Title: "Wedding Traditions II"

Author: Lils

Rating: PG-13? Soft-R? Ratings confuse me LOL

Summary: It's Usagi and Mamoru's wedding. Makoto and Neph have a little fun of their own.

Disclaimer: Characters not mine, but I rather like to think they like playing on my 'verse for a while.

Hope you like!

With a scowl still marring her beautiful features, Makoto watched Ami drag Zach away and sighed. Honestly, how did such a kind, quiet girl end up with such a—a—menace for a boyfriend? She eyed her cake display, noticing several dollops of whipped cream bearing the marks of Zach's all too nimble fingers. That was going to take a while to fix, she mused, a small smiled beginning to curve her lips. Zach had looked so cute when she had caught him, middle and index fingers still in his mouth, a small smear of white cream on the side of his cheek as his eyes ran back and forth in hopes of finding someone else to blame.

The smile turned even wider as she brought to mind Ami's appalled look when she had found out. The funniest thing was, Zach had not looked guilty at all; instead, he seemed to be rather put out that he had been caught. Makoto feared the day those two had children—she could just picture a little boy with Ami's hair and Zach's eyes, running around her kitchen snacking on everything on sight and getting away with it to boot. If he inherited even half of Zach's charm, then Ami was going to have quite an entertaining motherhood to look forward to…

Mako shook her head. She only had a few more hours until the ceremony; if she wanted her desserts to be ready on time, she was going to have to start repairing the damage Zach had done right now. Picking up the cream dispenser, she began reapplying the cream dollops, giving those destined for Usagi and Mamoru an extra twist just because she could.

She was on her fourteenth plate when a pair of strong hands sneaked around her waist and someone planted a soft kiss on the nape of her neck. "Hello, beautiful," Nate whispered, his customary greeting falling upon her and making her heart do a little somersault inside her breast. She leaned back against him, enjoying the feel of his strong, powerful body behind hers and answered: "Hello, handsome."

Makoto was a tall girl, but Nate stood at least six inches above her with ease. It was something Mako secretly delighted in, having to tip her head back to gaze into his eyes—it gave her this sense of utter, complete girlishness she seldom got the chance to feel. So now, when she looked up to him and found his eyes with hers, a small shudder went up and down her spine and it brought a smile to Nate's face. For a split second there, Makoto felt the full force of Nathan's grin, and it forced a stupefied 'hi' to slip past her lips again. Nate chuckled, brushing his fingers under her chin tenderly. It was a gesture Mako recognized, and she rose on her tiptoes just as he bent down at the neck, their lips meeting halfway through in a motion born out of years of practice.

The kiss was slow, long and thorough, the kind that made Makoto's toes curl and the world shake, and before she knew it her hands were around Nate's neck, his hands coming to rest upon her waist. She made a small sound on the back of her throat, forgetting about the busy kitchen around them, about the wedding that was supposed to take place soon, about everything but the feel of Nate's lips on hers, his fingers seeking entrance to her skin under the hem of her shirt.

Who knows how far they would've gone – and if you were to ask Makoto, she would've told you quite vocally to mind your own business, thank you very much – if a voice had not interrupted them: "Oops! Don't mind me, I'm just here to borrow some stuff. Carry on, carry on, pretend I'm not even here."

Nate brushed his mouth against Makoto's one last time and regretfully allowed her to fall back on her feet. Mako's head was still spinning a little, her passion blaring loudly inside her veins, but she turned to look at Minako with a smile. "As if anyone could ever ignore you, Mina."

The blonde's grin was bright enough to light up the whole room. Minako nodded enthusiastically, the bow on her head bobbing around like a demented red butterfly. "Still, it's good to know love will always find a way—or a place, I guess. Although I would've chosen a more private spot, perhaps, but hey, to each its own, right?" Embarrassed, Mako cleared her throat and stepped a few inches away from Nate, who was looking entirely too pleased with himself for her taste.

"So, you wanted to borrow some things?" she said, hoping to distract Minako from the comings and goings of her love life and save herself a few humiliating moments in the process. Mina raised a small basket she was carrying, the contents hidden underneath a pink cloth: "Yep. I'm missing a few key elements here. I was wondering if I could look through your supplies, see if I can make do with them instead."

Mako considered it for a heartbeat or two, and in the end, shrugged. Even Minako could not get into trouble inside a kitchen pantry, could she? Besides, letting her friend rummage through her cooking supplies meant the blonde might be likely to forget all about that kiss, and Makoto was all for that. So she simply pointed towards the impressive display of fruits, vegetables and ingredients and said: "Knock yourself out."

Mina was gone in a flash, sending a belated 'thank you!' behind her before disappearing behind the pantry's door, an incredibly focused look on her face. Too late, Mako realized she had never really asked Minako what it was that she was looking for or what she needed it for, but before she could follow her blonde friend and find out, Nate stepped into her path and purred: "Now, where were we?"

It took an incredibly amount of strength not to respond to his blatant invitation, but Makoto knew that if she succumbed to temptation now, things would not be ready in time. So she shook her head slightly, sidestepping one of her kitchen aids as he made his way towards the pantry, and mournfully replied: "Nowhere we'll be visiting anytime soon. I have to get dressed, and after that Usagi wants us all to meet before the ceremony, and after that I have to make sure the reception goes on smoothly, Naoko is always forgetting how the hour d' oeuvres go and—"

His finger on her lips stopped her. She looked up at him, a small abashed smile blossoming on her face. "I know," was all he ended up saying, and for the first time Mako realized he was wearing his tux and my, didn't he look rather dashing in it? And there she was, kitchen apron all spotted and stained, flour all over her face and chef's hat obscuring her chocolate-colored locks – her very best attribute, she thought – and all in all, looking quite shabby and unkempt. Her hand flew up to her head; intent on removing the hat at least, but Nate was faster and caught her wrist first. "Don't," he told her, moving closer so that Mako could actually see the golden speckles in his eyes, "you look incredibly cute like this."

Mako blushed faintly. Never one to take compliments easily – they had come so few and far in between for such a long part of her life she wasn't really accustomed to dealing with them – praises on her appearance were the most uncomfortable for her to receive. It was something she had thought she had grown out of by now, but sometimes, when she was under some stress or simply unguarded, her teenage insecurities would raise their ugly heads.

She had always been too tall, too brash, too distinct—most of her junior high years had been spent dealing with scorn and resentment from her classmates, one of her teachers even going as far as insinuating her silky brown locks were not natural at all. But years of friendship from people who did not judge her, demean her or fear her had helped heal most of her wounds… finding a man who literally worshipped the ground she walked upon hadn't been such a bad thing either, she mused happily, letting her hand fall away from her hat. Nate didn't let go, though, his warm hand heavy and welcome against her own.

"You are, you know," he said, bringing her arm up and planting a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist. Delicious ripples of pleasure swam down her arm and into her heart as his breath tickled at the delicate skin of her arm, and she had to struggle a little to speak. And still, her words came out breathless and throaty: "I'm what?"

He smiled at her, eyes dark and inviting, the wisdom of the ages shinning from behind them. "Beautiful," he muttered, moving down her arm to kiss the inside of her elbow. Mako let him, that warm and giddy feeling she had come to identify as love spreading all through her. He kept moving, body flush against hers, his kisses marking a searing path towards her collarbone. She felt the beginnings of his arousal against her thigh, a hard, jolting pressure that provoked a similar response in her belly.

"I am?" she asked quietly, letting her hand come up to brush against his cheek as he finally released her arm and begun tenderly brushing his lips against the nape of her neck. "Mm-hmm," he murmured, and because it was he who said it, Mako believed it.

A small sound started her out of the lustful haze of Nate's ministrations. Naoko, her souz-chef yipped embarrassingly and turned away hastily, but not before Makoto saw the tell-tale signs of a fierce blush coloring her cheeks. "Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt! It's just that that we need your opinion on something, but it can totally wait, I'll go tell the guys to hang on, it's not rush, you just—just finish here and then come find us, ok?"

She was gone so fast Makoto didn't even have time to call after her. She chuckled, looked at Nate, still pressed tightly against her, and said: "We really need to find a better place to do this." Nathan cracked up, his grin wide enough to hurt: "Actually, I was thinking this was the perfect place indeed. That table right there is just the right height, you know? We would have to remove the entrees before getting down to business, though; I don't think the guests would appreciate their food being all smashed about…"

Makoto punched his arm half-heartedly, appalled and delighted that he wanted her desperately enough to actually consider taking her in the middle of her very busy kitchen. It was very empowering for her, the thought of him craving her to that degree: it wasn't about muscle and brawn, though, the kind of power she was most accustomed to. This strength was rooted in her femininity instead, and it was so good to know she need only give the word and he would sink to his knees and ravish her.

She shuddered, kissing him one last time before stepping away from him regretfully: "I'd better get to it, then. I'll see you later?" He nodded slowly, doing that thing with his belt that meant he was rearranging certain parts of his anatomy that were presently most uncomfortable. "I'll go check on Mamoru. After all, how many times do I get to mercilessly tease the Prince of Earth and get away with it?"

Mako laughed, shaking her head: "Pretty much every other day, last time I checked. But I know what you mean." And with one last wink in his direction, she bounded off to avert the latest kitchen crisis. She never saw her kitchen aid stepping backwards very carefully out of the pantry, a look of most horrified panic on his face, while Minako's voice drifted out of the room: "No, this is too small. I need a bigger one, I think. Hmmm, maybe a zucchini, instead? What do you think? I want to be as physically accurate as possible, you know?"

Nate debated on whether to help the terrified man, and then decided against it. He had an inkling as to why Minako was raiding the vegetable supplies, but was wisely keeping himself as far away from it as he could. God forbid, Minako might decide she needed a real, live model instead of an edible one, and he was planning on being as far away from her as he could in case such a time ever came. With one last commiserating thought to his Prince – who was, after all, going to suffer through the most embarrassing, uncomfortable lecture of his life as soon as Minako completed her scavenger hunt in the kitchen – he went off in the search of any other of his friends.

He saw Zach dragging Ami upstairs, looking very determined, and chuckled good naturedly. It seemed everyone was feeling the whole love thing today, and well, considering this was going to literally be the wedding of the millennium, it was to be expected. He spent the next twenty minutes daydreaming of the many ways he was going to make Makoto scream that night, and another five thinking about that tender spot on the back of her neck, right by the nape of her hair, and how if he bit her there just right, she would clench around him and cry out—

"Do I need to hose you down?"

Nate started, reverie broken with the force of a sledgehammer on glass. Rei stood next to him, giving him a most suspicious look, one that promised fiery death should any of his shenanigans in any way or form interfere with the proper and timely execution of this wedding. He swallowed, thankful for the floral arrangement sitting right at his waist level, and shook his head.

Rei nodded, looking particularly striking in her bridesmaid dress, the soft lilac bringing out the violet of her eyes. Her head-set crackled and buzzed, and Nate caught just a few words that amounted to the fact that the final ice sculptures had finally been delivered and were now being set up in the main ball room. Rei sent a curt 'let me know when it's done' into her mike, and someone yelped on the other end – or that's how it sounded to Nate anyway – and the miko priestess née wedding planner turned her attention back to him.

"How's Mako doing with desserts? I heard Zach got into some trouble earlier?"

Nate thought it was very lucky Zach was not around at the moment, because judging by Rei's tone, he would've probably spent the next two years scrubbing the steps of the Hikawa Jinja with a toothbrush and some soap. "She's good," he told Rei, watching as some of the tension left the young woman's shoulders, and realizing that even though it seemed Rei might've been taking this whole wedding thing a little too seriously, well, it WAS the wedding of her best friend, "you know her, she can do miracles in that kitchen."

A small smile – the first one Nate had seen on her today – curled Rei's lips. "I don't know what I would do without her. If I had to worry about the food on top of everything else, I don't know what I would've done." Nate had no doubt that she would've done just fine—Rei's wedding planning business was booming, after all, her services booked until late next year. Fiery Blossoms was in high demand, thanks in no small part to Rei's tenacious attention to detail. And today it showed, from the graceful snow dancer sculptures adorning every corner, to the delicate flowers artistically draped over every chair. It was like walking into a fairy tale, he thought, eyes straying over the beautiful room where Mr. and Mrs. Chiba-Tsukino would soon take their first dance as a married couple, all silver and pink and white. What would his own wedding look like, he wondered, suddenly struck speechless by the image of Makoto clad all in white. And he imagined himself lifting the veil, and Makoto looked so amazingly gorgeous, and he would take his sweet time peeling off that strapless gown, but first the garter, oh yes, the garter had to come off, right? Those long, long legs, creamy soft thighs hugged by white lace, and he was slowly making his way up, and she was watching him with stormy green eyes, her heaving bosom just inches away—

"Again? Dear Gods, if I didn't know any better I'd say Mina had ascended to Eternal Venus again."

Shaking his head, Nate couldn't help but chuckle. The day Sailor Venus had become Eternal Sailor Venus had been an interesting one, to say the least. All that power had to go somewhere, and well, Kevin hadn't really walked straight for at least three days after that. Oh, and he and Makoto were forbidden from entering Funland ever again. Something about indecent exposure and all that.

"What can I say? Love is in the air?"

Rei groaned, burying her face in her hands. "If I had a yen for every time I've heard that today I could close Fiery Blossoms and move to Hawaii. Ok, shoo! Off you go with your daydreams; we've all got work to do before the big hour arrives." Laughing, he leaned in, kissed her cheek, and was off before she could do anything but squeal in response.

He didn't get far. Turning a corner, he ran into Minako just as she was coming out of Usagi's boudoir – and don't ask him how he knew that word. Let's just say it included an anniversary, some Victorian role playing and some whipped cream. Mako did look stunning in a corset – a very satisfied look on her pretty face.

"You look like you've done something bad," he told her, crossing his arms and doing his best to look stern. It made him look slightly constipated, but Minako did not have the heart to tell him that. Instead, the soldier of love flashed him her most brilliant smile: "Quite the opposite, my friend. I have done a very good deed today. Mamoru will thank me tomorrow morning."

Nate wondered if he should check in on his Prince. Minako meant well, of course she did, but sometimes her approach was a little—well, it was as subtle as a bull in a china shop, or however that old saying went. But before he could say anything else, Usagi's door opened and a flurry of white lace and pink ribbons, which he identified as his soon-to-be-married friend only because he caught sight of the unmistakable odangoes amidst of it all, waved a zucchini in front of his face.

"Mina-chan, can you explain this to me one more time? I don't get how I'm supposed to—oh, Nate. Sorry, didn't see you there."

He blinked. And then he blinked again. Behind Usagi, inside the bride's room, propped up against the wall—were those Kama Sutra pictures? He looked at Mina, then at Usagi – still holding the very green, very big zucchini – then at the pictures again, and then just burst out laughing. Minako huffed, cheeks puffing out in indignation: "I'll have you know I worked very hard to get those laminated! It wasn't easy to find ones that didn't look completely exaggerated when you blew them up!"

Usagi just looked confused.

Nate was now laughing so hard his sides hurt, and he held on to the wall for support. Tears streaming down his eyes, he tried to control himself, but he looked at Minako, and then at Usagi, and another fit of giggles ensued. "Seriously," Mina continued, "if you think about it, this was my duty. I'm just ensuring a happy, blissful marriage, you know?"

The mention of the 'm' word made Usagi's eyes turn glazy and love-struck, and clutching the zucchini to her chest, she sighed: "Mamo-chan…" It was all supposed to be very romantic, of course, but there was just something completely hilarious about the whole thing.

Attracted by his guffaws, Kevin and Rei came down the hall, followed by Mako and Jade. "What's so funny?" asked Makoto, having now donned her own bridesmaid gown and looking splendid in it. Nate waved a hand around, encompassing Usagi, her vegetable of choice still clutched in her hand, Minako and her 'I'm a misunderstood genius, woe is me' expression, and just burst out laughing again. It didn't take long for everybody else to catch up, and the sound of their chuckles was very loud indeed.

When everybody had more or less calmed down – especially after Kevin had oh-so-politely asked Usagi to please put down the squash, it was very distracting to see her waving it around – Rei brushed a few tears off her eyes and breathed a deep sigh of relief: "I needed that very much."

They all nodded, suddenly realizing that this was it, the real thing. The ceremony was only an hour away, and this time, it was really happening. They were all here, together, and soon Usagi and Mamoru would be pronounced husband and wife. They had all fought so hard, for so long for this that it felt almost unreal—except it was very much true.

It was Usagi who noticed those who were missing.

"Where's Ami? I kinda wanted to have all of you guys here before the wedding, a little girl-time just for us?"

Maybe it was the occasion, or maybe it was Usagi's patented puppy-dog look. In any case, Kevin snapped into drill sergeant-mode in a heartbeat, and before he knew it, Nate and Mako were on their way upstairs, code named Green Team and expected to report back to Usagi's room in fifteen minutes.

There had been more instructions, but Nate hadn't really been listening.

Makoto DID look stunning in her dress. It was this frilly, absolutely girly thing, all satin and lace, and really, Makoto was stunning to begin with. It didn't help that the dress hugged Mako's very generous curves at just the right places, and that the three inch heels brought her that much closer to him when she spoke.

And she was speaking right now, but for the life of him, Nate could not tell you what she was saying at all. He was distracted by the way a long tendril of hair had escaped Mako's trademark ponytail, and how it now playfully caressed the soft skin of her neck. The auburn lock was just begging for him to tuck it back behind her ear, and he did just that, stopping Makoto in mid-sentence.

She fell quiet, electrified by his touch, and he had delicious shiver of pleasure at the sight of her cheeks blushing when she saw the look in his eyes. Such a beautiful woman, he told himself, so strong and brave, and he loved her so fucking much! Caught in the moment, he slowly pushed her back against the wall, leaning in for a kiss.

He kissed her slowly, maddeningly so, echoing their earlier encounter in the kitchen. She made a sound, a small, quiet moan, but one that Nate knew was only meant for him to hear. He loved that sound, but more than that, he loved knowing that only he could elicit it from her.

She did it again, her arms around his neck, her body pressed tight against his. "Nathan…"

Her throaty whisper was like oil to the fire, and he found himself getting dizzy as he deepened the kiss.

Makoto was not a shy girl. But when her right hand moved down to his belt, Nate was so surprised he broke the kiss. "Wha—" was as far as he got, before Makoto raised a single eyebrow and shrugged her shoulders in response: "There IS something in the air tonight," she told him, and, well, it would've taken a stronger man than Nate to deny her when she had THAT look on her face.

"But," tried the remnants of his rational brain, "here?"

The hallway was empty, that much was true, but there was a wedding going on downstairs. And Kevin and Rei would be expecting them to report back soon, and—the rest of that thought got lost when Makoto pushed down the left strap of her dress.

She wasn't wearing a bra.

"Oh, to hell with it."

He couldn't resist kissing her again, tongue against tongue, wet, deep, searing. He could feel her smiling, and he was smiling right back. Still kissing, they moved towards the supply closet down the hall, Mako pulling at Nate's shirt, Nate's hands on her butt. He groaned when she rubbed against him in just the right spot, undulating in that way that was entirely feminine and entirely alien at the same time.

"God, I can't wait to get you out of those pants!" Mako panted against his ear, and Little Nate offered that well, he didn't really need to take his pants off for this whole thing to work, thank you very much, but the dress, now that dress had to go. He never got to say any of it out loud, though, because as they reached the supply closet door and Makoto blindly searched for the knob behind her back, the door fell open and two half-naked people fell out of the room.

Now, given the size and composition of their little group of friends, walking in on people having sex was not that strange of an occurrence. Haruka and Michiru were usually the culprits, followed closely by Usagi and Mamoru. Which was not to say that the rest of them were any less horny, just that they were a little less obvious and a lot less loud. But Ami? Now Zach, Nate could completely understand. The man had probably been a rabbit on a previous life, and he was always finding interesting and unique ways to spice up his sex life – Nate had seen one of Zach's online bookmarks once. Let's just say he was never looking at leather boots the same way ever again – but Ami? Sweet, shy, private Ami? Although, he mused, whatever it was that Zach was learning on those online websites he had to be practicing on – or with – Ami. He shook his head, suddenly assaulted by mental pictures he had no business even thinking about.

"It's always the quiet ones," muttered Mako, clearly unable to wipe the smile off her face. Ami's blush looked to be almost painful, while Zach's smirk of male pride was enough to earn him a smack over the head from his own mortified girlfriend.

Weddings were awesome.

He couldn't wait for the next one to come up. But he was definitely calling dibs on the supply closet for that one.

On February 14th, 2010, Mamoru Chiba and Usagi Tsukino got married. And that night, Nate finally got his wish and spent a blissful couple of hours peeling that gorgeous bridesmaid's dress off of his even more gorgeous girlfriend.

And they didn't even need a closet for that either.

The End.