Author's notes:

The title is the only allusion to the Julia Roberts' 
movie, sorry about that.  ^_~  It was just fitting
though, as this is Usagi's wedding from Naru's point of
view.

This is also the explanation for why we know certain
things that Naru doesn't...like her calling Chibi Usa 
Usagi's cousin instead of daughter.

I think this is all the plot notes I need, though if you
are observant you will notice a littl bit of name 
dropping in here.  ^_~

I want to say hello to all my lovely net pals:  my 
wonderful imouto Natasha, as well as my terrific
'net mommy' Lady Guine.  Not to mention...hi Helmut!  ^^

My e-mail address is kimmie-chan@juno.com.  Since I 
tried a new style with this fic I would absolutely LOVE
any comments and/or encouragement on it.  ^_~  But 
preferably no flames...I manage to get enough of those 
with the toaster oven at work, hee hee.  ^^

Have a good day!

Kimmie

	       ===============================
		My Best Friend's Wedding  (G)

		     	    by

		     Kimberly Harrington
	       ================================



	Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.  Whoever
said that had me in mind when they came up with that
line.  
	Not so for Usagi.  I swear, her very first
boyfriend ended up becoming her husband.  
	Or will become her husband in less than two
minutes, as soon as she walks down the aisle.  My 
stomach is in knots right now.  I'm actually here...I'm
Usagi's maid of honor.  Makoto, the third bridesmaid in 
the processional, is coming down the aisle right now, 
and I give her a happy smile as I look at her.  I can't 
believe this is really happening.  Usagi and Mamoru, 
finally getting married.  They are so lucky.  They're so
sweet and romantic...it's almost like they were destined
to be together.
	And then, I think wryly, there's me and Umino.
	I love Umino.  Really I do.  And marriage?  It's
a possibility, a little further down the road.  We're 
not quite there yet.  But the difference between my 
relationship and Usagi's is so...well, they just don't
compare.
	As I wait, I look over at Mamoru, who is staring
anxiously at the back of the temple, waiting for the 
moment when his bride will appear.  He's tall, dark, and
handsome, the quintessential Prince Charming, except he 
drives a cherry red convertible instead of riding a 
white steed.  He always seems to have a rose for Usagi,
if not a dozen, and worships the ground she walks on.
	And then I look out into the audience, left 
side, fifth row, and smile at the figure I see who is 
looking at me in adoration.  I, Naru, have Umino.  He's
short, pale, and....well, he's kinda cute once you get 
to know him.  He doesn't drive.  He gives me bugs and 
falls upon the ground I walk on. 
	It's not that I'm jealous of Usagi.  It's just 
that....okay, I'm jealous of Usagi.  But only because 
her dreams are coming true...right now, this very 
moment.  Mine are still years away.
	But I'm a part of her dreams.  The thought makes
me catch my breath.
	I mean really, she almost blew me away six 
months ago when she asked me to be her maid of honor. 
She had joked it was because of that pact that we made 
in eight grade, that I would be her maid of honor and 
she would be mine.  I had remembered the promise but 
wasn't sure if she herself had forgotten it.  She spends 
so much of her time with those other girls, I would have 
thought that one of them would have been the maid of 
honor.  But she asked me.
	And one nice thing about being the maid of 
honor--I have to smile as I glance over at the best man.
Motoki Furahata, Mamoru's best friend.  He and Mamoru 
are a sharp contrast to each other.  Motoki's parents 
are American, and he looks it:  tall, tanned, and blond. 
When he and Mamoru are standing together they look like 
a detective team.
	Umino was jealous when he found out.  He thought
that Motoki was going to steal me away from him. "Umino,"
I told him, "He's got a girlfriend."
	"But she's probably not as beautiful as you," he
said in complete seriousness.
	I had melted and wondered how he thought that 
anyone could ever take me away from him.  Ignoring the 
looks and mannerisms, he has a heart of gold.
	In spite of Umino's misgivings I've enjoyed 
being Usagi's maid of honor.  It gave me one last chance
to be around her before our lives take entirely different
paths.  The funny thing is that I've felt for a while
now that we were drifting apart.  It's been most 
noticeable the past three years or so.  Usagi gained new
friends and new priorities, and I seemed to fade away to 
the background.
	But *that* is another story altogether.  Meiou 
Setsuna, Usagi's last bridesmaid, is walking regally 
down the aisle now, and in just a moment Usagi will be 
following her.  And then my final duty as her maid of
honor--and, I think sadly, best friend--will be over.  
	

	My first duty had been to help Usagi to pick out
bridesmaid's dresses that she wouldn't live to regret by 
the time she reached her Golden anniversary.  Now *that*
was an experience, let me tell you.	
	We nearly went nuts trying to find a style that 
would compliment ten, that's right, TEN different types 
of bridesmaids.  Usagi had wanted all of her friends to 
be a part of her wedding, and no one could say no to
Usagi.  And of course they all differed on what color 
they wanted the dresses to be--and Tenoh-san didn't even
want a dress.  As a compromise, Usagi wanted bridesmaid's
dresses that were--brace yourself--rainbow.  The
ceremony would have looked more like a production of 
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat than a 
wedding.
	Lucky for me, all the other girls vetoed her 
vote for this as well. Someone then suggested white, a 
good choice, except for one crucial fact: duh, this was 
the traditional color for the bridal gown.  This was
supposed to look like a wedding, not a hospital ward.  
And Tenoh-san still did not want a dress.
	And surprise, it was actually me who came up 
with the final compromise: "Why don't you pick a simple 
white dress and let everyone wear a pastel sash of their
preferred color?" I said.  And this is what we did, and 
not one person picked a color I hadn't come to expect 
from them.   That is, Ami chose blue, Minako chose 
orange, etc.  Tenoh-san remarkably accepted Usagi's 
decision with only mild protests and selected a soft 
gold sash for her dress.
	The only problem this left me was what color to 
choose that someone else hadn't already chosen.  My 
favorite color is green, but Makoto had that one.  And 
this was where Usagi got her wish.  I had an honest-to-
goodness pastel rainbow sash that Meiou-san whipped up 
for me, by braiding together pieces of all the other 
sashes together.  I had to admit, it was so weird it 
worked. 
	I had thought the next hurdle would be choosing 
flowers for everyone to carry that they all agreed on, 
but it turned out Usagi had already made up her mind on 
this and would not be swayed:  roses.  A dozen roses for
every bridesmaid and two dozen for her.  I didn't even 
want to think of how much that was going to cost.  But 
when I asked her, "Where are you going to get all those 
roses, anyway?"  she just started laughing like crazy, 
as if I had just told her the funniest joke in the world.  
And she never did answer me.


	But of course, one of my biggest duties as maid 
of honor, disregarding the ceremony itself, was to throw
the bride a bridal shower.  Though I never expected that
by the end of it that would turn literal.  Of course,
it wasn't exactly a shower, and it wasn't me who pushed 
her--fully clothed--into the pool, either.  For that 
matter, I don't think Rei even intended to knock her 
into the pool to begin with.  It just kinda happened.
	We held the shower at my house.  Since it was a
beautiful day, I decided to have it outside, on the deck
just above my parent's inground pool.  It would take 
minimal decorating too, thanks to my mom's climbing rose
bush in full bloom that cascaded over our fence.  This 
location would have been fine for anyone other than 
Usagi.
	The first guest to arrive, before Usagi, was Ami.  
The second was Rei--also before Usagi.  In fact, everyone 
who would stay the entire shower--that is, five of us 
bridesmaids, the others being Makoto, Minako, and myself
of course--were all there before Usagi.   Even Meiou-san,
Tenoh-san, Kaioh-san, and the little girl they adopted, 
Hotaru-chan, made a brief entrance at the very beginning
to drop off presents for the still-absent honoree.  That
was Usagi for you--late even to her own bridal shower.
	 When she finally arrived, she and Rei did their
typical squabbling over her tardiness, and then we led 
her to her ‘throne.'  That is, a reclining lawn chair 
decorated with white balloons.  Minako started harassing
her by saying we should fill the balloons with helium, 
making Usagi shriek and the rest of us start teasing her
as well.  Even Ami joined in by calculating how many 
ordinary balloons it would take her to rise as high as 
the Tokyo tower.  I forget the exact number, but it was
somewhere in the thousands.  
	The shower was to last two hours, and during 
this time, we had lots of Usagi's school friends and 
other acquaintances stop by.  And the girl really racked
up on gifts, making me wonder when and where she met all
these important people.  Kaioh-san gave her a beautiful 
watercolor.  She also got a gorgeous portrait from the 
famous artist Yumeno Yumemi.  Her gift from prominent 
designer Usui Yoshiki, an absolutely stunning but rather
revealing lace teddy, made her blush to the tips of the 
buns on top of her head and caused the rest of us to 
tease her mercilessly about what Mamoru would say when 
he saw her in that.  Needless to say, after Usagi 
actually managed to make a tactful compliment on the 
gift, it went straight back into the box instead of on 
display with all the rest of the gifts.
	The problem occurred after the shower was 
technically over, as we were cleaning up.  Usagi and Rei
were in charge of breaking down the folding table that 
had held the refreshments.  The table had been set at 
the edge of the pool, another tactical mistake on my 
part.  
	As they had started to break it down, they had 
began yet another one of the mini-arguments that had 
occurred all throughout the shower.  This one began over
the correct way to dismantle the folding table.  The 
argument turned into a full-scale tug-of-war with the 
poor folding table in the middle. 
	I, forgetting the cardinal rule of never 
interrupting the two while they were arguing, walked 
over and suggested that they would get more work done by
working together than by fighting.  Rei turned to me and
came back with the oh-so-mature "She started it!"  In 
the heat of her anger she dropped her end of the folding 
table, just as Usagi gave a mighty yank to her end, 
and...
	Splash.  Usagi and the folding table both 
tumbled into the deep end of the pool.
	Everyone, even Rei, who was staring at the pool 
with her mouth open like she hadn't quite planned on 
that happening, was at a loss for words as Usagi came 
silently sputtering to the top.  Usagi didn't say a word
either.  She just started treading water and tried to 
blink the water droplets off of her eyelashes.  After a 
moment she figured that she needed to swim to the edge 
of the pool to get out.
	Rei, being the closest person to her, was the 
one who reached down to help Usagi up.  She had 
recovered enough to say sarcastically, "Smooth
move, Odango Atama."  Which was not a smart move herself
as Usagi, with a smirk on her face, reached up, grabbed 
Rei's hand--and promptly pulled Rei
into the pool with her.
	Rei began yelling the instant she surfaced, with 
Usagi matching her in volume.  The two finished their 
discussion as a water fight.  
	And as for me?  I just sighed and tried to 
figure out how in the world I was going to explain to my
dad how the folding table got at the bottom of the pool.


	My non-traditional maid-of-honor duty was 
mediating between the bride and the flower girl at the 
rehearsal.
	Usagi's cousin, Chibi Usa, was visiting from out
of town, and got the
job by virtue of the fact that she was the youngest and 
shortest person related to Usagi.  The two loved each 
other fiercely, and their affection came through in the 
many, many disagreements they got into.  And during the 
rehearsal dinner, the two demonstrated their love for 
each other an umpteen number of times.
	The rehearsal started out on a bad note to begin
with, with Usagi tripping down the aisle as the organist
played the bridal march.  Chibi Usa and Rei double teamed
on that one, taunting Usagi by saying that she was 
probably going to do that on Saturday--June 30th, 
incidentally, which also happened to coincide with 
Usagi's eighteenth birthday.  Usagi flew off the handle 
at the two and we had to start again from the top.  And
this time it happened to be Chibi Usa who had tripped 
down the aisle.  The organist had to stop again because 
the bride-to-be's laughter and the subsequent argument 
that followed it almost drowned out the music.
	The third time Usagi made it to the altar, but 
in the pause between when the music stopped and when the
person standing in for the priest was to begin speaking, 
Usagi's stomach rumbled.  LOUDLY.  This, of course, made
everyone crack up, even Usagi, though she did try to 
save face by whining that this never would have happened
had we had the dinner *before* the rehearsal instead of 
after.  Chibi Usa made a snide remark that Usagi had 
better watch her eating or else she'd never fit into her
dress on Saturday.  The rehearsal was once again 
interrupted by the two's bickering.
	We finally managed to do a run-through without 
incident, and then we had to survive the dinner.  If 
Usagi's eating habits were indicative of how she would 
act at the dinner after the wedding, then we were in 
trouble.  And Chibi Usa could match her in the quantity
consumed. 
	Or thrown...somewhere in the middle of the 
dinner Chibi Usa and Usagi got into an argument over, of
all things, Mamoru.  It appeared that Chibi
Usa was jealous of the fact that Usagi was marrying 
Mamoru, and was having a good sulk.  Usagi was gloating,
and Chibi Usa got annoyed and threw an hors d'ouvre at 
her.  And that was how we came to have a food fight at 
the rehearsal dinner.
	Being Usagi's maid of honor certainly had its 
moments.


	And now I'm about to complete my final duty.
	I hold my breath and close my eyes as the 
organist begins the opening chords to the bridal march.  
Please, I try to tell her via telepathy, please don't 
trip down the aisle. 
	Of course, considering everything that happened 
before the ceremony, it's incredible that we've made it 
this far without incident.
	For starters, one of Mamoru's groomsmen broke 
his leg playing basketball last night and backed out of 
the wedding.  Our solution?  One of our bridesmaid's 
made a transition to groomsman--err, make that 
groomswoman.  Not that anyone could tell a difference, 
as Tenoh-san wore a tux.  I had to admit, she made a 
really hot guy.  And she was happy that she didn't have 
to wear that dress after all.
	Then there was the hair incident.  Had it not 
happened the day of the wedding, we would have laughed.  
We will be laughing after this is all over.  Somehow or 
another during all the fittings we seemed to have missed
the fact that Usagi's veil would not fit over her 
odangos.  Usagi nearly had a panic attack over this.  I 
had never known Minako was a miracle worker before, but 
she performed a miracle this morning when she actually 
managed to place that veil on Usagi's head.  The result 
was slightly reminiscent to Mickey Mouse, but we were 
all so relieved we didn't care.
	And of course it rained.  It always has to rain 
on a wedding day, if for no other reason than to make 
all the participants stress out.  Rei managed to calm 
Usagi down by telling her it was good luck for it to 
rain;  it signified a long, prosperous marriage.  
Unfortunately this slightly backfired, as Usagi for some 
odd reason was then reminded of the old adage:  Something 
old, something new, something borrowed, something
blue--and decided that her wedding and marriage would be
a disaster if she did not fulfill this.  So we 
immediately had an impromptu scavenger hunt.
 It was a given that her wedding dress was new, and 
believe it or not we somehow managed to convince her 
that her eyes counted as the ‘something blue.'  Which 
left something old and something borrowed.
	Rei, after a minute of hesitation, slipped an 
antique pearl necklace off from around her neck and 
fastened them around Usagi's.  With Usagi's dress being 
scooped-necked, it was the perfect touch.  Usagi raised 
her eyes questioningly to Rei's, who answered softly, 
"They used to belong to my mother."  
	Usagi quietly told her, "Thank you."
	And the rest of us pretended like we had seen 
nothing at all.  But I saw Ami grab a tissue and dab her 
eyes.  And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that my own 
were just a bit watery as well.


	And now, after everything that happened...here 
she comes.
	She looks positively radiant, she really does.  
Her cheeks are glowing, and her hair bears no longer 
bears any resemblance to any Disney character whatsoever.  
Unless it was a princess.  It's amazing how much she 
looks like royalty right now.  I have to stifle the 
incredible urge to kneel, as well as a giggle at myself 
for doing so.  Usagi would kill me if I ruined the 
moment by laughing.  So I hold it in and suddenly find
myself crying tears of joy instead.
	I sneak a glance at Mamoru, who seems to have 
had his breath taken away.  He's grinning happily at his
bride-to-be.  Usagi walks forward with not the slightest 
misstep, her eyes never leaving his face.  Her smile is
just as big as Mamoru's, if not bigger.
	And now she's reached him...and now her father 
is giving her away...and now the priest is saying "Do 
you take this man...do you take this woman..." 
	 And now Usagi and Mamoru say, in perfect unison, 
"I do."	
	And as the priest says, "You may kiss the bride," 
Mamoru is already lifting the veil from Usagi's face and 
gently, tenderly, leans over and touches his lips to 
hers.
	And now the organist begins the recessional, and 
laughing, Usagi and Mamoru walk, almost run down the 
aisle.  I'm smiling, ignoring the tears still running 
down my cheeks.  I begin to walk down the aisle on 
Motoki's arm, but it's Umino that I wink at as we pass 
his aisle.
	Before I know it we are in the vestibule, and 
Motoki gives me a brotherly hug and goes off in search 
of the lucky husband.  All the other girls have joined 
me, and they're all laughing, crying, and hugging one
another just the same.  The atmosphere is joyous, 
jubilant.
	And that's when it hits me:  it's over.
	The wedding...and the friendship.  It will never
be the same again.  I was no longer Usagi's best friend.  
Mamoru--her husband--would be taking my place.
	Tears run down my cheeks again, but this time 
they are bittersweet.


	Afterwards, I slip out sometime during the first
dance.
	It was turning out to be a happy, joyous, and 
relatively uneventful celebration as well.  Makoto had 
made an absolutely gorgeous wedding cake that Usagi was 
almost afraid to touch when it came time to cut the cake. 
And then when Mamoru and Usagi fed each other the first 
piece, they didn't even push it into each other's faces.
They were so sweet and gentle towards the other that is
was almost sickening.
	Which is why it was ironic that five minutes 
later it had been Chibi Usa and Usagi who had shoved 
cake into each other's faces.  Amazingly, they were both
laughing as they did it, and didn't even yell at each 
other as they wiped the cake off their faces.  Instead 
they both gave Mamoru a sloppy, frosting-covered kiss, 
and then shoved the entire top layer of the cake into 
Mamoru's face.   There was plenty more cake left over 
for the rest of the guests, and the look on Mamoru's 
face was priceless.  
	Everyone was--and still is--having fun.  
Everyone except me.
	The instance Usagi places her arms around 
Mamoru's neck as they begin to dance to their song, 
Moonlight Densetsu, I slip through the back doors
unnoticed.
	I walk through the garden listlessly, wondering 
at the ache in my heart.  I had known this moment was 
coming, I had known it for a long time.  I should have 
been ready for it, but I'm not.  Why does it have to 
hurt so much?
	There's a bench over in the corner, and I make 
my way towards it.  It's underneath a rose bush and I 
lean over to smell a particularly fragrant rose.  It 
reminds me of the bouquet I held in my arms just barely 
an hour ago.  I give a slight smile.  I still have no 
idea where Usagi got those roses from.
	I sit down, place my head in my hands, and just 
think.   I think about the past, I think about the 
future.  Anything to take my mind away from the now.
	I don't know how long I'm sitting like this, but
I'm startled out of my reverie as I hear a hesitant 
voice say, "Naru-chan?"
	I look up.  Wearing her wedding dress, her hair 
a golden halo, in the moonlight Usagi might as well have 
been an angel.  "Can I sit down?" she asks.
	"Don't get your dress dirty," I caution, 
carefully brushing the dirt from the bench, ignoring the 
fact that my dress is just as white as hers and I was 
paying no heed whatsoever to it.
	She sits down and looks at me.  "I saw you 
leave.  Are you okay?"
	"I needed some fresh air," I tell her, then try 
to change the subject.  "You look beautiful."   I force 
myself to smile.
	She calls my bluff.  "Thanks.  No you didn't.  
What's wrong?"
	I sigh and look down at the ground.  Why does 
she always have to be so loving and caring?  This is 
only going to make me miss her more.  But I'm surprised 
when she speaks up again without waiting for me to 
answer.
	As she speaks she's staring at the moon with a 
far-off look in her eyes.  "I'm really glad you were 
able to be my maid of honor.  It wouldn't have been the 
same without you."
	And this is where I'm honest with her.  "It 
never will be the same," I say.
	She looks me straight in the eye, and says 
simply, "No, it never will be.  But Naru-chan?"  She 
hesitates.  "Different doesn't mean it won't be just as 
good.  I'm always going to be grateful for your 
friendship.  I'll never forget about you, I promise.   
Friends forever?"  She gives me a watery smile.
	I give her a tentative smile back.  I can't tell
if this is a beginning or a good-bye.  But for now, it 
is enough.
	"Friends forever," I tell her, and we hug, a sob
catching in my throat as I do so.

	
	When she and Mamoru leave on their honeymoon 
later that night, I am there to say good-bye.  Though 
I'm not sure where she's going.  She swears up and down 
to me that she and Mamoru will be vacationing on the
moon.  I think that translates to Hawaii, but there's
no telling with Usagi.
	All of the women are gathered together as Usagi 
prepares to throw her bouquet.  There's a lot of 
giggling, squealing, and jostling going on.  Up on the 
balcony, Usagi turns around, tosses the bouquet, and...
	I strain, but the bouquet falls short of landing 
near me.  I don't mind.  But there is loud laughter and 
cheering from the front of the crowd as the bouquet 
finds its way to the next bride-to-be.  I peer around,
curious at who it picked, and have to laugh myself when 
I see Ami, her face almost as red as the roses she has 
managed to catch.  
	We follow Usagi out to the car that will lead 
them to the airport, and Usagi waves at us all as Mamoru
holds the door for her.  I'm not sure, but I think her 
gaze lingers on me for a moment.  And then she smiles as
her newlywed husband climbs in the car after her.  We 
are all still calling out good-byes and waving as he 
starts the car and drives away.
	I watch her as they get smaller and smaller in 
the distance, and almost disappear from my sight 
altogether...until finally she is gone and I am left 
standing alone.