," Bartimaeus declared.

"So you found Kitty?"

"Of course."

"And told her everything I told you to tell her?"

"Yes," the djinni rolled his eyes.

"And?"

"Kitty doesn't want me to tell you anything but to proceed with everything as planned," Bartimaeus said casually.

Nathaniel really wished he had the Red-Hot Stipples right now to wipe the djinni's cheeky grin right off his face. Or better yet, the Shriveling Fire.

"Bartimaeus, as your master, I command you – "

"Dangerous words, Natty-boy, to say to a djinni without restrictions," the other interjected jovially.

"Argh!" The groom threw his hands into the air. He was ready to tear his hair out. "What am I going to do?"

"Haven't you been listening? Proceed with everything as planned, of course!"

"Bartimaeus," Nathaniel sighed wearily, "how can you do this to me?"

Bartimaeus was already heading to the door, but upon hearing Nathaniel's words, he turned around.

"Well," he explained, "one thing is for sure: you will meet a beautiful and smiling bride at the altar, marry, and live happily ever after…. or she'll ditch you right then and leave you humiliated. Either way," he added, "I'll have a great show. So see you at the ceremony, Nat!"

Bartimaeus gave him a hearty pat on the back before sauntering out. Nathaniel buried his face into his hands. Unexpectedly, the door opened again and the magician whipped his head around, praying that it was Bartimaeus again with clearer and better news.

"Hey! It's time to get out there!" Jakob strode in and pushed the groom out of the room. "Geez, and Piper told me you're usually always on time."

And what could Nathaniel say to that? I'm not ready! I don't want to marry an angry bride! I want Kitty to be… happy…

With shaky legs, he walked past all the hallways to the chamber where the ceremony was being held. He heard the booming notes of the piano and the angelic voices of the chorus. He could imagine the entire British parliament in there, waiting for him to step out. And what about Kitty? He couldn't imagine her at all.

At that moment, he could turn around, walk away before realizing that he had been stood up himself. But the possibility never crossed his mind, because whether or not Kitty wanted to be here, he had always known that he would never be complete until he was with her.

With a final intake of breath, he opened the doors and the entire audience turned to smile at the groom. Yet all Nathaniel could see was the bride as she turned around.

She was dazzling in white, her feather-light veil crowning her stunning face, and even though he could no longer see in the Seven Planes, he could still see – feel – her powerful, intoxicating aura, casting her in even greater splendor –

But the most beautiful thing he saw was her elated smile when their eyes met.

And Kitty beaming and dazzling in white was the last image that flitted in his mind – of what could have been – before the Staff broke and he was consumed in white.

A/N: So I was re-reading the ending of Ptolemy's Gate (again) and it's just so tragic how it ended that I decided to dedicate a(nother) one-shot to it. Yes, it was a pretty depressing surprise at the very end of the fanfiction, but hey, if it's too sad, you can just ignore the last sentence and pretend that this is an AU (which is probably what most people thought in the beginning, right?). By the way, Nathaniel did not imagine all the interactions described in the fanfiction before he died but just the image of Kitty as the bride (I'm sorry if that wasn't completely clear). I really enjoyed writing about Nathaniel and Kitty's interactions, although it did make me feel more depressed about what actually happened. I'm so traumatized by Nathaniel's sacrifice that I saw Stroud's new book (was it Heroes of the Valley?) and said out loud that I wouldn't read any of his new books until he brought Nathaniel back to life. Yes. Guess who's my favorite character?

Recommendation! Ténèbres d'Eden's Endearing! (Well, I wonder why I'm recommending this since I wrote this one, too…) My two one-shots are companion pieces (this one is in Nathaniel's perspective and Endearing is in Kitty's). Okay, a (real) recommendation would be Contrarian's Gratitude.

Do a Random Act of Kindness (DoRAK – seriously, it's a real organization): Review !