Mi-chan gave her a nod as Tenshi finished with the bracelet. She started towards the door. �Yeah, thanks. I should get back to Nek��
�Matte, Mi-chan, I have something else,� Tenshi interrupted quickly. She pulled a small, long box out of the vanity drawer. �Sorry, I didn�t want to make Kimako jealous or anything.� From the box, she took out a necklace that Mi-chan couldn�t even imagine the cost of! �This is to thank you for being my maid of honor,� she explained, as she placed the necklace around Mi-chan�s neck.
�Kami-sama!� Mi-chan gasped as she took a look in the mirror. The necklace consisted of three rows of jewels � two rows of white diamonds on either side of a row of blue diamonds. The series of jewels were set in white gold and completely encircled Mi-chan�s neck. �Tenshiko!�
�Well, I really appreciate all the help you�ve given me the past couple weeks, and� I know you�d rather be at Koneko�s side for the wedding, so I appreciate that you agreed to be my maid of honor.� She smiled graciously at Mi-chan, then asked gleefully, �Do you like it? I wanted something that matches your dress and the wedding band that Koneko picked out for me, since you�ll be by my side instead.�
Mi-chan could only nod in amazement. �Hai,� was all she could manage. She couldn�t think of anything else to say except yet another thank you. For a rare moment she had found herself speechless.
Tenshi was beaming at her. �I suppose I should let you go to Koneko, then. Take good care of my groom, would you?� she said with a wink. �I�ll see you right before the ceremony.�
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Puroko skipped happily towards the palace. Haruka had told her that Tenshi was going to give her a present. Not that being a bridesmaid wasn�t cool enough, but she was all for getting gifts.
She slipped into the crowd outside the doors to the ceremony hall. The hall was not yet open, and everyone seemed to think that crowding around the doorway was going to make it open faster. Or at least that�s what it looked like to Puroko. Upon entering the palace, she slowed her step to a calm walk. She wanted to prove that she could handle the big responsibility of being a part of Tenshi�s special day.
As she made her way through the crowd, she decided that if she ever got married, she was going to invite far less people. With everyone waiting about in one place, she could barely get through without running into random people.
�Gomen,� she said quickly as she pushed her way past them. Finally, she gave up and retraced a path back outside. There were other less crowded entrances � servant entrances, for example � that would get her close to Tenshi�s changing room.
As she took a breath of fresh air, she spotted an unwelcome sight. She gasped and ducked behind a bush, careful not to tear the lace on her dress. But there, at the table of refreshments that had been set up outside for the waiting guests, was Jasper, Amber�s older brother.
Puroko remembered only too well the first time she had met Jasper. He had kidnapped her! Sure, she had gotten into the car willingly, but that was because, up to that point, her new �friend� Amber had been so nice to her, and there seemed to be nothing suspicious about making friends with a girl who was only a year or two older than her.
But there was nothing innocent about Amber. As soon as the older girl had Puroko in the house, she had tied her up and basically tortured her. Jasper had given her a brief reprieve from Amber�s painful �playing,� but he made it clear to Puroko that he thought of her as nothing more than a hostage to get Tenshi to come fight them and lose.
What Puroko didn�t understand was why he had tried to heal the cuts and bruises Amber had give her? Or why Tenshi now considered him a friend? Puroko shook her head. She didn�t think she could trust him quite yet, and therefore, it was best to avoid him if possible. So as soon as he had passed with his glass of lemonade, she scurried off to the next entrance she could find into the palace.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
�Look at what Tenshiko gave me,� Mi-chan boasted happily as she skipped up to her boyfriend outside Tenshi�s dressing room.
Jian-wa smiled at her exuberance. Mi-chan was seldom as bouncy as her older twin. But the gift of such nice jewelry could do it. With all the jock and tomboy within her, she couldn�t help being girly about boys, clothes, and accessories.
He made a point to take an actual appreciative look at the bracelet and necklace (which actually he had known Tenshi was going to give her maid of honor), before agreeing with her, �Very pretty.� Still he received an exasperated �Boys!� from her at his not-quite-interested-enough tone.
�Well, back to Neko!� she said cheerfully, obviously eager to show off her ornaments to her twin.
However, Jian-wa shook his head. �Don�t you have maid-of-honorly duties to perform or something? I think Neko-chan pretty much had a handle on things.�
�Maid-of-honorly duties�? You mean like straightening the flowers and checking the decorations and stuff?�
�Well, you are Tenshi-kun�s maid of honor. Maybe you should be checking with her to see if she needs you to do anything.�
Mi-chan brushed off the suggestion quickly. �Tenshiko was doing alright for herself. My place is by Neko�s side.� With a nonchalant wave of her hand, she continued, �Besides, she might actually make me do something like straighten the flowers, and I�ve spent the last few days in the ceremonial hall making it perfect, and I�m not quite ready to go back in there again. It looks like a baby shower exploded in there.�
Jian-wa chuckled even as he shook his head. Neko and Tenshi�s signature colors were a deep pink and ice blue, respectively. In effect, their wedding did turn out to look a little baby showerish. But it also was quite beautiful, and Jian-wa had little doubt that it was exactly what the duo had dreamed it would be.
�At least check with Tenshi-kun,� he suggested lightly. �It is your duty, after all. It�s why she gave you those jewels around your neck.�
She stuck her tongue out at him, but turned to go back to Tenshi, never one to allow her personal happiness get in the way of her duties.
