Disclaimer: Shaman King does not belong to us.

Vestige of Dreams
by Apple-chan and da*mouse

Prologue: The Beginning of A Dream


Ting! Ting!

Above the noisy chaos, the slight tinkling was not heard; rather, to put it plainly, it was ignored.

The young man with a pointy hairstyle frowned, and hit his wineglass again.

TING! TING! TING!

PLINK!

All the chattering of the guests stopped as their eyes turned to the head of the table, where the young man stood, still holding the spoon, but his wineglass had shattered into bits and pieces. Beside him, a young woman with long blue hair wearing a lovely dress that matched the shade of her hair cringed.

Tao Ren coughed, and threw away the spoon. Straightening his tie, he looked around the guests keenly, with an important air, his eyes settling briefly on the woman beside him before turning on the couple.

"Now that I have your undivided attention…" he raised an eyebrow at the guests. "…it's time for the best man to give his traditional best man speech."

Ren cleared his throat. "Well...truth be told, I never actually imagined that it was going to be me who will be standing here right now, in front of all of you, and doing this. If that Ainu nerd hadn't lost that last hand of poker, I wouldn't be facing all of you tonight."

From somewhere in the midst of the guests, a loud "HEY!" was heard. Of course, Ren chose to ignore that.

"Anyway," he continued, "I've known Lyserg Diethyl far longer than most of you have, and although I thought he was a blockhead most of the time…"

That earned him a hard jab at his side. "Ren-kun!" hissed a horrified Pilica.

"Kidding, kidding…" Ren chuckled.

"So...as I was saying before I was so delightfully interrupted by a beautiful lady..." He winked, causing her to blush slightly, "Although he was a BLOCKHEAD most of the time…" he repeated with emphasis. "…he does have his moments.

"I can still remember that time when he abandoned us, so to speak, only to find out he was running off to join this bunch of raving lunatics known as the X-Laws…excuses to the bride of course." He added quickly.

Somewhere among the guests, murmuring was heard, and a few people were wearing decidedly unpleasant looks, in particular, one man by the name of Marco was looking at Ren murderously. The pointy-haired young man just gave him a satisfied smirk.

On the other hand, a young man with long brown hair known as Asakura Hao raised his wineglass to Marco, grinning broadly.

"…But even so," Ren continued, "in abandoning us, he found his life partner, so I did wonder about the rights and wrongs of that decision. Anyhow…I don't think I really enjoy public speaking, so to wrap this up, Let me just say that Lyserg is a fine man, and deserving of his lovely bride, Jeanne, and now, let us toast to their eternal happiness!"

All the guests took their wineglasses and waited expectantly for the best man to lead the toast.

"…wait, I just broke my wineglass…somebody get me a wineglass…"

To his chagrin, nobody moved. Everyone was, in fact, chattering among themselves, apparently losing interest while waiting for Ren to begin the toast.

"CAN SOMEBODY GET ME A FREAKING WINEGLASS SO THAT I CAN LEAD THE TOAST!?!"

A waiter immediately rushed forward with one, handing it to the disgruntled best man. However, instead of thanks, he received a huge frown. "There's no WINE in this DAMN THING!"

The waiter cringed, and, apologizing profusely under his breath, he ran off again, undoubtedly to search for the wine.

Seconds ticked by--and still, no waiter came.

And at that moment, Ren lost it. "Where the HELL is that FREAKING wine!?!"

Pilica looked around pleadingly for one of the waiters holding the wine as she desperately tried to calm her boyfriend down. "Can somebody PLEASE get us that wine? " She whispered frantically.

Next to her, the guest of honor, the Shaman King, and the owner of the Funbari Onsen Inn, Asakura Yoh, slid his wineglass towards Ren. "I'll just take Hana-chan's apple juice." He winked.

Beside him, Asakura Anna rolled her eyes, and snatched the apple juice out of her husband's reach. Yoh flashed her a wounded look, but she chose to ignore him.

But being Asakura Yoh, Shaman King and owner of the reception venue, his lack of wineglass was immediately noticeable, and a waiter immediately rushed over with a glass of wine for him.

Ren glared pointedly, not missing the fact that one particular guest had more privileges compared to the best man. Shrugging that aside, he smiled as he raised his...er, Yoh's glass in a toast.

"To Lyserg and Jeanne!"

Then, he downed the whole glass straight without missing a beat, earning him a wicked grin from Asakura Hao, who was hidden from the view of the bride and the groom, choosing to sit behind some potted ferns.

But Ren's keen eyes didn't miss this gesture, and he glared. Darkly. Hao merely smirked at him as he polished off his own glass of wine.

Fuming, Ren was about to go murderous on Hao, but Pilica pulled him down with a warning look...and that shut him up for the rest of the evening.

Pilica grinned brightly at everyone, most particularly at the bride and the groom. She raised her glass and motioned to the waiter. "Refill the wine glasses, please."

Smiling with satisfaction upon seeing that the final glass has been replenished, the azure-haired young woman began to speak. "It is with great pleasure that I stand here tonight as the maid of honor..." she paused. "…particularly and most especially to someone as wonderful and as beautiful as Jeanne-san, who has been bestowed with the profound joy of being married to one of the most...eligible men of our generation," she raised her glass to Lyserg, while beside her, Ren sulked with jealousy, muttering under his breath about special privileges and girlfriends with no respect.

Not very tactfully, Pilica stepped on his foot underneath the table.

"ANYWAY," She said with a slight raising of her voice as she gave her boyfriend a threatening look. "Even though I don't constantly interact with either one of them as much as my boyfriend here does, I sincerely know, in my heart, that they are both extremely wonderful people. It should be fair to say that Lyserg-san and Jeanne-san had been through a lot together to be here today, and with all my heart, I wish them eternal love, joy, and happiness."

"To Jeanne-san and Lyserg-san!"

-

"Congratulations, Lyserg-kun! This is a great day for you, is it not?" A blonde haired man with a German accent approached the just-married couple, along with a lovely woman, whose long hair was the same shade as her husband's.

"Thank you, Faust-san." Lyserg shook the doctor's hand. Beside him, Eliza bowed politely. "Congratulations, Lyserg-kun, Jeanne-san." Her soft voice was musical. "We wish you all the happiness."

"Just like me and Eliza." Faust VIII said cheerfully, curving his arm around his wife's waist. "You'll be together forever."

"We certainly hope so, Faust-san, that our love will run as deep as yours and Eliza's, even surviving the barriers of death. It would be a blessing, to have known such love." Jeanne linked her arm with Lyserg's, and smiled at the doctor.

"Ah." Faust nodded.

Lyserg spotted someone in the distance, who was waving to him. He turned to Faust, and bowed. "Thank you again, Faust-san. I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me and Jeanne."

"Oh, please. Go ahead." Faust gestured. "By the way, I hope you like the wedding present me and Eliza got for you." He laughed, a decidedly maniacal tone in his laughter.

Out of his sight, Jeanne winced. Lyserg grinned sheepishly at his new wife. "He's…eccentric. But he means well." He added hastily.

Jeanne hugged her husband's arm. "I know. Faust-san is just a bit…strange sometimes."

"Yo, Lyserg!" A blue haired Ainu man materialized and thumped Lyserg on the back. Hard.

"Horo-horo-kun…do you have to hit me so hard?" Lyserg grumbled.

"Well, congratulations are in order!" Horo-horo reasoned. "Although…" he shook his head sadly. "First Yoh, now you. Another one from our group has lost to the evil grasp and lure of marriage."

"Horo-Horo!" Tamamura Tamao, standing beside him, looked horrified. "How can you say that?"

"Well, you won't catch me wanting to lose this bachelor life I am enjoying so much…" He stopped at the sight of Tamao's murderous look. "Just kidding, just kidding…"

"Call marriage 'evil' now, Horo-Horo-kun, and you'll be next in line." Lyserg declared. "Besides, I couldn't be happier," he added, dropping a kiss onto Jeanne's cheek.

Horo-Horo flashed him a thumbs-up. "Good for you, then." Spotting Chocolove, the Ainu yelled, "Hey! Stop FOOLING around with those women and come OVER HERE! You haven't greeted the newlyweds yet!"

Chocolove dashed towards them at once, grinning brightly. "Sorry. I was kinda busy," he said airily. "...Anyway, my best wishes to you and Jeanne, Lyserg!" He added with a mock bow.

The Englishman chuckled. "Thanks a lot, Chocolove-kun."

"Yes. Thank you very much, Chocolove-san," Jeanne agreed, her face glowing.

The comedian surveyed the bride thoughtfully. "Marriage suits you well, Jeanne," he remarked. "...and you, as well," he added, raising an eyebrow meaningfully at Lyserg.

Horo-horo snorted. "Don't tell me you're jealous of them."

Chocolove waved him away. "Of course not." He smirked. "I think you are, though."

"I am NOT!" The Ainu replied defensively. "...In fact, I was just telling Lyserg earlier how much I enjoy living the life of a bachelor--"

"--Or so you say." The comedian interrupted with a knowing grin. "Hmm..." Noticing the dark aura slowly forming around Horo-horo, he gazed around for a means of escape. "I think I'd better go. The women are going to miss my jokes. Again, congratulations!" And with a final wink, and a cautious glance at the Ainu, he ran off, faster than lightning.

"LYSERG!"

Ryu appeared out of nowhere, and gave the surprised groom a huge hug. "My Lyserg, all grown-up and married..." he sniffed.

"Errr…" Lyserg searched around desperately for a way out, not particularly in the mood to be accosted by Ryu. Heaven only knows what the man was thinking...

"Thank you, Ryu-san. Now if you'll excuse us, I think I see Yoh-san trying to get our attention. We'll see each other again later for a nice chat, ne?" Jeanne came to the rescue, and swept her husband away from Ryu's unwanted attentions, bidding a hasty goodbye to Horo-horo and Tamao.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" a loud voice boomed beside Lyserg, causing him to jump about five feet up into the air.

"What the…"

He turned, and saw one of the most unwelcome sights in the world--Asakura Hao, leaning against the wall, a cigarette hanging from between his fingers.

"WHAT THE HELL are you doing HERE at MY wedding?!?" Lyserg shouted, his whole body automatically going into battle mode.

Hao raised an eyebrow. "I got an invitation."

"The HELL you did!" Lyserg snarled. "I wouldn't invite you, NOT even when pigs fly!"

"Pigs aren't flying, and I'm here. I just want to congratulate you on getting the convent girl out of the convent and onto the altar. A very smooth move on your part, Lyserg-kun. Didn't know you had it in you."

"YOU…!!"

"Lyserg!" Jeanne restrained her furious husband, who was about to attack the bemused Hao. "Be polite! He is, after all, Yoh-san's brother. It's only right that he should be here at our wedding. After all, Hao the Destroyer is no more."

"Ah...very perceptive, Iron Maiden. I can only hope your husband shared the same insight, though that, apparently, is not so." Turning back to the groom, he grinned wickedly. "Don't be so upset, Lyserg-kun. It is your wedding day. Keep those spirits up! I'd hate for my presence to ruin your wedding night...if you get what I mean." Hao winked.

"GODDAMMIT!" Lyserg hissed furiously. "I'm REALLY going to STRANGLE him, I swear to GOD I am..."

"Lyserg...can't you just let it go, for my sake?" Jeanne stroked his face softly. "It is our wedding day. Just...ignore him, for tonight. Please?"

Looking at the pleading expression on Jeanne's face, he relented. "...FINE! You hang around. But don't let me see or hear you." He warned in a menacing tone.

Hao lifted a flute of champagne off a tray of a waiter cruising by him. He sipped the champagne, shrugging. "Sure. I'll just stand here and pretend to be a potted plant." He flashed Lyserg a sweet smile. "Just regard me as a plant, won't you?"

"I shall not degrade plants to that extent. After all, they provide us with air." Lyserg growled, and spun on his heel, with Jeanne hurrying after him.

"Lyserg…" Jeanne tried to pacify the livid groom.

"He. Infuriates. Me."

"He does that to everyone," Jeanne said soothingly. Placing her arms around Lyserg's neck, she stood on tiptoes and brushed his lips with a kiss. Feeling some of his anger diminishing, Lyserg pulled her closer, and deepened the kiss, running his hand down her long silvery-blue hair.

"Whoa, save some of that action for tonight, guys!" a joking voice roused them out of their embrace. They turned to see a grinning face identical to Asakura Hao's but unlike the latter, this face didn't send Lyserg flying into a temper.

Yoh gave Jeanne a friendly hug, murmuring his congratulations, and shook Lyserg's hand firmly. "So...you guys are finally married." He gave Manta, who was right behind him, a meaningful look.

Lyserg and Jeanne glanced at each other and smiled. "Uh-huh." The groom answered with a contented sigh.

Manta, still as short as ever, smiled up at the newlyweds. "My sincerest congratulations." He said brightly. "I hope you liked the present I gave you."

"We sure did." Lyserg replied gratefully. "Thank you very much, Manta-kun."

"That was very thoughtful of you, Manta-san." Jeanne added, smiling at the midget.

"Manta has enough money to pay for millions of computers without even breaking a sweat," Yoh commented with a laugh.

Manta frowned at his best friend. "I work really HARD, Yoh-kun."

"I know that," Yoh grinned. "I was just kidding."

"Hmph." The midget grunted. "Well..." He looked up at Lyserg and Jeanne again with a bright smile. "I'd better go. I still have tons of work to do. Again, congratulations!" He paused. "I'll see you guys soon!"

"Thanks a lot, Manta-kun!" Lyserg called out to Manta's retreating back.

"Anyway..." Yoh gazed at the newlyweds seriously as soon as Manta had left, "I guess...you're leaving for the honeymoon tonight, aren't you?"

"Yup." Lyserg hugged Jeanne against him. "And…"

"Yoh!" a sharp voice cut into their conversation. Ignoring the bride and groom, Anna swept herself towards Yoh, holding Hana's hand, an annoyed expression on her beautiful face.

"…Yes, Anna?" Yoh said, a nervous tone in his voice.

"Is it true, that you gave this bottle of Coke to Hana?" she said coldly.

"Kaa-chan…Tou-chan said I could drink the Coke, he really did." Little Hana's tone was one of complete innocence. Anna then swerved to her son, a chilly look on her face.

"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking to your father."

Hana wriggled himself out of Anna's grasp, and ran towards Yoh, who immediately held out a protective arm to his son. "S…sorry, Kaa-chan…"

"Ah, Anna. It was just a bottle of Coke. It wouldn't do Hana any harm." Yoh shrugged indifferently.

"You do know…" Anna said icily. "…that the sugar will ruin Hana's appetite for dinner?"

"Anna…"

"I've told you again and again, and you never listen. Hana must never take any junk food before dinner. Can't you understand that, plain and simple?"

A defiant look flashed in Yoh's eyes, but he said nothing.

Lyserg and Jeanne suddenly felt quite uncomfortable, standing there. For a couple of minutes, husband and wife appraised each other critically, neither one of them speaking. The silence was becoming extremely deafening.

Lyserg was about to make an excuse to leave when Hana squealed. "Tou-chan! I can see Ren-jichan, can you bring me to him? Please? I want to talk to him!"

Yoh nodded, but not before looking at Anna for approval. When the blonde haired woman made no comment, he lifted Hana, and sat him on his broad shoulders. "You guys talk to Anna. We'll just be gone in a minute."

Anna watched them for a moment, and then swiveled to face the newlyweds. "Congratulations." She said simply, a trace of a smile on her face.

"Thank you, Anna-san."

"It's a blessing to be married to the one you truly love." Lyserg commented, smiling at Jeanne.

"I just hope we can be as happy as you and Yoh-san." Jeanne was talking to Anna, but her eyes were trained adoringly on her new husband. He smiled, and kissed her cheek.

Anna watched their display of affection, and then turned to look at Yoh, who was talking to Ren, with Hana on his shoulders. The young 6-year-old boy was gesturing wildly, too, and the three burst into laughter. She turned back to the bride and groom, who were looking at each other lovingly, with so much affection.

...And she felt something tugging at her heart, something she couldn't quite decipher.

"Yes. You'll be happy, Jeanne."

She looked over at her husband again. The weird feeling grew stronger, for some reason.

"Happier than us…" she added softly.

So softly, that she didn't even know if she was speaking to Jeanne...or to herself.

-To be continued-

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