-United at Last-

"I can't believe you're getting married." Mei said.

Satsuki smiled at her little sister from the pedestal she stood on as some women helped her with her beautiful wedding dress. It was a stunning kimono in various hues that really brought her eyes out. Her chocolate-colored hair had grown all the way to her hips and it was wavy but it was held up in the geisha-style. Her eyes were enhanced with mascara and a bit of eyeshadow even though she really didn't need any. She had truly blossomed into a beautiful young lady indeed. She was twenty years old. Her eyes seemed a little sparkly in the lighting of the room.

Mei was fifteen years old. Her hair had grown to her shoulders. She was clad in a

"Aw, neither can I, Mei." She said and ruffled the teenage girl's dark brown locks. It was meant to be comforting but Mei didn't like it much. She sighed irritated and folded her arms.

"How could you leave me by myself?" She asked. It had been ten years since they saw their tree spirit friend but Mei seemed to be the exact same little girl crammed into a teenage girl's body.

Mei narrowed her eyes but she still had a smile on her face.

"Mei, I won't leaveyou and you're not going to be by yourself. I'm still going to live near you. It'll be ok. For the first few weeks, Kanta and I will stay at the old house we grew up in. It'll be fine." She said and attached a grin to the last syllable.

Mei sighed and nodded with a half-smile but only because she wanted to stop talking about the annoying subject.

"See? There you are." She said.

Mei raised her eyebrows, nodded, and walked out of Satsuki's bedroom. She kept staring at the floor beneath her feet. What would she do without her sister? She had helped her so many times while growing up. It was that kind of thing about love that kept Mei not so interested in boys. She jerked awake from her daydream as she bumped into something. She gasped and lifted her head to see her mother chuckling and grinning at her.

"Mei. What are you doing?" She said and smiled down at her.

Mei frowned and folded her arms.

"I just don't understand, I-" She struggled to speak but she was interrupted by an instant feeling of dread that came pouring out of her eyes. She leaned her head on her mother's shoulder in disbelief. "I'm going to miss her."

"Aw, me, too." Her mother said as she patter her daughter on the shoulder. "But you know what? You should feel happy for her."

Mei grimaced and blinked at her.

"Feel happy for her?" She repeated. It sounded like something ridiculously impossibly in her mind at the time.

Her mother nodded patiently at her and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Yes, Mei. You should. After all, she's found the man who she loves and wants to be with for the rest of her life. Wouldn't you want Satsuki to feel the same way about you?" She asked and raised her eyebrow seriously.

Mei narrowed her eyes and looked at the ground. Her eyebrows were furrowed in denial. She was just being stubborn.

"I don't want her to have to." She said.

Satsuki had insisted that they had the wedding in the field behind the house. There were many flowers in almost every shape and color underneath the family's feet.

Kanta was a very handsome and generous man. Of course he used to make fun of Satsuki, but that was just because he had a big crush on her and didn't know how to organize his emotions. He was just what Satsuki deserved. But Mei simply didn't understand. She was jealous of Kanta. She wanted her sister back.

So, as the family had the special ceremony, Mei watched on the branch of a tree. She held her pretty little head in her hands miserably as Chu Totoro and Chibi Totoro hopped beside her on the branch. She sighed and nodded.

"I just don't get it. Can falling in love really change someone's mind like that?" She asked. She sighed and the small Totoros snuggled against her to comfort her. They made cute little sounds. Mei giggled and smiled. She petted their sweet little heads and held them close. "Yeah. At least I still have you guys." And like that, Mei sat up there perched on the branch of the tree and watched as Satsuki and Kanta held hands and look around for something.

When Satsuki was fifteen, she had kissed Kanta. It was when she had had a bad day at school because people were bullying her. He stood up for her and decided to cheer her up by letting her come over to his house and have some dumplings. It had really made her day. He even walked her home in the hard rain holding an umbrella for her. Whenever they arrived at her doorstep, they just looked at each other. The boy appeared a little stunned as if he didn't know what he was doing. Satsuki smiled at him warmly.

"Kanta, I don't know what to say." She said and clutched the umbrella tightly. She tilted her head."Except thank you."

Kanta blinked at her, surprised by the sudden fluttering feeling that washed over him. He slightly grinned at her, shyly. Then it grew into a cheesy smile and he tipped his hat jokingly at his friend.

She giggled at him. Then she did something that surprised both of them. She got on her tippy-toes, closed her eyes, and kissed him on the cheek.

He blinked and flushed deeply. What had she just done?

She seemed a little stunned herself.

They looked at each other with wide eyes.

But Kanta gathered up his courage and kissed her on the cheek.

She blushed darkly and blinked at him. Then she softly chuckled.

He looked around and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Satsuki's parents appear in the window. They looked surprised. So, Kanta scrambled away from her house and ran like a maniac to his house. He nearly stumbled many times.

Satsuki gawked at him.

Her mom opened up the door and looked surprised as she saw their neighbor sprinting in the cold rain. Didn't he know it wasn't safe to ran so fast in the wet weather?

"Satsuki. Was that Kanta?" She asked.

Satsuki slightly jumped, jerking out of her dreamy state. She blushed and looked down. Then she started to giggle and walk inside her house.

Her mom looked baffled at her daughter then looked through the rain to see Kanta disappearing into his house.

"Hmm." She hummed.

Satsuki giggled at the memories that were flashing in her mind.

Once, when she was the same age, she took Kanta into Totoro's forest. It was dark and almost bed time but it was just so special that she could not resist the idea.

"Satsuki, what are we-" Kanta started.

She winked at him and put a finger to her lips.

"Shh." She murmured.

Her hand was interlaced with Kanta's when together they found a ring of trees surrounding a sweet little pond of flowers. They sat down in the center of it criss-cross-applesauce with their hands intertwined and watched in awe as fireflies flew around them. Kanta's eyes went wide. Satsuki just smiled. It was like a little fairyland. Then there was a loud rustling in the trees. Kanta gasped, turned pale, and slightly winced.

"Shh, calm down." Satsuki said.

Out of the trees, a large creature appeared. It had large bunny-like head, bear-like limbs, and an owl-like body. It was Totoro. He gave a big cheeky smile to Satsuki. She beamed back at him in surprise.

"Totoro!" Satsuki called and waved.

Kanta raised his eyebrow in fear.

"Gyaaah!" He yelled.

Satsuki grabbed Kanta's arm.

"Shh! You might scare him off." She whispered. She sighed and shook her head. Then she stood up and gestured to hug Totoro. "Totoro!" She called.

The tree spirit made a growling sound and walked towards Satsuki. Then he hugged her and hung onto his fluffy chest. She giggled happily than looked at Kanta. She slid off of Totoro's chest, still leaning on him, and gestured for Kanta to come nearer.

"Kanta! Come over here. He's harmless." She said and rubbed Totoro's belly with her hand who made a low-pitched purring noise.

Kanta merely stared at the giant fuzzball with an open mouth. Then he slowly got to his feet and walked over to Totoro. He started to reach out to touch him, then his large eyes met his. Kanta bit his tongue as to keep any wimpy noises from coming out. His muscles clenched as he began to pet the odd creature.

Totoro nuzzled the top of Kanta's head and let out a low-pitched growling sound.

Kanta gasped in surprise, but then started laughing incredulously.

Those had been such precious memories. Satsuki knew she could trust her Kanta. She smiled at him warmly, then looked around in wonder. She gasped when she realized Mei was nowhere to be seen. She grimaced and walked over to her mother.

"Mom, where is Mei?" She asked.

Her mother frowned and shrugged.

"I have no idea." She said.

Satsuki's eyes went wide. There could only be one place she was at if she wasn't at her home. She took a deep breath, picked up her skirts, and dashed into the forest.

"Wait, Satsuki!" A male voice called after her. It was Kanta. Clumsily, he ran after her and felt for her hand. Panting, she interlaced his fingers with his. "Where are you going?" He called.

"To find Mei!" She exclaimed.

Together they dashed through the woods until they discovered the strange, gray, woodland tunnel Satsuki and her sister had discovered as little girls. She shook her head and crouched through it, her hand still intertwined with Kanta's. They ran and ran and ran without stopping to take a breath.

Finally they popped out and discovered their favorite tree spirit. He was in the center of the ring of trees that Kanta and Satsuki had relaxed together in so many times before. It was oddly dark there.

Over the years, the trees must have grown a lot because there were only a few large rays of golden sunlight falling in between the leaves.

Satsuki let go of her fiance's hand and gawked up at Totoro. He moaned softly and gave the couple a big grin. Satsuki forced a sad smile and held her hands together sadly. Fireflies danced around her in zero gravity. She looked like a princess. She gawked up at the tree spirit, still out of breath, and found her little sister sitting on his shoulder.

Mei was crossing her arms in dissaproval. She shook her head and struggled to appear serious.

Satsuki shook her head and sighed.

"Totoro, please put Mei down." She said firmly.

The giant bunny-like animal nodded and tilted his body a little so Mei inevitably slipped down his arm. She shrieked a little but landed perfectly in tact in the giant's paw. Her muscles tensed as Totoro put his paw on the ground so Mei could walk to her sister. She looked between her sister and Totoro. She hesitantly sighed but stood up to walk towards her sister. A grimace crossed her face.

Satsuki's eyebrows were furrowed but her lips were in a grin.

"Mei. Why were you here?" She asked.

Mei frowned and tossed her brown hair back.

"I didn't want to watch you with him." She said bluntly.

Satsuki looked at Kanta with big eyes. He blushed and grimaced. The bride sighed and shook her head.

"But Mei... You need to understand. We love each other. We want to live together. Mei, you may not understand that right now but you will one day. You'll find a boy who will change your life forever. For now, you need to accept what you see." Satsuki explained while holding Kanta's hand. He nodded slowly in agreement.

Mei loosened up a little. She looked up at Totoro. He made a low-pitched purring noise and nodded. Mei sighed and looked back at Satsuki. Tears filled her eyes and she suddenly found herself wrapping her arms tightly around Satsuki. Her big sister cringed a little at first but she sighed and enveloped her arms around her. Mei started crying hard.

"I'm sorry, Satsuki." She said through tears.

Satsuki shook her head.

"It's alright, Mei." She said.

Mei was surprised when she felt something wet on her shoulder. She realized they were tears. Her sister's tears. The sisters hugged each other tight for a few moments.

Kanta sighed and smiled, awkwardly standing there. He shared a cheesy smile with Totoro.

Satsuki pulled back from Mei, tears soaking her gorgeous face. She smiled and stroked the tears from Mei's face.

"There you go, Mei. It's alright." She said and patted her little sister's shoulder.

Mei smiled and nodded.

The three friends looked up at Totoro, smiling. Satsuki held both of their hands.

"Totoro." Mei started.

He nodded and gave her a big smile. She giggled.

"Can you please take us to their wedding?" She asked.

Totoro's eyes went as wide as saucers. But after a few moments he nodded and stood up tall.

The sisters smiled, looked at each other, and grinned.

After a few moments, a loud sound like that of a cat meowing filled the air.

The three friends gasped and looked up.

Out of the trees, a large orange Catbus appeared. He landed in front of the family and gave a big cheshire smile. The door on the Catbus materialized and Totoro stepped inside. Chibi and Chu Totoro hopped in after him. Satsuki beamed at Mei and Kanta. Kanta appeared extremely bewildered. This caused Mei and her sister to look at each other and giggle. The bride led them inside the Catbus and they sat in the very back. Childhood memories bounced in their minds like a panicked heart in ones chest. It was thrilling and made them feel ticklish. The Catbus meowed and hopped into the sky.

In the backyard of Satsuki's house, it looked like a hundred members of both Kanta's and Satsuki's family were there. They were all dressed up and chattering about. The bride's father panted and ran up to his wife.

"Hey! Have you seen Satsuki?" He asked in a panick.

She grimaced and shook her head.

"No. I haven't. I think she went to find Mei. So did Kanta." She said and looked around. The mother started to ask everyone if they had seen the bride and her man and sister. No one knew. Eventually, it got to the point where everyone was looking around for the three allies. None prevailed. After only about five minutes, the families appeared defeated. That was until the sound of rustling trees and a loud cat filled the air. Everyone gasped and squinted at the forest. The Catbus leapt out of the trees and landed in the center of the wedding. It meowed and looked at everyone with wide eyes. The people gasped and shrieked. Luckily, no one had a camera to use to expose the creature to the world. The door on the Catbus appeared and out of it came a large Totoro with two smaller Totoros on either of his shoulders. He casually walked in front of the humans and stood beside the Catbus. Then, Satsuki, Kanta, and Mei walked out of it. Everyone was shocked. Though the three friends simply smiled. They were hugged and embraced for a few minutes. Shockingly, Totoro was ignored. However her gave a big grin to a little girl who was staring up at him. She smiled and giggled.

"And I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Kanta and Satsuki held each other's hands tightly, smiled, and kissed. The family engulfing them cheered and wept and clapped. Totoro roared and hundreds of birds fled from their trees and evaded into the evening sky...

-THE END-

Alright! So that was my first anime fanfiction! :) Thanx for reading!