I really need to stop watching General Hospital. This once again comes from that show. Though I have been planning to do something with this for a long time now.

Again, I don't own the characters, only the story itself. No, it hasn't been beta'ed.

Pretty in Pink

Cloud Strife stared blankly at his childhood companion, now sister-figure. Tifa Lockheart simply looked back at him, more amused by his reaction than anything. "You are not serious."

Tifa leaned back in her chair, fingernails tapping once against the wood of the table. "I'm completely serious."

"And Rude agreed to this?"

"Of course he did. We finalized all the details before approaching any of you about the wedding."

The blond shook his head. "I'm not doing it."

"Yes, you are." Tifa spoke casually. She was clearly prepared for any and all arguments that Cloud could and would present. "It's what I want and I know you don't want to make me upset, now do you?"

Cloud silently cursed her for knowing him so well. No, he did not want to make her unhappy. However, he also hated dressing up in anything formal, especially when he had no say in the attire he was to wear.

"Besides," The bar owner continued. "Reno had absolutely no issue with it."

"That's because Reno will fucking do anything Rude tells him to," muttered Cloud darkly. "And don't even try to say I'm the same way with you."

"You just said it for yourself."

Cloud scowled but knew that he was not getting out of this; not if he wanted to be involved in Tifa's wedding. Everyone had been caught off-guard when the female martial artist and Rude had announced that they were getting married. Once past that initial reaction, the entire group was of the exact same mind; it was about time.

Tifa and Rude had been together for over four years now. They lived together, had children together and even gone through the loss of one of those children. Marlene and Denzel still lived with them and saw Rude as a father-figure. They were already a family, already married in every way that counted. All they needed was to make it legally recognized.

"So." The woman canted her head. "Should I start looking for your replacement?"

Cloud pursed his lips. "You should be damn happy I love you as much as I do."

Tifa laughed and stood up. She rounded the table and hugged Cloud around the shoulders. "And you should be damn happy that I'm only making you wear a little pink and I didn't decide to make you my maid of honor and force you in a dress."

--0—0—

"The things I do for you people."

Aerith blew out a breath, a decidedly amused look to her face. She reached up and fixed Cloud's collar, ignoring his squirm of protest. "Oh, yes. You make such sacrifices to ensure our happiness."

The blond glared weakly at her. "The sarcasm is not appreciated, Aerith."

"Then quit complaining. We all know how much you despise tuxedos."

"It's not the tux that's bothering me." Cloud tugged unhappily at the buttoned up vest he wore. When he did, it threw off his tie and Aerith immediately readjusted it. "Couldn't Tifa have picked a better color than pale pink?"

"I like the pale pink!"

"Of course you do." Cloud looked over the woman's simple dress, the same color as the vest and tie he was being forced to wear. Her hair was pulled up on the sides with combs, tiny flowers lining those combs, and the wavy length fell easily down her back. "You should wear your hair down more often."

Aerith blushed slightly. "Tseng said the same thing."

Cloud smiled a little for the first time since he put on the tuxedo. It was heartwarming to everyone to see Aerith and Tseng's rather old-fashioned courtship. Riku had teased on several occasions that he was going to get an annulment of their marriage so he could be courted properly.

There was a tap on the door and Reno strolled in without waiting for a response. Cloud could not complain, normally Reno did not even bother to knock before entering. He was also dressed in a pink accented black tux. "Hey, Spike. Ya ready yet?"

"He's ready." Aerith fussed for the last time with his hair then stepped back. "You look very handsome, Cloud."

"Yeah," Reno agreed, eyeing him with a smirk. "The pale pink does wonders with your skin tone, yo."

"And it totally clashes with your hair." Cloud shot back.

The Turk shrugged. "So long as Tifa and Rude are happy, I don't fucking care what I look like."

"Speaking of Tifa," Aerith turned. "I better tell her that you didn't run away in terror and are all ready to go."

"Yeah, Riku lost that bet." Reno chuckled as Aerith left the room. He dropped into the small couch along the wall. "He was certain you would wuss out."

"For anyone else, I probably would have." Cloud muttered. He looked himself over in the mirror. "I look stupid."

"No, you don't." Reno countered. There was an unusual sincerity to his words.

Mako-enhanced blue eyes glanced at the other from the mirror. Reno was casually studying his nails, giving no indication as to what he meant by his words. Cloud did not know what to make of it so he moved on. "How are Rude and Denzel doing?"

"They're good. Rude sent me over here to check on you." The redhead chuckled. "Denzel made Riku help him get dressed."

"That doesn't surprise me." Riku would have been forced to help Cloud if Aerith hadn't insisted on doing it instead.

There was another knock and after a beat, Denzel himself poked his head in. He was dressed in the same clothes as the other two males and he grinned at Cloud. "Riku was right; the pink really does work for you."

Reno snorted loudly and Cloud rolled his eyes. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah," The teenager said. "We're gathering in the lobby. The girls are all in the side room until we leave."

"Alright then." Reno leapt up. He walked up to Cloud and re-fixed his tie before straightening himself out. "Let's get this wedding started so we can get out of these damn clothes."

"I whole-heartedly second that."

--0—0—

The wedding guests filed out of the conservatory after the bride and groom and most of the wedding party. Tifa and Rude's ceremony had been rather short and extremely sweet; they had even managed to get Ayden involved in it which had earned a chorus of awws from the gathering. The reception was being held in the library courtyard and everyone was eager to get to the party.

Cloud had slunk off to the side, effectively disappearing from sight. He had hated being up there in front of everyone and he knew it had to have shown. The only reason he had gotten through his own wedding was because it had half the people and he focused completely on Riku the entire time.

Now that the room had mostly cleared out, he stepped back out of the shadows. He immediately loosened up his tie and undid the top button of his shirt. Tifa had told him that for the reception he could lose the tie and vest but would have to wear them for pictures tomorrow. He was willing to take the deal offered.

A low chuckle came from the opposite side of the room and he knew instantly who it was. Exhaling softly, he asked, "How unhappy did I look?"

"Well," Riku said slowly, walking toward him. "For the first half of the ceremony you looked completely uncomfortable and occasionally glared around exasperatedly."

"I tried to not look like I didn't want to be there." Cloud kept his eyes on his husband. Riku had chosen to wear black slacks and sport jacket with a blue button-down shirt.

"Oh, we all know how much you hate having any sort of attention fixed on you." Riku stopped about a foot away from him. "And you did do a good job. I think the only ones who really noticed where me, Zack, Leon and Sephiroth."

Riku reached out and took the pink tie in his hand. He let it slip easily from his fingers. "You look amazing."

"Pink is my color, huh?"

The silver-haired man smiled. "Normally, no. However, in the tux, it works really well."

Cloud nodded minutely as he reached up and completely undid the tie. Taking the long end, he pulled it from around his neck. "I think the last time I wore a tie was for our wedding."

"I was just thinking that." Riku laughed. "It probably was."

Expression neutral, Cloud took the freshly removed accessory and wrapped it around Riku's neck. Taking both ends in one hand, he gently tugged the younger man toward him. Once Riku was against him, he looked intently into his eyes. "Remember what we ended up doing with that tie?"

Riku bit his lip. Oh, yes, he remembered. That had been one of the most amazing nights they'd ever had.

Cloud pulled Riku's mouth to his and kissed him deeply. They exchanged several heated kisses and touches before Cloud released him. Leading Riku with the tie like it was some kind of leash, he headed for one of the backdoors.

"You do remember that you have to say something at the reception, right?" Riku asked though he obviously didn't care either way at this point.

"Yes, and I figure we have an hour before I have to do it."

"Well, let's not waste it then."