standbyme8

A Year and a Half Later......

       It was quiet within the walls of the Angel Gym, much more quiet than
it had been last night. It was early, about 7:30 AM but hardly a soul was
awake. Except for the few non-angel bishonen roaming the halls and kitchen,
everyone else was soundly asleep in their rooms. From somewhere within one
of the larger rooms, a clock buzzed...and buzzed again...and kept buzzing
until a tangle, moaning mass of white sheets turned the alarm off. A dark
head peeked out from undernearth the sheets, blinking to clear sleep clouded
dark almond eyes that hinged on be purple. The eyes focused on the clock,
reading the red digital numbers that flashed 8:06.
       "Aaaaaaah!!" The scream resounded through the hallways and corridors
of the gym, echoing throughout the facility and waking all inhabitants that
were previously sleeping.
       "Minna!" gym leader Kyoko shouted into the intercom next to her bed.
"Get up! We're late!" She then immediately dashed out of her room in a mass
of wrinkled white pajamas and tangled raven hair.
       "Why are we doing this?" Earth complained, throwing back the covers of
his bed before sitting up.
       "Because I promised Ele now get up! You guys should have gone to bed
last night when I asked you to."
       "You stayed up late too, Kyoko," Access said in a sleepy voice from
behind her while rubbing his eyes. She glared slightly before dashing off to
the kitchen.
       "Yuuhi! Coffee, tea, the works. And make it quick! We're in a
hurry."
       "You got it," the head of Kyoko's kitchen and one of her non-angel
bishonen said.
       "Yue, Access, Setsuna, Heaven, Earth. Get dressed now. Borrow tuxes
if you have to but just get dressed." Without a word the angels complied,
going off to their change or borrow clothes to change into. How could she
forget to wake up on one of her best friend's most important days? How??
They had to be at the A.C. Gym at 9 and it was...8:25 already!! What in all
high heaven was she going to wear??
       "Tsuzuku!!!" Kyoko shouted from one end of a long hallway, hoping the
Ryudou brother would hear.
       "What is it?" a voice said from behind her. She turned, finding
herself looking up into a pair of smiling eyes gazing down at her from behind
reddish-gold bangs.
       "Cut the crap! I need something to wear and fast. And don't give me
a dress or skirt, you know I can't stand those things."
       "Hai hai. Then how about this?" On satin hangers he held up a dark
charcoal gray pantsuit, a red silk blouse, and a pair of two-inch thick soled
heels.
       "Oh you are the best!!" Standing on her toes, Kyoko kissed the most
fashionable of the dragon brothers on the cheek before grabbing the clothes
and dashing off to change. She reemerged in the kitchen ten minutes later,
snapping on some silver accessories. The angels still seemed a little groggy
to Kyoko as she entered. Earth had his head on the table, trying to catch a
few more seconds of sleep; Heaven was right behind him, patting his shoulders
to help wake him up.
       "Why are we doing this?" Earth muttered, his voice muffled by the
tabletop. Kyoko sat next to him as Yuuhi set a tray of rice, eggs, and miso
in front of her. Tsuzuku took his place behind her, trying to fix the
tangled mass that was her hair and make it presentable.
       "Because Ele is one of my best friends and this is her wedding day,"
Kyoko replied. "I promised her I'd be there. What, don't like it?"
       "She' marrying Wu!" Access nearly shouted.
       "So? He wouldn't do anything to harm her, not unless he was jealous
or something. I'll admit his temper can be a little bad."
       "A little bad doesn't cut it," Yue said blandly. Kyoko sighed.
       "I know I know. I don't think Shin or He-chan like it any better.
He-chan told me a week ago when I called and Ele was out that they were all
edgy, Quatre too. But as long as Ele is happy, none of them will
complain....too much." They all sighed heavily. Tsuzuku finished with
Kyoko's hair, clipping it all in place with a silver clip, just before she
finished eating and shot up out of her seat.
       "Come on boys," she said, grabbing the keys to her jeep. "We've got a
wedding to go to. Lena, Yuki, take care of the place."
       "You got it," the gym's junior leader said while attending to the few
chibis the gym had.
       "Let's get this party rolling!"

       "Damien! Stop tormenting the chibis!" Damien Ishida scowled as his
mother's words but did as she asked. Even at chibi stage, the Ishida knew
not to get on his mother's (or even his father's) bad side. He had inherited
Mew's attitude and Mateo's sarcasm and was a handful for the pair to handle.
He stood still as his mother bent down to readjust the coat to his
tux....again.
       "Honestly Damien," Mew said with a slight scowl. "Now, once again,
try not to make a mess of yourself. And behave at Ele's wedding. This is an
important day for her."
       "Shouldn't you take your own advice then, Madame?" Mateo said, leaning
back against the wall, smoking his usual cigarette. Mew turned and glared.
       "You know, he gets it all from you."
       "Not really," Mateo replied as Damien latched onto his leg. "He gets
part of it from you." She sighed. She had a kid, Ele was getting married.
What was going to be next on the list?
       "At least Kyoko has it off easy. She doesn't have a kid to take care
of nor is she marrying Wu against the liking of her entire gym."
       "Not really."
       "Why's that?"
       "You know that two-mile wide crater in front of her place where the
Genesis building used to be? She has yet to figure out what to do with that.
And she's got all those bishonen to train. I heard she had to take in a
whole new batch of angel bishonen because some rookie trainer was treating
them badly." Mew sighed.
       "She seems to be surviving."
       "Of course, she's got angels on her side. Besides, she's like you and
Ele, the best of the IBL." Mew had to smile at that.
       "HV, A.C. and Angel have got to be some of the toughest gyms around.
As Lese said, we're some bad assed onnas."
       "That you are, that you are." She sighed, straightening her skirt
while making sure her top was in place. Ele's wedding....who'd have thought
she would marry Wu? She had always had a thing for Shin, but now she was
marrying Wu. That was a turn of events if Mew had ever seen one.
       "Mommy, are we going to go or are we going to stand around talking
about going?" Damien asked. Mew smiled as she patted his head.
       "Definantly has your sarcasm, Mateo."
       "Is it mine or yours that he has?" the bishie retorted, flicking his
cigarette into an ash tray before grabbing the keys to the van. "Let's round
up the gang and get going before we're late."
       "Yeah, I promised Ele I'd be there early to help her get ready."
       "Then let's go already!" the chibi Ishida said, grabbing both of his
parents and hauling them towards the door, Kaizer and Daisuke in tow.
       ~Ele's wedding heh....~ Mew thought as they climbed into the van
before Mateo started the engine and got on the road headed for the A.C. gym.
~Who would think Ele and Wu? This will definantly be an interesting
wedding.~

       "Duo!! Stop giving Ele alcohol!"
       "But she asked me for it! Wanted to get over nerves or something."
       "She's getting tipsy!"
       "Girl was out of her mind in the first place! Marrying Wu....just
what was she thinking?!" The Angel of Light sighed; he couldn't argue with
that comment. His shoulders slumped slightly as he watched Duo give Ele
another shot of Jack Daniels.
       "Come on, babe," he coaxed. "Drink up. You'll feel better." Cheeks
red, eyes a little glazed, Ele accepted the cup, downing it in an instant.
       "Heero," Quatre pleaded. "Do something!"
       "Just give me one excuse why I shouldn't skin his dragon hide right
now," the Angel of War simply muttered, cradling Hotura as she sat in his
lap. Quatre gave up. It was only a couple of hours before the wedding. Wu
was missing, Ele was getting drunk, and neither Shinigami or the Angel of War
were helping. He just wanted to curl back up in bed and wish this whole
thing was a dream.
       "Oh, I wish someone here would be sensible."
       "Kyoko just arrived," the Angel of Suffering said as he gazed out the
large star window of the gym.
       "Thank heaven!" In an instant Quatre was out the door to greet the
gym leader while Kei and Lese tried to get everything ready on their own
while calming down the chasing chibis.
       "Kyoko!"
       "Quatre," the Angel leader greeted as she parked the jeep, the angels
climbing out of the vehicle. "How is everyone?"
       "Wu's missing, Heero wants to skin his hide, Ele's drunk, Duo's the
one giving her drinks, the chibis are bouncing off the walls, and I just want
it all to be a dream!" Kyoko smiled nervously.
       "That bad huh? Guess no one is really keen on Ele marrying Wu."
       "He's been threatened with everything in the book! You name it, he's
been threatened with it. Annihilation, Brimstone, Chariot, Kiss of Death,
Maxwell Massacre, list goes on and on. You have got to help me here!"
       "Okay okay. First, take a deep breath." The Angel of Light
complided, inhaling before slowly exhaling. "Okay, now, Earth, go with
Quatre and see if you can't find Wu. He's probably meditating or something
so search the woods."
       "You got it," the angel replied before going with Quatre to find the
dragon.
       "Everyone else go and help Kei and Lese set up for this wedding. Yue,
Access, take care of the chibis; Heaven, Setsuna, go help the girls set up."
       "Ryokai!"
       "Now, to see Ele." Kyoko slowly made her way into the A.C. Gym. Her
eyes flitted here and there, taking in the decorations as she searched for
her friend. She found her near the great star window of the gym, the Angel
of War sitting nearby with Hotura while Shinigami kept feeding Ele drinks
which she quickly downed one by one.
       "Drinking in the morning AND on your wedding day," Kyoko said, one
hand on her hip as she mounted the last step. "Gods you'll never change."
       "Kyoko!" Hotura shouted, bounding down from her tou-san's knee to run
over to the gym leader and her god parent. Kyoko knelt down so she could get
eye level with the chibi girl.
       "Hey there."
       "Omae o korosu anyone lately?" Hotura asked gleefully.
       "Oh yeah, I omae o korosued some rookie trainers yesterday. Go back
to your tou-san while I have a little word with Ele."
       "Okay!" The little chibi was about to run back to the her tou-san
when from somewhere behind Kyoko a little hand darted out and tugged on one
of Hotura's pigtails. The little girl wailed, spinning on her heels to see
who it was.
       "Kaylin no baka!!" Kyoko wondered who she was referring to when a
little chibi boy with Maxwell hair and Yui eyes peeked out from behind her,
blowing Hotura a raspberry.
       "I'm no baka," Kaylin teased. "You're the baka, pigtail girl."
       "Omae o korosu!!!"
       "Yeah, go ahead and try."
       "Teme ra!!" Kaylin blew her another raspberry before dashing down the
stairs to get away from the streaming little chibi girl bent on omae o
korosuing him. Kyoko sighed deeply as she watched after them; none of her
chibis were ever that feisty. Then again, none of her chibis were
Maxwell-Yui mixes.
       "That little boy was...."
       "Kei's kid," Angel of War explained. "Her kid with a Heero
evolution."
       "Yet another product of a Maxwell-Yui union. Seems to take after Kei
more than his father." Duo turned and grinned at her words.
       "We Maxwells are the best, aren't we?" Heero grumbled something
inaudible at his words.
       "What was that, He-chan?"
       "Nothing. I'm going to make sure the kids don't kill themselves."
Duo waved to his koi as Heero brushed past Kyoko, following the shouting
voices that kept threatening to kill the other chibi.
       "Duo, could I have a few minutes alone with Ele?" Shinigami sighed as
he got to his feet, brushing some dust from his knees as he did so.
       "Jack Daniels is next to Ele's seat," he said as he brushed past
Kyoko.
       "I think she's had enough."
       "I meant for you."
       "You know I don't drink, Duo."
       "Oughta try sometime, babe. Oughta try it sometime." Kyoko rolled
her eyes at Duo's wide grin before he proceeded down the stairs. Slowly she
made her way over to the seat he had vacated. Ele was staring out the great
star window as she approached. Though still slightly red in the face, she
didn't otherwise seem to be effected by the alcohol she had consummed.
Instead, Kyoko found her friend's face contemplative as Ele stared out the
window.
       "Do you think I'm making the right choice?" the A.C. gym leader asked
as the Angel gym leader took Duo's empty seat.
       "Well....how do you feel about it? Marrying Wu that is." Ele
shrugged nonchalantly as she turned to face her friend.
       "No one here really seems to be too keen on it. I've heard Shin and
He-chan threatening Wu ever since he came back and we decided to marry. Even
Trowa has been giving him odd looks. Quatre's a little better, trying to
talk to Wu now and then."
       "But how do you feel?"
       "I don't know. Happy, worried, a little confused. Maybe I should
just wait a little more before marrying him." Kyoko was about to say
something when a familiar voice interrupted them from the stairway.
       "I smell alcohol," Mew's voice said as the Heighton View gym leader
approached her friends. "Where's the scotch?"
       "It's too early for you to be drinking, Mew," Kyoko chided, kicking
the closed bottle of the Jack Daniels Duo had mentioned under her chair
before it was noticed.
       "Ah, come on, Kyo. Ele had some."
       "It was all Duo's fault. Besides, having the bride AND one of the
bridesmaids drunk isn't the best of ideas."
       "You ought to try drinking sometime, Kyoko."
       "Heard that already this morning." Mew grinned, plopping down into a
seat near her friends as Kei appeared and joined them, leaving the rest of
the wedding prep to Lese and the boys of the A.C. and Angel gyms.
       "How is Mateo and the guys, Mew?" Kyoko asked, trying to get Ele's
mind off the up and coming wedding. "Hope everything's going smoothly over
at HV."
       "Oh, they're all fine. Mateo's as sarcastic as ever and you know how
everyone else is. Damien's tormenting the chibis every chance he gets.
Takes after his father you know."
       "Sure he doesn't take after you?"
       "Hey now!" Kei snickered as Mew's unamused look as Kyoko crossed her
legs and leaned back in the chair. Ele had gone back to staring out the
window. From the look on her face, the gym leaders and junior leader knew
she wasn't thinking about the wedding but something else, something more
menacing.
       "Genesis is still out there," she said in a soft voice.
       "Yeah," Mew said, looking down at her hands. "And they'll probably
come back for us all at one point or another."
       "We'll take them down anytime, anyday," Kei said, cracking her
knuckles with a Maxwell grin spreading across her face.
       "It was bad enough when they wanted just me and Mew," Ele commented.
"But since you helped us, they'll be coming after you and your boys as well,
Kyoko." The Angel gym leader waved off her statement casually.
       "They would have probably come after us at some point anyway. They
had a reason for building a facility so close to the gym. Genesis has always
been interested in crossing angel-types with demon-types. What better place
to obtain angel-type bishonen that at the Angel Gym? The boys and I can take
care of ourselves, don't worry."
       "Yeah, cause you're a bad assed onna like us all." Kyoko looked up as
Lese came up to her chair and playfully draped an arm across Kyoko's
shoulders.
       "We sure are!" grinned Kei. "And we'll always be friends, right?"
       "You got it," Mew said, holding out her hand. With a smile, Ele
glasped it as Kyoko, Kei, and Lese piled their hands on top. "We girls gotta
stick by our boys and by each other."
       "Right now, we better stick together to get this wedding in order,"
Kyoko said, getting to her feet. "Come on, Ele. Let's get to ready." The
nerves started to take over again as Ele got to her feet with Kei and Lese's
help. For the next hour, the girls helped the A.C. leader get ready for her
big day. Elsewhere around the gym, the bishonen scrambled to get the place
ready. In the woods, Earth and Angel of Light had managed to found Wu
meditating near a stream and had somehow managed to persuade him to come
back.
       "Almost ready," Mew said, peeking out from behind some curtains as the
bishies and guest assembled. "Everyone's here and ready. What about you
Ele?"
       "I'll....I'll survive," her friend replied softly.
       "Everything will be fine," Kyoko said encouragingly. "You love him,
he loves you. Duo and the others understand that most of all even if they
don't like it. Don't worry, everything will be just fine." Ele nodded as
Kyoko helped dragged the red scarf across her face. Kyoko, Mew, Lese, and
Kei left her then to take their places at the end of the aisle. Wu stood
across from the girls, his usual scowl on his face. But, today, the scowl
was softer, less intense, less angry. As the music started and the curtains
parted to reveal Ele's red clad figure, a shout sounded before two chibis,
one with Mateo's blonde hair, the other with Maxwell chestnut hair, tumbled
down the aisle, punching and strangling each other.
       "I saw her first!"
       "Did not! I saw her first!"
       "Hotura's mine!"
       "No mine!"
       "Damien!" Mew shouted, rushing over to her battling son.
       "Kay! Stop it now!" Kei too rushed over to her son, trying to
separate the boys with Mew's help. Hotura, the object of their argument,
stood off to the side with her parents. On her face was the best Yui death
glare she could put on without blowing the two boys through the wall.
       "Boys are so baka!" she shouted. "Omae o korosu!" Kyoko sighed,
running a hand through her slowly loosening hair as she watched the two
half-bishies try and disentangle the chibis before they ruined the entire
wedding. The entire wedding started to burst out into fits of laughter as
the chibis tried to knock one another out. Even Wu seemed a little amused at
the chibi fight, and he didn't even like chibis.
       For now, Genesis was no longer a threat. When the time came, the gym
leaders and their bishies would deal with the genetics facility. For today,
however, they were all gathered to celebrate their friend's wedding.
Nothing, not even a pair of fighting chibis, would ruin that day.