Wait, We're Getting Married?! [Complete]

[Taro Lawson]

Taro had not know what kind of a stress thing this was going to be. Obviously, he had never been married before. And when he had proposed to his fiancee, he had not thought he would be this overwhelmed by it.

It had started off not so bad. They had slowly begun talking about where, when, how, why. They had been thinking of who would come, who could come. They were thinking about all different things, but not really doing anything. That had all changed very quickly.

In what seemed like a matter of moments, Jesimae and Orange were looking at dresses, talking about decorations, mentioning expenses here and there, talking about places to go, people to have; Orange thought they should have it here, Jesimae didn't like it there, she wanted it here, Taro what do you think, Jiro are you listening, Haruko do you like this...Taro's head was spinning with all kinds of information that it wasn't wrapping around.

The biggest being, that he was going to be married in two weeks. And he wasn't sure if he was ready.

[Jesimae Lawson]

"I don't know! Get off my back, please!" Jesimae said a bit hastily to Orange who kept pressuring her over the comlink speaking about when she was to pick up the dresses. So far they had all the dresses, the suits were in order, the only thing left to do was to figure out where the wedding was to take place. Food...decorations...seating....where was everyone going to sit? What were they going to eat? What were they going to see? Was it supposed to be this streassful?

"Gomen...sorry...sorry. I didn't mean to yell. Taro isn't really giving much input on the situation so I am left in the dark. The only person I can talk to at this moment is Haruko. He is the only person willing to listen. Well I think he listens..." Jesimae laughed and sighed out. "At least I think he listens. He is wearing his sunglasses so he might be sleeping while I yack!" Jesimae looked around the messy living room that had a few things strewn around, magazines mainly, and phone numbers for food catering.

"I will call you back, okay? I am going to find Taro and see if he is going to help me today. He is probably having fun with Jiro.." She mumbed the last bit and hung up and decided to go find her baby. Surprisingly he wasn't hiding from her....yet.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro was staring absentmindedly out the window, listening to Jiro blab on about something Jesimae had been telling him about the wedding. It wasn't even Jiro's wedding and yet he was talking about it non-stop. the past twenty minutes had been taken up with Taro listening to him talk, half in Japanese, half in Basic about he and Jesimae, about what Taro was going to wear, and he thought there had been a few things thrown in about Jiro being proud of Taro. Taro felt bad, but he had stopped listening ages ago.

It wasn't that Taro wasn't interested in his own wedding, it was his wedding after all, but it all seemed much too stressful to ever be enjoyable. And Taro didn't even know how a wedding went. He had never been to one, had always blown dodge when anyone started to talk about one, and neither of his brothers shared thier marriage experiences, although he hoped to God Jiro had not yet been married.

Taro heard his brother say his name. Then say it again. And again.

"Brother? Did you hear a word I just said?" he asked with a slight twinge of amusement in his voice. Taro sighed heavily and turned around, smiling weakly at him.

"I'm sorry, Jiro..." he said pathetically. Jiro shook his head, getting up from the bed.

"No worries, Brother. I probably ought not to talk your ear off anymore. Between our two women--God knows I love them both deeply and mean no disrespect--you'll be earless by the time this is over with," Jiro said with a chuckled. "Anyway, I imagine there is something else constructive I could be doing. See you. Love you."

"Love you too, baby. See you," Taro smiled again as he watched Jiro leave, then he let out a very long sigh. Taro had felt like he was in a constant daze for the past week or a little over. He needed to wake up. But this was all so dream like, he did not know the remedy for it.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled as she tossed the comlink on the table and walked towards where his room was. She passed Jiro and pinched his stomach playfully and walked on by and into the room where she saw Taro staring out the window, looking beautiful as always. She smiled to herself and glanced down at the ring. She was getting married!! To TARO! GOD! She was so excited she wanted to just do it tomorrow and get it over with, be his wife, be his forever. Make this thing official! But she knew what she wanted and she knew that being quick about it wouldn't make it memorable as she wanted it to be.

Jesimae slowly crept up behind him and put her arms around his waist and kissed his neck.

"How's my baby boy doing?" She smiled and glanced out the window seeing if she could find what he was searching for. "What are you thinking about?" She glanced at the side of his face taking in the details. She needed to be pinched, she didn't deserve someone so wonderful...so beautiful...so perfect. But yet there she was, in two weeks, she'd be Mrs. Taro Lawson. How that day couldn't come fast enough.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro jumped slightly when he felt her arms around him, and yet when they were in place, he could not help but melt into her touch. Every time she touched him, it reminded him why he was marrying her. This was the woman he loved, and this was who he wanted to spend his life with. Not matter bad things, or good things. He wanted to share it all with her. Wanted to have a life that involved her forever. Wanted to have secrets with her that he and she would laugh about and no one else would understand. He wanted to give her his heart, his life, his body, his soul.

"Who said I was thinking about anything?" he asked, glancing back at her with a smirk on his face. "You give me too much credit, Miss Phoenix..." he muttered, turning and wrapping his arms around her, kissing her neck gently. "Soon to be Mrs. Lawson..." he whispered to her playfully.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled so bright her face hurt. Hearing him say that made it hit home, she was going to be Mrs. Lawson! Who knew, the woman who dreaded it, ran away from it, diverted it...was now doing what she always hated. Funny how Taro changed her view on it all.

"Are you scared? Nervous? Anything at all? Or have I blabbed your ear off on the matter?" She smiled and gave him a kiss before sighing out and looking into his eyes. "Not to bust your bubble, but we need to start talking about where the heck to have this sucker. Any ideas?"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro sighed out through his nose leaning back and then wandering off across the room towards his cigarettes retrieving them and lighting one, taking a quick drag, sighing the smoke out and staring at the burning end. He slowly turned back to Jesimae. Then he glanced at his feet.

"My old temple," he said, feeling a little embarrassed. "If there was anything my parents did right, it was make us go to Temple and pray. We can have any kind of ceremony...but I...would...like to have it there...if its not much trouble..." he muttered, feeling like a child being scolded about putting his hand in the cookie jar before dinner. This was about the only thing he had an opinion on. He hoped she would not think him awkward.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae listened to him speak of where he wanted it, but a red light went off in her mind. She didn't down any religion, especially not the Lawson's. If she were to have one it'd be Buddhist, but it wasn't something she preferred. She twisted her lip and frowned. She loved his opinion and his idea...but...it wasn't something she honestly wanted. Although weddings and love mean compromise, she didn't think she could let her beliefs be pushed aside for his own.

"Really?" She bit her lower lip tirelessly as she watched him smoke. Hopefully...her opinion...wouldn't anger him. "See I wanted it on the rooftop." She hissed slightly afraid he'd disagree, but it was something she had wanted the moment she learned she was even engaged.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro's heart dropped. He had known she would say no. Had known it before he had even asked, so he didn't know why he had even asked. But he had really wanted this. Even before he had met Jesimae, he had always wanted his wedding--should he have one--at his temple. But Jesimae did not want it there. And though it hurt, Taro would do as she wanted.

He nodded at her, giving her a smile that he hoped didn't look too fake and forced, and took a drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke away from him.

"Alright, love. Wherever you would like to have it..." he said, nodding and bowing a little.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae groaned knowing that was going to be his reaction. She wanted him to have an opinion on the matter...tell her no!

"Speak up, Taro!" She sighed out and rubbed the bridge of her forehead. Stress was getting to her far too much. "Baby...if you want we can have a Buddhist ceremony? I want you to be happy with where we have it! I want you to tell me what you want."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro waved his hand at her, her sudden change in attitude, making him feel even worse than he had already. He put his cigarette out so that he wouldn't be swinging it around and burning stuff. He took a step forward, pointing in the general direction of the roof.

"I just made a suggestion. Buddhist or no, we are going to get married one way or the other, and...I don't care how that comes about, right?" he said, trying to placate her before they ended up fighting about something again. He didn't want this to be stressful on her. Weddings were supposed to be perfect for girls. And he wanted it to be perfect for his girl. "Roof is fine."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae looked at him in silence...staring at him as if she were picking him apart but in reality she waas wanting to bawl. For the first time he was actually trying to keep things peaceful and avoid an argument that she was going to start.

"I'm sorry, baby." She sighed out and walked over to him and put her arms around his neck and gave him a gentle kiss on the ear. "This is our day, whatever you want I want. If you want the temple, by God I cannot get there fast enough." She leaned back and smiled at him, running a hand down his cheek, looking into his eyes and smiling brightly. How much she loved him. She could sacrafice her tiny little dream for Taro's lifelong one, yes? Of course she'd do anything for him.

"Temple, okay, baby?"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro hugged her tightly. Jesimae was nothing short of amazing. She loved him unconditionally. Through all the bull he had pulled, over the shines he had cut. She had seen through the whining he'd done, the tantrums he thrown, Jesimae Phoenix had held his hand, smacked his face, told him what he needed to hear, loved on him, held him, told him he was a jackass, pushed him around when he needed it, made him come to his senses...she had loved him through everything. And now, he realized, nothing had changed.

"My sweet baby girl..." he whispered, holding her close. "I'll try to stop ruining things. I want this to be the dream wedding you have wanted. I want you to have everything you have ever dreamed of and more." He smiled into her hair. "I am sorry for being a bump about this whole thing."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae held him tight and practically melted in his arms. SUre she had been held like this millions of times before, but for some reason this moment was just different. This was a turning point in their lives, they were going to be united as one and he was to put up with her for all eternity. How much she loved him for that.

"You aren't raining on any parades, baby." She put her head in the crick of his neck and snuggled in his arms, loving how it felt to have him hold her. "You are just stressed out and I understand. But going back to a serious matter...want the reception on the roof then? We all can cut a rug? Get smashed?" She laughed and moved again to see his face mere inches from her own.

"Wedding in the temple, party on the roof....best of both worlds!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro smiled down at her, leaning away and then looking up at the ceiling and thinking a moment before locking his hands behind her, then looking back down.

"Standing on the roof...dancing with you, while Jiro gets smashed and provides entertainment for the whole wedding party...sounds good to me..." he grinned down at her and kissed each of her cheeks.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed at the thought and the kisses Taro provided. She loved him so much she didn't even think a wedding could even begin to tell him, or show, how much love she had for him. She wanted to give him the world and if she knew how she'd deliver right on time.

"I love you, Taro." She kissed him and sighed out and leaned into him. "What about food? Decorations? What kind of service is this going to be in the temple?" Jesimae needed answers and fast considering the wedding was in two weeks. Two quick weeks. The excitement inside was unbearable.

"Money is another factor we have to think of."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro sighed out long and heavy. He had the money, it wasn't that. It was just getting at it. He had gotten a lot of money while he had been a theif, he had also a big sum of money when they released him from his contract with the strip club. His mother had left him a load of money when she died, and Haruko had money from God knew what. But it was all in one account that he had to go retrieve from a government bank that he wasn't sure of the location of. He would need to contact some of his old employers, which meant going to talk to the guy he had danced for a Raoul's. He figured he would do that at a time when Jesimae was otherwise engaged.

Food, decorations, what the hell?! How was he supposed to know? He was a man, not a caterer. And the ceremony? It could be anything. Not Buddhist, obviously, because Jesimae was already being nice enough to let them have it there. However, there were plenty of other denominations to choose from. Even an atheistic ceremony, although that seemed an oximoron in itself. Taro shrugged.

"I dunno, Jes. Honestly...money isn't really an issue, but...I'm not the most color coordinated guy that ever lived..."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae sighed out..there he went avoiding things again. One minute sje was sure to get something out of him but then all she got was the runaround.

"Figures." She mumbled as she moved out of his arms. "I need a little help, Taro! I am not a wedding planner! I've never done this before. I feel like you just watch and grunt 'uh huh'...'ummm...'...'uh huh' all the time! Speak to me! Tell me something you want! Get involved. Just because I am the woman doesn't mean I know what I am doing any better than you!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro threw his hands up into the air and began towards the door, his footsteps heavy. Not quite stomping, but not walking normally either. He shook his head.

"Okay, rub it in a little more, I can't do anything. I get your point, Jesimae..." he stormed, the mood thoroughly spoiled. He had seen it coming. When this much stress was present, it was hard to avoid. He looked back at her. "If I tried to get involved, I get my words thrown back at me Jesimae, because, hmm, frankly, that's just what you do. I..." he shook his head and continued towards the door. "If you want me to get involved, give me a list of things you want me to get involved in and I'll give it my best shot. But I doubt seriously anything I want you will want, and that is just the way that it is going to stay. Now either you can live with that and just decide, or you can't and we blow up at each other. I don't know which side you're on for, but I am for not raising voices more than is absolutely necessary..."

[Jesimae Lawson]

"Don't walk out on me, Taro! We are discussing! Right here, right now! Don't avoid the unavoidable!" Jesimae stomped her foot and pointed her finger at him, walking behind him as he walked ahead.

"I don't want to have to give you a list, Taro! You should be sitting next to me telling me what you want, what you don't, who you want to come, who you don't, what you'd like to have happen, what you wouldn't...so far all you have done was help me decide where to have it and measure you and the boys for your suits!

"I should be marrying Haruko since he is the only one helping me out with this thing! The only thing I see you doing is playing with Jiro and ignoring me all day!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro purred at her.

"Haruko? Okay, go ahead, you seemed to like him better anyway. The assassin. That's nice, you two should fit in together. You can knock people off together, you have fun with that. I am going to 'play with Jiro' and try to forget that, hmm, I don't have any family to invite to this thing because they all killed themselves and/or died of a rare lung disease. I haven't told you because I don't know..." he said, glaring back at her, and swinging the door open.

"I think I need a little air. Maybe its me, but its gotten a little unbearable in here," he motioned to the kitchen. "Haruko's in there. I am sure he wouldn't mind a quickie before we make up."

And Taro slammed the door, heading for the front door, towards cooler air. His last comment had been completely unnecessary, but it had flown out before he had had time to check his mouth.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae stood there looking at the door he had literally slammed in her face. She could still feel the air sting her face from the hard pull and slam and it completely blew her away. She stood there with her mouth hanging open, her heart falling in her chest. Did he just say what she thought he said? Sure she heard the quickie with Haruko, but that was not what stopped her in her tracks, left her speechless, and mad.

Jesimae wanted to run after him, grab him, smack his face so hard that he'd have a handprint on his face for a year. She bit her lower lip finally allowing the whole sudden downpour of words to sink in. She knew that Taro didn't like her past occupation, her bounty hunting days, and having him spit that in her face hurt more than angered her. She felt her eyes sting with sadness and her with anger. She clenched her jaw and groaned to herself as she turned on her heel and walked into the kitchen where she knew Haruko would be, her only savior and only friend at this moment.

"I am not getting married to a bastard!" She fell into a chair and put her head on the table and cried. "He's being completely irrational! He just told me to come in here and have a quickie with you before he and I make-up! How can I marry someone who says that, Haru?" She looked up at him and sniffed, hiccupping as she tried to breathe. She kicked the chair next to her and watched it slide then fall over and hit the floor in a loud crack.

"All he wants to do is just bitch and complain! I cannot live with him!"

[Haruko Lawson]

Haruko watched her for a moment. He chewed his lip and considered whether or not to say anything. He knew Taro could be irrational and sharp tongued, but so could Jesimae. He just did not know how to break it to her easily.

He sat down next to her and put a hand on her arm, thinking a moment, before looking back up at her and sighing.

"I know he doesn't give his opinion. But he really doesn't complain all that much. And I know that he can be irrational and overbearing with his way of doing things...but Jesimae...you have to think about what he is seeing too. You are seeing a man who is being unfeeling. He is seeing a woman who can do nothing but nag...not that I think you nag, I know you do not. But I also know that its very scary when a woman is saying that you need to pay for all these different things, and she is saying that you don't listen, and that you have no opinion. This scares him, Jes. And he doesn't think about you, I know. He is thinking of himself right at this moment but...aren't you too?"

He paused a moment, letting that sink in, but not giving her time to get mad and blow up on him too. He patted her shoulder.

"Why don't you let me talk to him, I am sure he is already regretting what he said...and remember, Jes. This is your wedding too, and if you aren't sure about something, even if that something is the groom, then you can postpone it. This doesn't have to happen in two weeks." With a reassuring smile, he headed towards the door, and towards finding his little brother. Sure he had just defended the little squirt, but he also wanted to go wring his neck. There was no reason for Taro to have said what he did.

And Haruko was going to see that it stopped.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae sighed out an put her head in her hands as she tried to be rational. She didn't need to be a complete bitch to Taro, but he did need to put a little more effort into what he wanted. She would apologize, again, and try to work things out between them...just not anytime soon. It was his turn to apologize for saying that about she and Haruko. She loved Haruko, but her affections only went so far, far enough to call him her brother. He and Jiro were the only ones who loved her in such a way, a way that Jabari had not.

Jesimae looked up to stare at the wall in front of her. Jabari. He had upped and vanished like a fart in the wind, yet her feelings for him were still strong and unfathomable. She had always wanted to get married and have him there, have the brother she always wanted to be there with her and witness it. Who was going to walk her down the aisle? She had no parents, no brothers...no family except those she now lived amongst. She was stressed out about the money, did Taro even have enough? Preperations...decorations...things that might not have meant much to Taro, but meant a lot to Jesimae. But she knew the one thing that made her so stressed was the fact that she would be walking up to Taro all alone. She never imagined that before. There was always going to be someone...that someone being Jabari.

Jesimae stood up and sighed out, picking up the chair she had kicked. She was going to suck it up and find Taro...whenever he was ready for her to find him, and apologize for being so pushy. He just didn't know how lonely this wedding was going to be for her, she had no family, he at least had his brothers.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro was standing outside of his building, a cigarette stuck moodily out of his mouth as he stared at the street in front of him. It was true, he had just been the biggest jackass in there that he had ever been. But in the past few weeks, Taro had been wondering about Jesimae and his brother. He knew Haruko loved Asher, and he knew Jesimae...loved him...but a lot of irrational things had been bothering him.

He had not been very nice to anyone, and if he didn't know for absolutely sure he was a man, he would say he had PMS. That was how he acted. Like a hormonal woman.

He had technically lied to Jesimae. This wedding did mean much, much more to him than he was letting on. But being silent and not saying anything and allowing someone else to make the choices was his defense mechanism. He didn't like being in charge of something that involved someone else. Not something like this. He just wanted the decisions to be made so he could pay for it.

Taor didn't know how he was going to apologize for the comment he had made to his fiancee. His fiancee for God's sake! How could he have said all that to her? How could he have possibly been that ridiculous? That stupid? That heartless? Taro knew that this was stressful for him, but what about Jes? She was jumping into this with he, his brothers, and Orange. She had no kin here, no mother to tell her what dress would look good on her, no father to kiss her and tell her that she would always be his little girl...and no brother to hug her and say that if Taro ever hurt her that he would personally see to Taro's slow painful death. Taro had thought about it, but not in depth until now. He had his little brother, his older brother, he had friends, plenty of them, he had Jiro's friends, he had money, he had time. He had some things Jes would not have for this wedding.

And he had just made the entire situation that much worse. Way to go Taro Lawson.

Sighing and going back inside he knew that it was his turn to crawl on his knees and beg for forgiveness. He felt like crap already, he figured he couldn't feel any worse than he did now.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae walked over to the fridge and pulled it open and leaned on the door and looked inside, wanting something to drink so bad that she was practically dying of thirst. She had smoked too much these past few days, eaten hardly anything, and didn't drink at all. She was too consumed with a wedding and with a pack of cigarettes. Orange at least had helped her out by stealing a few cigarettes, although she was sworn to secresy to never tell Jiro since she was afraid he'd hate it. But this was a wedding and everyone was in misery and cigarettes were the only thing to keep her cool and calm.

Jesimae hummed for a moment as she scanned the contents of the fridge and decied on some pink colored liquid in the back. She pulled it out and smelled it feeling okay with its fruity smell. She closed the door with her hip and grabbed a cup out of the strainer and poured it into the empty cup, wondering where her cigarettes were. She sat the large container down and patted her jeans and looked at the table. Great, they were in the living room. She sighed out and walked into the room and saw them laying on the couch. She grabbed them and jogged back into the ktichen where she grabbed her cup and took a seat at the table and opened up the pack to see nothing but her lighter.

"Crap." She said with a groan. She was out of cigarettes.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro opened up the door and stepped in, shaking off the cold that clung to him and his blue zip-up hoodie. He put his cigarette in his mouth and held it there while he pulled off his jacket and kicked off his shoes and made his way into the living area, blowing smoke out of the corner of his mouth as he took the cigarette out and held it between his fingers.

He paused a moment, looking around. He wondered briefly where Orange, Haruko, and Jiro were, but he realized they had probably steered clear of him and Jes while they had been bitching at each other. Not that that was a bad thing. It was better if they stayed out of it for the most part.

He moved towards the kitchen, hearing, as he approached a mumbled groan and then "Crap". That was the sound of a smoker out of cigarettes. He knew that sound well. But he knew the voice even better. It was Jesimae. He felt stupid going in there after how awful he had been a few moments ago, but he knew he needed to swallow his pride and go tell her he was sorry, that he hadn't meant a word of what he had said.

That he was an idiot.

Slowly, he opened the door and peered in, seeing Jesimae at the table with a glass of something and an emtpy pack of cigarettes sitting next to her. He took a deep breath and chewed his lip a moment.

"Jesimae. I think I need to talk to you."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae stared at the drink she had poured the contents still unknown to her at that moment, her mind pondering on who she could bug for cigarettes. She heard Taro's voice and she jumped slightly, surprised that he would come find her first and say he needed to talk to her. She sat up in her chair and looked up at him and nodded. She pointed at the empty chair nearby, not truly wanting to touch him until all was said and done.

"What is it?" She said concerned, not in a way that was bitchy or angry. She looked back down to her cup and finally lifted it to her lips and drank shocked that it was fruit juice. Who drank such a thing? Probably Orange since that was all she was used to at the ship port dining hall. She swallowed and looked over at him and pointed to the chair again.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro made his way around the table, tossing his pack of cigarettes on the table to her, knowing she would probably need one. He slid down into the chair, getting comfortable and crossing his legs, putting out his cigarette to be polite. Then he furrowed his brow slightly before beginning.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It was completely uncalled for and childish, and I did not mean it at all...and I don't know why I said it..." he paused a moment, scrunching his nose slightly and then rubbing his eye. "I know this is a big...leap for you and I, and I know I have put it all on you like you know what the hell you're doing any better than anyone else here does. In light of that, I'd really like to help you any way I can. I know I haven't been the best to you, Kanojo, and that statement earlier just reinforced what a jackass I have been to you..." he paused again.

"I love you...and I can't say how sorry I am for what I said and did."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae watched him come in and take a seat after tossing his pack at her. She gladly took it and pulled the top open and grabbed a filtered end and stuck in between her lips and lit it up, inhaling its sweet toxins. She blew out a line as she glanced over at him and watched him rub his eye as he spoke. It was kind for him to apologize first even though she blamed herself for the arguing today.

She held her breath for a moment and let it out and leaned forward on the table and held the cigarette in her hand while scratching her head with the other. She looked at the drink in front of her as she leaned on her right hand, dashing the ashes into an ashtray nearby. She looked over at Taro and nodded.

"Arigatou." She took a drag as she gathered her own thoughts and apologies, but it was getting harder and harder for her to keep apologizing for certain arguments. People fussed with each other all the time and just let it go without making up..why should they have to apologize when neither one were truly at fault since she figured the wedding was the responsible one for the fights. Those many fights that they were seeming to have all the time, at least once a day, if not more.

"I didn't mean to make it seem like you aren't helping, you are...I know guys don't like this wedding stuff and I didn't either at one point. Now it is all I can seem to think about, that and myself. I've been acting as if you were the bad guy and you aren't. You're my fiance and you are just trying to...you know if I need your input I'd come to you, right?" She took another drag and blew it out and dashed her ashes. Again taking a moment to think.

"I love you, too, baby." She moved her head off of her hand and reached it across the table wanting him to finally touch her, finally calm her down considering he had the ability to do that more than anything, even cigarettes couldn't hold a light to Taro's ability to make her feel calm and feel good.

"I think I am just horribly stressed out about certain things, not the decorations or food...just something I just realized these past few days."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro took her hand but was almost afraid of what she meant. He watched her a moment before asking, studying her face, studying everything about her for just a second before looking back up at her.

"What is that?" he asked quietly. He was waiting for it, waiting for her to tell him that she needed to be away from him that this wasn't what she wanted after all, that she had made a mistake telling him that she'd marry him. He was so paranoid, but he couldn't help. They had been fighting to harshly and so often, he feared they were growing apart.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae sighed and took a long drag and blew it out after holding it in for a while. She dashed the ashes and looked over at him, rubbing her eyes that were stinging, or trying to at least.

"It is really...stupid. It isn't anything with you, Lord no! Just so you know i am not having second thoughts so don't be thinking that, baby." She smiled at him and puffed again.

[Taro Lawson]

He smiled at her, relieved.

"Stupid or no..." he said squeezing her again. "What is it?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae sighed out and nodded.

"You have your family, Jiro and Haruko...you have friends, friends of friends...people to come to your wedding. I don't." She felt like a retard for saying such a thing, but it had been bothering her all day.

"I don't have anybody. Yeah I have Haruko and Jiro, Asher and Orange...but they are taking part in the wedding. The only family I knew existed..." She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "You killed." She paused and took a drag before stabbing it out, watching the smoke rise quickly in many different patterns.

"Taro...any friends I have cannot be here all at one time. They are gone, dead...bounty hunting...or in the penetintiary. And those who could come would end up trying to kill each other for bounties...probably me as well.

"Nobody can walk me down the aisle."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro watched her as she talked and nodded thinking how painful that must be for her. If his father was still alive, and in the state of mind he had been in when he died, yet more healthy, Taro was sure that he would have insisted he walk Jesimae down the aisle. But he was not here, and Taro knew that Jesimae wanted someone close to her. Someone she knew, felt an attachment to.

"I understand...I don't...I don't have an answer for you. I can do all I can for you...if you have at least one really close friend that you want here, and can come, then I will make sure they are here. I know this is going to be lonely for you. I cannot understand the need for someone to walk you down the aisle, but I understand that you have that need..." he paused a moment, then looked back up at her. "I know we aren't going to necessarily have a Buddhist wedding, but in my parents' wedding and in some of my friends weddings, the groom and bride walked together down the aisle. I know it isn't the same as being given away. But it won't be as lonely walking by yourself...if you'd like to do it that way..."

Taro blinked a few times. He felt a great swell of sorrow for how this wedding was going to be for her. Taro was on the verge of inviting Jiro, Haruko, the twins, and Orange, and no one else, just because it killed him to see Jesimae alone.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae looked at hiim and tried to not smile, but she couldn't help it. Taro walk her down? If it couldn't be someone she had an attachment to...why not be the man she was to marry? Oh but to see him wait for her...that would've been a dream, too.

"Would you? Really?" That was a dumb question he would never say that and not mean it...ever. She wanted to just cry! Cry because of the overpowering hold that love had on her, cry because she was so stressed, cry because she was so scared, and cry because it seemed like the right thing to do anymore!

[Taro Lawson]

Taro smiled at her and leaned across the table kissing her cheek. She seemed much, much happier about that than he had originally anticipated, and to see her happy automatically made him happy. He grinned a little more.

"Of course, Kanojo. If that is what would make you happiest," he said with a blink, brushing his knuckles across her cheek. "If that is what would make you happiest of all, then that is what I want to do."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled and loved the chill that ran up and down her spine. No matter how many times he looked at her, smiled at her, touched her, kissed her...it all felt like the first time. A time that she always loved to think about.

"Of course it would! If you don't want to...I won't pressure you...but if you would I would really love it! As long as we can have a Buddhist ceremony in return?" She squeezed his hand and smiled. How much love she had for this man! It was seriously going to take the end of all things to stop her feelings for him. But even then she doubted she'd ever stop loving him.

[Taro Lawson]

He bowed across the table to her and smiled a little wider. This day had just now gotten better because he had finally seen her smile. Genuinely smile. And nothing made him happier than that. He nodded at her again.

"Of course, I would like that very much, Jes. Very, very much," he said with another sigh. This whole wedding thing might not be so bad if he would simply stop clamming up. He thought, maybe, he might actually enjoy it.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae leaned over and practically attacked his face with kisses. She had her arms thrown around him and was kissing him as much as she could. After a moment she finally stopped and looked at him directly into his eyes never feeling so secure and sure of herself in all her life.

"I love you, Taro. Walk with me down the aisle."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro was grinning. For no reason at all, he had been standing there grinning like a jackass. He had been standing there for a long time watching as his brothers holding tuxedos and things of this nature that he could wear for the ceremony. He did not want to make any decisions on it without Jes beside him, because he did not know if there were particular things she was partial to.

He watched in amusement as Jiro and Haruko began to bicker about the size he could wear. Jiro said a small, Haru said a medium, Taro was convinced that he wore neither and needed a large because recently he had been more partial to larger clothing on himself. He didn't like things fitting properly, even though he knew he should.

He watched them another moment before going over and putting a hand on each of thier shoulders.

"I'm twenty-two guys...I think I can manage. Thanks though."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae sighed out as she looked at Orange in the bridesmaid dress...something wasn't right....the fit, the color, the style, the length...perhaps it was the bright flame colored hair that threw the pretty maroon color off. She was ready to pull her hair out. There had been several problems with the things that needed to get done. Jesimae's dress had to be altered after she ripped it while hanging it up, the invitations still hadn't been given out, the decorations were going to be done the night before the wedding since the time wasn't permitting them to do it that day...and then there was the tuxedos.

Taro hadn't said much about them, whether or not they had them and it was done, and everyone had been fitted, but she was putting her trust in his hands. She prayed they'd get a good size, a size that would fit them snuggly and perfect. She looekd at Orange and shook her head.

"I hate to say it...but your hair is too....bright!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro looked down at the tux. Oh how he hated tuxedos. If possible, he hated it more than ruffles, which was a lot of hate. Tuxedos just did not look right on him. He looked awkward and uncomfortably stuffy in them. But he knew that Jesimae wanted a tux, so a tux is what he and his brothers would wear.

Taro had a white Yukata that he was rather partial to, and would have loved more than anything to wear it, but he did not want to disappoint Jes. He knew Jiro had been fussing about wearing a tux as Jiro had his own tiny little blue Yukata that fit him absolutely perfectly and he had not gotten a chance to wear it in a long time. Haruko was neither here nor there in the situation, he was just waiting for the whole thing to be over without incident.

[Jesimae Lawson]

"It would be rather nice if you wore a head dress! I wasn't insulting you!" Jesimae screamed down the hall towards Orange who had left in a stuffy pouty manner, simply mumbling that she had to go to work early in the morning. It seemed everything was going horribly wrong! Nobody liked anything that was proposed, outfits, colors, styles...she was ready to just say 'To Hell with it!' and make everyone wear whatever they pleased and however they pleased.

Jesimae slammed the door and sighed out, aggravated at how difficult this was all being. She only had Asher and Orange to partake on her side, Taro had Jiro and Haruko...it wasn't that hard to compromise with only four people! She wondered how Taro was doing with his tuxedo findings. She prayed they three of them were having better luck than her. She grabbed her pack of smokes and pulled one out quickly and lit it up, inhaling deeply. She sighed out and watched the line of smoke billow in different shapes and forms. She tried to relax, but was having an awful time.

Jesimae wanted this wedding to hurry up and get here so she could just feel fulfilled and content with what she and Taro had. She was ready for that last step. She wanted to rid herself of the Phoenix surname and adopt his own. She smiled thinking about it. She already felt content in the relationship with Taro, so content that they never had to get married, but it was great to make it official. She took another hit and continued to smile and bask in her thoughts.

The sooner the day got there....the better it all would be. She was sure of it.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro rolled his eyes as Jiro left the room in a slight huff because he wanted Taro to wear a small and Taro wanted a large. There was a lover's quarrel going on between he and his two brothers and so far it was Haru and Jiro eight, Taro zero.

Taro stuck his tongue out at the door as it shut hard, like an annoyed three year old. And he was immediately embarrassed that he had done that and was glad that Jesimae was not there to see him be so ridiculous.

Speaking of Jesimae...

This entire wedding thing was so far out of Taro's league that it wasn't even funny. Yet, he hadn't been thinking about his fiance hardly at all, and now that it was finally quiet in this place, he wanted to go hunt her down and give her the biggest hug that was possible for his little body. If possible he wanted to break ribs hugging her so hard. For no reason at all, he felt so much love for that woman right that moment than he had felt for anyone in a long time. He grinned just because of what she made him feel inside.

Turning and going to the door, Taro opened it and peered out and around the apartment, looking for his baby girl. He did not see her straight off. In fact, he did not see anyone, not even Orange. Where had they all gone?

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae let out a sigh of aggravation as she leaned on the tiny couch in their apartment. She had never really noticed, but the place was so empty now that Orange was gone. Where was everyone at? She hadn't seen Taro in so long she was beginning to feel lost. It had been a while since they had made up and they had kept out of sight for fear of getting on each others nerves and now she was really not wanting to be alone, not after having her first spat with Orange over nothing at all.

She let out another groan and leaned her head on the back of the couch and wondered if she should find Taro and just give him a huge kiss and hug. It felt like months since they had last talked when in reality it wasn't that long. But she knew he loved his space and if he needed her he'd find her.

"My little boy." She said it lowly just enjoying thinking about him. Who would have ever thught it? She and Taro getting married!?

[Taro Lawson]

Taro heard his pet name from across the apartment and perked up. He looked over his shoulder from Jiro's room where he had been rummaging around in his younger brother's stuff trying to find something he was convinced the boy had stolen from him. Standing up and going to the door, he saw Jes on the couch, her head laid back. He smiled, sneaking in towards her with nothing but love for her overflowing inside of him. He didn't know where this sudden surge of emotion had come from, but he liked the way it felt.

Getting to her, he purred at her before leaning down and touching her mouth with his own, bracing himself against the back of the couch. He smiled against her mouth before moving to her jaw and neck.

"Konnichiwa..." he muttered, his voice muffled against her neck and shoulder.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae's eyes flew open surprised that she hand't heard or felt him coming. She saw his face and immediately she smiled as she felt him move down her neck giving he kisses that were filled with love. She giggled surprised, but pleased, by his sudden burst of emotions. She reached up and touched his head and accepted the kisses with severe joy. It had seemed like forever since they had touched intimately, even though it happened more than everyone thought.

"Konnichiwa, baby." She moved slightly and kissed his cheek and sighed out against his skin. She had wanted to feel and see him more than anything and it was the perfect time for him to have dropped in on her. "What's my little boy up to?"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro muttered against her shoulder unintelligably, as he nuzzled closer to her, crawling onto the couch with her, poised over her. He moved her shirt away from her shoulder to give himself more room as he kissed her shoulder and neck.

"I'm kissing you, Konojo. What's it look like I am doing?" he mutered playfully up to her, glancing up from his spot as he kissed the sensetive skin in the dip of her collar bone. He leaned back after a moment and smiled lightly at her admiring her with a deep sigh. All the love he had ever felt was compiling into that one spot and he felt extremely mushy. But he figured Jes wouldn't mind if he was mushy once in a while. After all, he rarely ever was.

"What about you? Sitting here all by your lonesome. I don't like seeing you alone..." he said quietly, leaning in to kiss her again.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed lightly deep in her throat being turned on by his sudden affections, but she kept herself under control for the sake of everyone else in the household. But god how he was killing her!! She smiled and him when he playfully told her what he was doing, her stomach twisting in knots by his use of her pet name. Only Taro would make her swoon at every word her used whenever it was in his native language. She stared deep into his eyes, unable to stop smiling as he paused in his kisses before asking her what she was doing to dive back in more for kisses. Dear Lord at this rate clothes would be ripped off in seconds if they didn't calm themselves, well particularly Taro! What kinid of aphrodisiac did he get into?

She laughed against his lips as she welcomed all the loving he was giving her. She put her hand around his waist and kissed him deeply, moaning lightly against him as she slowed it down and moved back slightly to answer his question.

"I'm not alone anymore now that you are here and might I say I am very glad you decided to drop in." She kissed him this time and moved slightly to push him down on the couch so she could straddle his hips and sit on him and just stare at him. "Might I ask what happened to you to make you so...flirty?"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro shrugged as his back rested into the couch, her weight on him a welcome sensation. He stretched his arms over his head and brushed his hair out from under his neck, looking up at her and winking.

"You," he muttered, leaning up to kiss her again. It was the truth. Jesimae was his natural high. After his last episode with drugs, he had finally come to realize that Jesimae Phoenix was his natural drug. He didn't need anything man made as long as she still loved him. Her love was his comfort, his home, his romance, his turn on, his everything. Anything he needed could be derived from her and her love for him. Taro had finally realized how much he truly needed this woman. He knew he would always be with her, until death forced his hand.

Leaning back down and laying comfortably on the couch, Taro took a deep breath, looking up to admire her face, eyes, hair, shoulders, everything his eyeballs could reach he admired.

"Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?" he asked curiously, thinking truly about it. Then he shrugged. "Oh well, I'll just tell you again. You're beautiful, Kanojo."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed fully, she was not expecting anything like this at all, especially not while trying to prepare for a wedding! She was sure her hair would be falling out in lumps, sleep hard to come by, nothing on her mind except worries of how many things could go wrong, but all that left in a single moment whenever she was around him. Taro was everything she needed to live and even if they had never gotten married she was sure she'd be just as happy. She couldn't stop smiling after her laugh had settled. She just sat on top of him and looked down at him, her face burning red from the compliment he was throwing out at her. It never failed, he always made her feel as if they had just fallen in love. God how much she loved this man! How much she loved everything about him! She bit her lower lip suddenly out of something to say to him, but yet it was all good.

"It is only because of you." She said after a moment as she ran her hands up and down his chest lovingly before moving a hand up to pet his face and lean down and give him a kiss. "You make me what I am."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro chuckled and fluttered his eyelids before shutting them contentedly.

Taro's theory was that no one knows when they are truly happy until much, much later. They look back on a time, and they can say "I was happy then", and they can never get that time back to enjoy being truly happy. Because at the time you are actually happy, you don't ever realized it until you are truly sad. This had always been this theory, and he had stuck by it.

But the day he had met Jesimae Phoenix changed everything. He remembered it like it happened two heartbeats ago. Jiro had come in, looking like a drowned rat, and Jesimae behind him, both frightened out of thier wits, both injured. Jesimae had been afraid to take a shower in a strange house with two strange boys in it. He remembered seeing her in her underwear that night. The beginning of something so much more than just the flirting they did that night and the next. Taro could remember it as if he had only just met her, only just taught her how to use chop sticks at the table, only just bailed Jiro from Deacallion's clutches. As if she and he had just kissed for the first time, touched each other the first time, made love for the first time. It was a surge of emotions and sensations and Taro knew that every time Jesimae touched him it was like she had never been there before, when she knew him like no one else did.

"And you finish what I started, Kanojo. This empty space that I had for a long time finished when I met you. Thanks..." he muttered to her, opening his eyes again and smiling softly at her. "I'd never be where I am without you, love."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed very lightly both flattered and just head over heels in love with him. How could she ever be mad at him? How could she ever think of a life without him? How could she ever do anything without her better half? All she knew was that he was with her and that was everything she needed. She wanted to be serious and tell him that if he lived to be a hundred years old that she would want to live to be ninenty nine that way she'd never have to live without him.

Jesimae leaned down and just put her head on his shoulder and took in a deep breath, smelling his natural scent, a scent that had been rubbed on her the second she slept in his bed after meeting one another. How envious she had been of the bed he slept on, as silly as it sounded but she had literally fallen in love with him the moment he looked at her. His bed had been filled with his scent and the next morning she had smelled jsut like him and that was her first wish, to always have his scent on her.

There were so many things that had happened between the two so much that it was almost astounding they had made it this far. The first time they kissed in the kitchen, the rising heat that seemingly never stopped until the next night when they first made love. But she wasn't even sure if that had faltered it, in fact the heat was still rising inside of her and only in death would the flame dissipate, but she was almost positive that death could not stop the love she had for him. The fights had seemed to make their love stronger although at the time it never felt like it. It was sad that it took a drug overdose to make her realize how special he truly was, how much she loved him, how she would literally kill herself without him.

His touch, his smile, his voice, his eyes, his body, his laugh, his anger, his sadness, his kiss, his lips, his face; Whether it be a tiny crevice, a perfection, flaw, it was everything she loved. If she could take everything she loved about him and put it into words it would not do it justice. Nothing could explain the feelings she had for him, the love, nothing but being beside him and touching him could let him know how badly she needed him. At every waking moment the only thing she wanted or needed was Taro Lawson. He made her realize who she was and what she truly wanted and needed.

"I cannot tell you how much I love you, Taro. Sometimes I'll look at you from across the room, or when you sleep, and I'll feek such a pain inside. I love you so much that it is so overwhelming it hurts." Jesimae ran her fingers up and down his arm, feeling his creamy skin tickle her fingertips. She heard his heart beating a slow steady rythm and she couldn't fathom her life without hearing it every night when the went to sleep. What was she to do if she lost him? Lost the only family she had? The only person she could ever love? Jesimae drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out lifting her chin up to see his face.

"I love you, Taro, even your painful past, I love."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro's heart panged. His painful past. Ninety-eight point nine percent of which she did not know. He had told her some what seemed like a lifetime ago on the ship, after another fight. But some things...he just hadn't the heart to tell her. How do you tell the woman you love that you used to strip for a living? That you gave sex to women--and men--so that you could get money to eat with. How do you tell someone you care about so much that she isn't the only person you have given your body to? And worse that you gave your body to people whose names you rarely knew? That you'd defiled, raped, pushed around, been pushed around just because that was what they had wanted?

Taro looked down at her and smiled a little. She needed to know. That was for absolute sure, he just did not know how to tell her. Wrapping his arms around her and sitting up slowly, he sat her up with him, balling his knees under him to sit in front of her. He hugged her tightly before leaning back and sighing out, the weight on his shoulders suddenly seeming heavier than it had ever been before. He had always had this on him, since the day he had met her. He had known that this moment would come when he told her everything about everything. It had taken this long, and this much love and pain, but he was going to tell her...because he loved her enough to let her know. And if this was a problem, it would be her last chance to say no.

"Kanojo...about that..." he muttered softly, feeling embarrassed about what he was going to tell her. "You remember...I told you some things about myself and my past? I mean, I told you about my addictions." He looked at her. "This may be a bad time but...there are things I didn't tell you that night...because I was scared or...I didn't want to. But I think there are things about me you should know before you say you will absolutely marry me. And granted, these are things I should have told you a long time ago. But I didn't. And I am ready to tell you now...if you want me to."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae swallowed hard as he spoke her heart beginning to beat so fast that she was almost wanting to tell him no, that it didn't matter anymore that it was all in the past, right where it needed to be. Jesimae knew that she ha hounded him for so long to make him tell her everything, down to every last detail, but it had caused so many problems that she had stopped asking knowing when the time was right he'd speak. But was now that time? Before their wedding?

She smiled at him softly and touched his face in the softest caress she could muster, running her fingertips down and around his jaw to his chest where she let it fall into her lap. She crossed her legs and nodded.

"All right, baby. I'm listening." She drew in a deep breath of nervousness and bit her lower lip. She wasn't so sure anymore that this is what she had always wanted, the truth that is. Jesimae had a dirty past that she had probably never shared with him, but she was always wanting to, but she was scared that he would look at her differently for killing people for pay. The nasty comment he had made a few days before when she had to go speak to Haruko...it frightened her immensely that he would do it again if she spilled the number of the victims.

"I love you, Taro. I will never say no to getting married to you. Know that now before anything else." She touched him again and grabbed his hand and smiled. "We've gone through worse, I am sure."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro smiled at her a little bit before looking down at his hands resting on his legs. He gathered his thoughts, considering what he was going to say in Japanese, so that he would be able to make sure he said everything absolutely right. He chewed his lip hard a moment before finally looking at her. He never thought he would feel this awful about something he had done. But the past was the past, right?

"Jiro and I were in an orphanage, okay..." he began, figuring it was the place where it all started. "When I was sixteen I was able to get out, but not able to take care of my brother until I turned eighteen..." he licked his lips. "That's really where all of this stuff started. After my seventeenth birthday, I was able to get a job. For a little while, I worked at a bar, serving and stuff. But I was a pickpocket most of the time. I stole people's money and became fairly well off with it. At eighteen I bailed Jiro out and...things went downhill. I started selling and buying drugs, playing around with my sexuality, and I fell into a money issue..." Taro took a breath and let it out.

"I went to this place in the ISLAM District called Raoul's Exotic Dance Club and Bar..." Taro closed his eyes and clenched his jaw before continuing. "I got a job there at first as just a bartender. But, eventually, I was being looked at by some of the patrons, and...I became a dancer. I was a stripper, and a streetwalker for the HWANG and ISLAM Districts. And that entailed a lot of things, Jesimae. I was a favorite there, and my wages for dancing and stripping and walking were really good. And I got personal jobs often, and that gave me the money I needed to pay for food...and to feed my habits..."

"When Jiro left, I was totally lost. I quit the club, but I still did personal jobs. I quit before I met you..." Taro stopped a moment. His gaze had drifted away from hers and down away from hers. He felt his face getting hotter from the embarrassment. He blinked hard a couple of times, then shook his head. "I am not proud of my past, or myself for getting Ji and I into that situation. It isn't something that I wanted to tell you...but..."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae was lsitening contently, not fining anything bad at first until....he dropped the bomb she was not wanting to hear. So he sold drugs, big deal! He kicked the habit, slowly but surely! But...he began to...strip? Okay..so..he took his clothes off for money, that wasn't anything horrid! People did it all the time and he was beautiful enough to do it, so more power to him at least he wasn't doing it now! But....the story kept getting worse!

Jesimae slowly began to sink back away from Taro, how could he have not told her all of this before hand? Why was he keeping it so secretive? She bit her lower lip and looked down at her hands and tried to understand that it was the past, but it was hurting her so much because he hadn't said anything earlier. He told her the worst thing of all that he began doing jobs that were for personal needs, perhaps too personal for her to actually undertand and accept. She felt the anger build inside, the sadness, the anger was growing so hard that she was beginning to tear up. Her heart was beating so hard and the room temperature was rising to such a height that she was beginning to sweat. When he paused she took the moment to actually say something, the images that were being burned in her head! The horrible things people could have done to him and vice versa.

"Why?" She could barely say to him. She looked up at him to see he was crying, but it didn't mean anything to her at the moment. All she saw was red. "Taro...why?" She wanted to hit him, smack him and scream at him for not telling her all of this before!

"You lied to me, Taro! You told me that was all! You said it was all dealing with drugs, but how can sleeping with complete strangers be considered in the same category?" She stood up quickly and put a hand on her hip while holding her wrist to her mouth, stifling the urge to scream obscenities at him. She let her hand fall and she closed her eyes trying to remain calm, trying ot realize that it was too late and she couldn't do anything about it now. But she had to at least be honest with him in return!

Quickly she turned around and looked at him She clenched her jaw and bent forward and pushed him hard. "You lied to me, Taro! You...how could you have done that to me? Did you think by not telling me sooner was going to make things easier?"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro had known it. It did not matter what he did, how he put it, Jesimae always blew up, freaked out. And she wondered why he didn't want to share things with her! It was because she exploded at him and threw everything back into his face. Taro's face drained of color and he stood straight up. He was not a tall person, but when he got angry, he towered. And he was suddenly furious.

"Damn it, girl! Aren't you the one who got mad because I didn't tell you things?! This is why Jesimae! This is exactly why I don't tell you things!" he yelled in her face, the urge to hit her coming readily to him. "Oh, Taro, you can tell me things in your own time," he mocked her voice. Then he threw up his hands. "A lot of good it did me, huh? You would have freaked then and you are freaking now. There is no living with you anymore! You just--" he raised his hand over her as if he were going to hit her with all his might. But he brought his hand around instead, punching the table next to him as hard as was humanly possible. Even if he was angry, he wouldn't hit her.

"I have made mistakes, Jesimae Phoenix!" he exclaimed, shoving the table away from him. "But haven't you? Oh, no, nevermind, you're the perfect angel! My little Kanojo." He clenched his jaw down. "If this is love, then I want no part of it."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae knew she made a mistake by yelling at him, but it was so hard for her to understand! She loved him so much that she had tricked herself into thinking that she was the only person in his life, but it wasn't always so! He had had so many others, many other women probably men too! She felt like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs when he stood up and began to yell at her, screaming in such a way that it made her want to fall to the floor and cry even harder than she was now and just lay in the fetal position. She flinched and nearly toppled to the ground when he lifted his hand and that was something she had never done in her entire life! His hand slammed against the table and she jumped and kept her eyes closed. She slowly leaned upright and looked at him with wide eyes and his face grew red with anger, such passion and fire that it frightened her.

He then forced the table away as he screamed at her, mocking her as he had seconds before. She stood there in silence looking at him, so terrified that all of this had happened, that a moment of love had turned into a sudden moment of hate.

"Then why are you still here!?" She screamed at him no longer angry, but severely hurt, so hurt in fact that she hiccupped in tears, bawling like she had never done before. How stupid she felt, how hurt she felt, but suddenly how cold and lonely she felt. She felt her lip quiver and the tears pour like a waterfall down her face. So it was all honesty now, then she might as well tell him how she felt.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell at you, but it hurts me Taro! And you screaming at me scares me." She cried hard and looked away so scared that he would mock her again. "You reminded me of Jabari."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro threw his hands up in the air and turned away from her, crossing one arm over his chest and putting the other up, covering his mouth with his palm, gathering his wits and his emotions. They were sprawled out so far away he did not know if he would be able to gather them back up. But after a moment of silence, he turned back to her. He looked at her a moment, just watching her, blinking slowly, his face impassive. After a moment, however, he took a deep breath, lowering his hand.

"I reminded you of Jabari..." he shook his head and looked down at the floor. "I guess I am supposed to apologize now, right? Tell you how sorry I am, that I never meant to say anything that I did, that I don't ever want to remind you of your brother again. Right?" Taro shook his head resolutely at her. "I am not going to do that. I'm tired, Jesimae. Tired of always being the one to crawl back on his knees and beg forgiveness. Tired of pretending that I don't mean what I say..." he paused. "I'm tired in my body, my mind...my heart. I am just...spent on trying to walk on eggshells for you. You want me to candy coat the truth for you, but life isn't always sweet, and you had, or have, a romanticized image of what I am. I have just shattered that, and you can't handle it..." putting a hand over his eyes as tears escaped them finally. "Maybe I should go."

Stepping past her, he took a few steps, but couldn't find the strength to leave. He was totally drained. What else did she want him to tell her but the truth?

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae had never been so hurt in all her life she was sure of it.

"So is this what it has come to, Taro?" She was nasally and she was to tired to turn around and look at him. "Is it over? If you are tired of it all, then why stay here? Why should I?" She slowly turned around and looked at him and shrugged at his back. She walked up behind him and put her arms around him and kissed his neck.

"I love you, Taro, I really do. But if it just isn't what you want, or need, then maybe I should be the one to go." She let go and moved away from him towards the door. If this was the truth then perhaps they weren't meant to be together. She paused and glanced over her shoulder, eyes red, face stained with tears, her heart pounding so hard that it hurt her.

"I'm in love with everything about you! I'm in love with a stripper!" She sighed out not really finding anything he told her to matter. She got out her agressions and she was tired of it. She just wanted it all to end.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro looked at her. Was this really it? Finally, had all thier fighting come to a head and they were parting this way? Taro didn't want it, not truly, but there were times he just...couldn't take it. He raised his hands and rubbed his face before grabbing his blue hoodie off of the back of the couch and pulling it on, striding to and past Jesimae.

"I'll go. You decide what you want to do with our lives, Jesimae. This is not my decision. It never was. I want to be with you regardless, but if every truth I tell you will make you act this way, maybe you want someone who will make you laugh, not cry. Who will hold you, not push you away. Maybe you want someone who wasn't a stripper," he said, glancing at her once over his shoulder as he jumped down the ladder and pushed the apartment door open, closing it hard behind him.

Taro didn't know where he was going to go. But somewhere other than here was preferable. Somewhere where he would not have to look at her and love her so much it hurt and have her spit his love back into his face. Somewhere where he didn't hurt her and she didn't hurt him.

[Jesimae Lawson]

She felt him brush by her, mumbling the sharp words of truth. She spun around and heard him jump down the ladder and then out the door. She ran over to the side and called oiut for him. She cried his name in a way that was both horrified for this being over and sad for the argument. She always felt like the bad guy, always felt like it was her fault. She always seemed to be the one to start the fights, always seemed to make him feel like he was the bad guy instead when in truth it was her. It always had been.

"Taro!" She yelled again suddenly doing something she never thought she would do. She was running after him, instead of him running to her. She jumped down the ladder and ran after him, screaming for his name like bloody murder. She flung the door open and ran out into the street. "Taro! Baby, come back!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro had turned down an alleyway, and as he walked he thought he heard her. Yelling for him, telling him to come back. Was it really her, or was it just his wishful thinking? Turning around slightly to peer over his shoulder, Taro listened hard, trying to prove that it was a trick of his mind, telling him that she was yelling for him when she was not.

A slight breeze blew past him, ruffling his dark hair, throwing it into his eyes. He knocked it out of the way and slowly walked back towards the opening of the alley, afraid to look one because she might not be there and two because she really could be.

Stepping from around the building, a stronger breeze blew at him, tossing his hair around his face as he peered back from where he came. And to his utter releif, there she stood, like an angel sent straight down from God, tears staining her pretty face, sobs racking her perfect body.

And Taro realized, the anger was never truly there for him. There was no way for him to ever be angry at her, not truly. He knew that no matter what happened, no matter how she yelled, how he yelled, how they hurt each other, no matter how many times Taro walked away, he would always come back. Even after all this, the swell of regret, but love caused him to choke on a rock in his chest.

"I'm here, baby. I'm here."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae felt so sick to her stomach when she thought for the first time in all her life that he was gone, gone for good. She heard him and saw him and suddenly she felt as if the world were gone and she was there with nobody else but him. She let out a cry of happiness and practically ran into his arms and wrapped her legs around his tiny waist and her arms around his neck. She hugged him so hard she wanted to break every bone in his body.

"I am sorry, it was my fault. I always make you the bad guy, it has always been me, Taro! I am so sorry. Please don't ever walk out on my like that again, please I don't think my heart can handle it!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro couldn't help but let out a laugh as she tackled him and wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him as tightly as she had ever held him. He held onto her, burying his nose and mouth in her shoulder and breathing in her smell. He laughed into her shoulder and hugged her tighter.

"I never want to hold anybody like this but you. You're everything to me, Jesimae, and more than that. God, if I ever lost you...I'd slit my wrists..." he held onto her as tight as was humanly possible, certain that he was going to cause her to suffocate. But he knew that if he let her go, then he would lose her. And the day he lost her would be a cold day in hell. "I love you, Jesimae, and I don't think you can conceive the scope of that love. You mean more to me than anything or anyone ever has...I'll never leave you, little girl. Never."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae cried with joy and nodded as she hugged him tightly. She never wanted to leave him, ever. The threats they could make meant nothing, they were always going ot be empty. She could only agree with him, if he were to leave she would jump off a bridge, no tie weights around her hands and ankles then jump!

"Oh, my baby." SHe moved and kissed him so passionately that she swore she were going to faint. "I love you so much. So much Taro that I don't kow why I do or say some of the things I do. I never mean it, I am so sorry." She moved and looked into his eyes and was all seriousness.

"Lets just hurry up and get married. My stress level would be gone if we just got hitched tomorrow."

[Sacha Lawrence]

The music was blaring so loud that no one in the entire mechanic's station could hear themselves think. But everyone was used to it, and no one complained. It would have been bad if his taste in music weren't all that good, however, his tastes went well with everyone else's, so after the first week, everyone had just given up complaining.

Sacha Lawrence slid around the hover bike, singing along with the Russian dance song at the top of his lungs, which was still unheard over the sound. The bike was nearly complete, and he was happy. It would be his first hover bike that he had restored, and he knew that his friend was going to give him a pretty penny for it.

Smacking the satellite radio, and turning it off, his ears buzzed slightly and he heard some muffled Thank you!'s come from various places in the mechanic station. He held his hands out to show the peiced of machinery to his freind who stood near to him, leaning on a bar that separated his work area from the others.

"There you go, Ren. What do you think of her?" he said proudly, nodding at him. Ren Wilcox, his main supplier of parts, nodded at him with a grin on his face.

"You've outdone yourself, Sacha," he said. Sacha nodded and tossed his rag onto the bike, sitting down on it and patting it.

"Damn straight. And don't forget that when you are paying either," he said with a wink. Part of the money he was getting for this he was hoping to use for a race that was going on down in the lower parts of Coruscant in a day or two. It was illegal, yes, but he wasn't going to be racing, just fixing the racer's cars. And this money was going to help him rent out a station down there for the day. He just hoped Ren gave him the enough to cover what he needed.

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

"Damn, damn, damn." She sighed out annoyed as her hover bike began to spit out brown exhaust that she knew was not good. Luckily it had been just in time considering she had been pointed in a great direction of a shop just two blocks away. The bike was sputtering, humming lowly, making noises and movements that were not good. She slapped the side of the bike angrily as she turned it off, looking around through her black plastic visor attached to her helmet that was a sheek amber and brown color. She sighed out when she saw the shop a few feet away, barely a jump away from her bike decided to crash.

Jazlynn stepped off the bike and jogged towards the shop and into the door where she was quick to look around. Since she made it to Coruscant she had been riding her bike a little too hard considering she was on the look out for a certain person that meant a lot to her, someone she was desperately needing to find.

"Helloooo?" She sang lowly as she leaned on the high counter in her sauve tight black and charcoal colored jump suit. "Hellooooo?" She sang again hoping someone would hear and be able to help her out quickly and today.

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha glanced over as he saw a girl come into the shop, looking for someone. He smiled at Ren and beckoned for him to follow as he walked over, pushing away his hair, and wiping his dusty hands off as he walked up beside the woman and jumped up, sliding over the counter to land on the other side. He turned and smiled, leaning over it.

He looked her over quickly. She was dressed smartly in a hoverbike uniform, and she was strong, that was easy to see. She was likely some sort of rider, if not professionally, she did it as a past time. She had a racer's body. Sacha glanced at Ren before smiling at her again.

"Yeah, can I help you?"

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn stepped back slightly to watch him jump the counter smoothly and lean over towards her with a smile that was award winning. She laughed lightly and smiled, biting the tip of her tongue as she laughed.

"Morning!" She said to the man as she pulled off her helmet and sat it on the counter, feeling a few strands of her brown hair fall into her face. She brushed it away quickly and pulled off her black leather gloves and sat them on top of the shiny helmet. "I am needing someone to check on my hoverbike a few feet outside of your shop." She pointed behind her and looked away quickly but was quick to make eye contact with the man whose eyes were a sharp green that they were almost blinding.

"It broke down in the right place, right?" She smiled happily and leaned forward again. "Do you think you can..check it out for me?"

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha smacked the counter with his hand and jumped back over the counter, proceeding to slap Ren on the shoulder and smile at the woman.

"By god, you have the smartest bike alive. We're the two best mechanics that exist," he said with a smile. Ren beside him sighed with a smile. Sacha nodded to the door. "Let's go see what's up."

He and Ren followed the girl out to where her bike was, a little smoke belching out of the hover engine. Sacha chewed his lip as he bent over to look at it. It looked like the hover engine was blown out, but he couldn't be sure. Crouching down and knocking away some of his long hair, he touched the engine and immediately retracted his hand. It was overheated, that was for sure. He put his face near the hover engine and took a sniff of the fumes, coughing and standing up to wave a hand in front of him.

"Looks like there is a problem with the hover converter," he said, looking over at her. "In other words, the whatsit that changes the fuel to energy is busted. She'll need to be replaced and resealed. Might take me...four hours if I work fast," Sacha said turned back to her and looking at her. "A hundred and forty credits."

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn laughed lightly when he slid back over the counter to tell her how smart her bike actually was. She was amused by his character already after two seconds of meeting him, which technically they hadn't actually met! She jogged out of the shop holding her helmet and gloves and showed them the bike. She proceeded to stand there on the corner and watch him work, which was very entertaining considering he was sniffing fumes only to cough like he were hacking up a lung. But then he began to tell her about the problem, surprised by what it actually was. She knew she had been having to much fun on her bike and riding it far too hard, but she was in dire need to find her sister, find her sister and catch up. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask her when, how long, how much, but he was quick to tell her, sadly.

"Ah, jeez, are you serious?" She hissed and clenched her jaw. She knew it wasn't going to be cheap and his quickness of four hours was probabky the best she could find around here. A little bit of money like that wasn't too bad considering it was for a seriously good cause.

"You break my heart with that kind of talk!" She sighed out and nodded. "I suppose." She gave him a once over and smiled. What a great way to start the day one hundred and forty credits in debt!

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha chewed his lip a moment. He glanced at Ren, then tapped his nose with one finger. He shrugged throwing a long leg over the bike and beginning to push it towards the shop. He glanced over at the girl.

"We'll see how much work it takes, and when I am done, I'll give you a better price, promise," he said with a smile, looking back ahead of him and pushing the bike forwards. Suddenly distracted by another thought, he looked at Ren. "Hey, how are those damn Lawson's doing?" he asked. Ren shrugged a little.

"Taro's getting married, next week I think," he answered. Sacha's eyebrows popped and he glanced at the woman as if this should surprise her too. He looked back at Ren.

"Didn't peg him for the marrying type. Who's the lucky girl?" he asked, huffing a slightly annoyed sigh and getting off the bike, crouching down to undo the brake, forgetting that it was on. Ren thought a moment.

"Well, I met her once, but didn't spend that much time with her. Jesimae Phoenix, I think is what her name was. Cute, too, almost as cute as Taro," he said with a laugh. Sacha stood and chuckled, beginning to push the bike again.

"Well, how about that. I need to call Jiro so bad. Haven't talked to him in--damn it!" he exclaimed, as he knocked his knee cap against the bike, hitting his nerve and causing a shock to go up his body. "Ouch." He finished pushing the bike into his station and the secured it down. He looked back at the woman.

"Um, I'm going to need your name and...well, there are these papers you've gotta sign and stuff, its a ridiculous amount of trouble. But, its the law..." Sacha said with a shrug. "I'll get them for you in a second."

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn laughed lightly and followed the two men into the shop, barely paying any attention to what they were saying, but when they began to speak of a wedding it piqued her interest. She saw the man's reaction to the news of a man getting married and she simply smiled lightly, unsure if that was the reaction he was looking for. Either way a wedding always made her happy. She bit her lower lip as she walked into the shop and watched the man bend down next to her bike and then the other young man said a name that sent a shiver down her spine, caused the hair on her neck to stand on end.

Jesimae Phoenix? Her sister? Married? Apparently the man knew who they were and seh was immediately taken aback and became extremely hyper. Her sister was getting married! How she needed to find her! How she needed to see how she had been doing all these years! How she needed a relationship with her.

"Damn it!" Jazlynn jumped and looked over at the man and saw he had hurt himself. He looked over at her and told her about the papers, which she figured was manditory.

"Oh, yeah, yeah sure." She looked away from the man over to the friend, she thought she heard the man say Ren? "I...sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but...did oyu say Jesimae Phoenix? I know this sounds crazy, but I am looking for her. She is my twin sister." She looked back to the attractive mechanic and smiled. "I'm Jazlynn Phoenix."

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha glanced back at her and nodded, chewing a lip and looking at Ren who leaned on a speeder and watched her a moment. The other man walked forward and then smiled.

"Well, now that you say it, I can see the resemblence. But yeah, she is getting married in a few days," Ren reitterated glancing back at Sacha who nodded.

"Damn good kid, too. I mean, the guy she is marrying," he said, looking back at Jazlynn, then holding out his hand. "Sorry, meant to introduce myself. I'm Sacha Lawrence, and that's my friend Ren Wilcox. He's not a mechanic here, but he's not too bad to have around," he said with a shrug, shaking her hand and then leaning back. "Anyway, this bike of yours oughta be done in a little bit."

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn laughed lightly so happy to hear the news, happy to know that they knew the man and that he was a good one, and even better she apparently made two new friends! She shook his hand firmly unable to not smile. This was probably the best news she had heard in such a long time other than the news of learning of her whereabouts on Coruscant, but still she didn't know where exactly this wedding was taking place.

"Nice to meet you both. Thank you very much for fixing my bike, I really appreciate it!" She smiled at the man named Sacha and felt her face flush slightly and glanced back over to Ren. "So! My sister is getting hitched! Fabulous!" She sighed out knowing how odd this might sound to the man, even Jesimae's own sister didn't know about the wedding. how awkward. So she quickly wanted to explain.

"She and I haven't really...talked." She lighty laughed and sighed out. "Do you happen to have a number where I could reach her? I mean, I haven't any idea where she lives and I would love to drop by and meet her other half." She hoped he would give her the number, she wasn't going to actually call but instead drop in after running the number to find the address. God, it was great to have friends who loved technology.

"I mean, it would really mean a lot if you could share it with me...?"

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha gave her a smile and then stood straight in front of her.

"I actually need to go see those brothers. I haven't talked to them in forever. So if you'd like, I can give you a run over there at some point. Or if you want to just wait till I finish this bad boy, you can follow me over there," he gave a shrug. "Or we can jus give you the number. That's good too!" he said cheerfully, turning back around and crouching down to begin to unscrew the cover plate for the engine.

So Jazlynn and her sister didn't talk much. For not knowing this girl, they were getting on very well. All three of them. And she was cute to boot. Sacha liked her at once because of her ride. It was a nice one, better than his, but he was working on that. However, she seemed to have been riding the thing a ridiculous amount for the engine was clogged and totally out of whack. It might be a six hour job instead of four.

"What have you been doing to this old girl, Jazlynn?" he said teasingly. Then he looked back up at her. "This may take a little longer than I thought."

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn smiled brightly, so bright in fact her face hurt! Was he serious? This guy was just now her new best friend. She clapped her hands repeatedly and nodded.

"You are...my best friend! I love you!" She sighed out so relieved that she wasn't going to have to stalk her to figure out where she lived and just burst on in. She heard his question after a long beat, her mind running rampid with thoughts of how her sister was, how she looked, what she liked, what her fiance was like! The questions just poured into her mind all at once and it was making her a bit sick. She raised her eyebrows and looked down at Sacha and gave him a distorted face.

"Well..." She said shyly as she walked over to him and squatted next to him. "I kinda have been looking for my sister and I've been going everywhere in Coruscant trying to find her. I guess I haven't been the kindest to her." She looked at the bike and ran a hand lovingky down the seat. "I also have a bit of a thing for going really fast!"

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha laughed and then stood up, running a hand through his hair and sighing out of his nose.

"A girl after my own heart," he said in a laugh. Then he shrugged. "Anyway, I can go ahead and get started on this. And I ought to be...well, there is something I am going to tomorrow evening and I will probably stop at Jiro's on the way there. So, if you can hold on till tomorrow afternoon, I ought to have this ready, and you can follow me there." Sacha turned to look at Ren who was bidding them farewell. Sacha waved at him a moment before looking back at Jazlynn, then waving his hand in front of his face.

"Anyway, yeah. That is the schedule, unless it isn't good for you. I won't be getting down there till tomorrow afternoon, so...if you want I can just give you the number. Or if you want to follow me there, that's good too."

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn stood as soon as he did, she didn't want to be the only one sitting on the floor staring at her bike like an idiot considering she knew she hadn't been the nicest to her bike since she bought it a few months ago. She looked at him and considered his ultimatum and nodded, thinking it over. She could get the number and call...but it would cost her a few credits to scan the nukber to find the address. She sighed and smiled.

"That will be fine. Here..." Jazlynn looked around and frowned softly and motioned her right hand as if she were writing on something. "Do you have a pen handy? I will give you my comlink number, whenever she is done give me a ring and I'll swing by here and follow you to my sisters! Deal?" She blinked a few times and looked up at him with a soft grin. She was doing a lot of smiling since she walked into this shop! Was it the atmosphere? Or was it the cute mechanic who had made her laugh more than anyone here on Coruscant? Either way she was glad of being tired and angered that she was having no luck with finding Jesimae.

"I cannot tell you how glad I am that she broke down outside of here! Not only did I make a new friend, I also get to find my sister!" She smiled and drew in a deep breath and let it out, unable to take her eyes off of him. Was there a gas leak somewhere? She was feeling way too happy and excited for her own good!

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha patted his black jeans and black t-shirt, but felt nothing. He chewed a lip a moment then held up a hand. He turned and went to the counter he had been at a few moments ago. He leaned over and turned the computer at the desk around. He opened the number log and left it there before getting the papers that she needed to fill out. He layed them down on the counter and retrieved a pen from the desk below.

"You can just fill these out and it asks for your com number. I'll be able to get these out and look for it later on when your bike is done. I am not anticipating it taking a long amount of time, but you never know. So, I am gonna write in a two day extension agreement, meaning that you can't sue me until I am two days over my original limit, which is tomorrow at around four," Sacha sighed and then shrugged. "Laws suck."

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jaz slightly moved to watch him go over to the counter and bend over it, a nice view she must say! She smiled and bit her lower lip and couldn't help but find herself staring perhaps too long! SHe moved her eyes away as soon as she saw him move and bring over the pen. She glanced at the papers and listened to his instructions, nodding in agreement. She heard him talk about the law meaning she wasn't able to sue and she laughed looking up at him to find him shrugging.

"I'll try my best to not sue you until after tomorrow then." She winked at him and smiled glancing down at the papers and sighing with happiness, seriously when did she laugh this much? Certainly not back on Tattooine! She nodded after a moment of reading and glanced up at him.

"I shall fill these out for you!" She walked to the counter and leaned on it quickly beginning to pen in the the information he needed. He sure was an adorable guy!

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha watched her begin to fill out the papers and had to admit, for a rider she sure did have a slim figure. She was nice looking, that was definate, and Sacha did not say he minded at all letting her stick around as long as possible. But Sacha was not girl crazy, he never had been, so he wasn't going to turn on the charm, or pretend to be something else to impress her, like most of his friends would do.

She was cute, but there was no reason to freak over a cute girl.

Watching her finish the papers, he retreived them and laid them on the sunken desk. Then he turned back to her and held out a hand.

"It was nice to meet you, Jazlynn, a new friend is always nice when you don't have so many of them. I am also glad we got you a way to find your sister again, not every day that happens. And I am even more glad that your bike broke down outside here," he gave her another smile. "Till tomorrow then?"

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jaz couldn't help herself she snuck a peek at him while taking the papers over to the desk. He was so thin, atheltic, his eyes were shocking, and she was quite amused by him. She thought it was safe to say she thought he was cute and that he was a friend, and it was approved when he held out his hand to say their goodbyes.

"Oh, yes!" She smiled at him and took his hand, replying to his statement on gaining a new friend, but she was doubtful he didn't have that many! He kept speaking, impresisng her more than she had originally figured. He was very nice, funny, and she got along with him well and it was such an nice thing for him to say about her finding her sister.

"I am glad it broke down here as well, Sacha." She smiled and began to put on her gloves before letting out a laugh realizing she wasn't going to be driving it to her tiny apartment. "Old habit!" She said in her mindless action. "But yeah, tomorrow it is." She gave him a nod and let out a groan as she turned to walk outside.

"Hover taxi, where are you?" She sang to herself and to whoever listened. She had a bad habiy of singing songs that were not created. She bit her lower lip and glanced over her shoulder and laughed. "Sorry!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro looked down at the information card, glancing behind him as if he were afraid that Jesimae were following him down the street. He knew she did not know where he was going and he had not intended to tell her. She didn't need to know where he was getting the money that was paying for thier wedding. All she needed to know, was that he was.

Approaching the large, imposing building on the side of the street, Taro glanced down at the information card as if he had gotten the wrong one when he had left the apartment. But he hadn't. It was his IOU from when he had worked here. The IOU that was going to pay for his wedding.

Going to the door of Raoul's Exotic Dance Club and Bar Taro examined the front of it. It felt as if he had not been there is forever, though it had only been a few years. He sighed, seeing the closed sign out front. But it was ten o'clock in the morning. The night shift will have been coming back and they were going to be sending out the day shift giving the other's a breather before the club opened. Working at Raoul's had been a full time activity. Taro had had a hard schedule when he had worked there. He was luckily not part of the night shift. He went in at eight in the morning, worked on the street until eight that night, then bar tended till ten, danced till twelve, and finally got off work at three, doing personal jobs from twelve till two thirty, and cleaning up until three.

Taro knew that it was not a grinned upon occupation, but that had not made it any less difficult. Taro still didn't think he had made up for all the nights he had worked straight till opening and gone over two days without sleep.

Taking a deep breath and going to the door, he looked into the window next to the door, the crack in the shades something that had never been fixed. As he had thought, he saw many people milling inside, all workers, putting on make-up, getting dressed, laughing, eating thier breakfast, some getting ready for thier day shift, some cleaning up from the shifts beforehand. He raised a hand and knocked three times, taking a deep breath.

For a moment, Taro didn't think anyone was going to come to the door, but after a moment, the door parted and Taro saw his old employer, the young, manager Sun Hong. He stuck his head out, not looking at Taro before he started talking.

"We don't open until--Taro?" came the realization as the young Korean looked up at him, a surprised look on his face. Then he smiled. "What are you doing here? Not looking for work I hope! I love you and you're still pretty, but you should have yourself a girl by now." He said with a laugh. Taro smiled, then held up the IOU.

"Well, Sun, it just so happens I have. And I need my money," he said with a smile. "I'm getting married."

[Jesimae Lawson]

"Well, well, well! It is better than I expected!" Jesimae smiled as she leaned over the counter of her friends shop, her friend Emily who had designed and tailored the dress for her, as a gift of love and friendship. She laughed lightly and looked up at the blonde haired girl, seeing her figure distort due to her sunglasses.

"Taro will love it!" Jesimae had seen him leave and she took it as her cue to leave as well and visit an old friend of hers who used to go on bounty jobs with her. She knew Taro wasn't fond of the job let alone the people who worked it, so she decided to not only keep the dress design a surprise, but she was even keeping the bounty hunting friends away from the wedding since she knew thigns could happen.

"That is a beautiful topaz pendant on the dress, too." She pointed out as she laughed still in shock that the wedding was just days and days away.

"I took note as to what your stone was, Phoenix! This old girl never forgets!" Jesimae laughed and felt her face turn a bright red. She hid her huge smile behind her hands and glanced over the rim of her glasses to see Emily shake her head and grin.

"You better come up with a new nickname for me, girl, Phoenix isn't going to be my last name anymore!" She had never been so filled with joy to actually say that to someone, point it out, let them know and write it down! For crying out loud, she was getting married!

"Is that right?" Her friend laid the dress over the counter and leaned down, slitting her eyes as she gave her a once over. "Don't tell me you, the queen of independence, is changing her last name? What is it gonna be?" Jesimae giggled ridiculously and let her hands fall to the counter, her eyes peering at the dress with longing and yearning to touch and wear it.

"Lawson. I am going to be Jesimae Lawson."

"Bah! Lawson, who'd ever believe that Jesimae 'Stand Alone' Phoenix was going to get married. Even worse, change her last name!" Jesimae slightly smiled, happy to hear her old nickname again. It had been so long and her hands were aching to touch her blasters, knives, weapons of choice, as well as her ears to hear the newest prospectables. She could smell the metal on the gun, the residue of gunpowder on her classic pistols, the familiar smells of an old past that was aching to creep back up on her. She leaned up knowing she had probably spent too much time wondering what Taro would do if she slipped back into her old profession, after all she didn't want to sit around and do nothing for the rest of their days.

"Thanks a lot for this. how much do I owe you for it?"

"Nothing, Jes, consider it my IOU to you for all the times you saved me hide and as a gift for your wedding. You'll look beautiful I am sure." Jesimae smiled at her and pulled the dress off the counter after Emily had put a protective cover over it. Jesimae knew that this was a gift, but she felt like she'd owe something to her. In bounty hunting one didn't just give gifts without expecting some sort of fee down the road, the whole business was set around IOU's and favors. Jesimae didn't need more strife in this relationship than they already had. She laid down a few credits and smiled.

"Consider this my 'thank you' for everything. The past needs to stay in the past. What happened back then... happened back then. See you." Jesimae smiled and took the dress seeing that look on her friends face of understanding. She knew that now she wasn't bounty hunting anymore that she would be a nice prime target with a credit on her head, not like it wasn't already there.

[Taro Lawson]

"MARRIED?!"

The word rang out through the large building as Sun laughed uproariously, pulling Taro through the door and into his old surroundings. Seeing the young Korean laugh again made Taro smile and the sudden warmth he recieved from everyone in the room was astounding. Everyone looked up, most stopped what they were doing. Some of the employees were newcomers, and didn't know Taro, but as he looked around, he saw more people he knew than that he didn't.

"Who's getting married?" came a voice from near Taro's right. He glanced over and gave wide smile. It was Raoul. Son of the owner who had died in the years before Taro had come to them. Raoul was older than Taro, but not by many years, and as Taro counted in his head, the other man would be around thirty-five, or forty.

"Taro! exclaimed Sun, slapping Taro on a shoulder blade. "The old scoundrels getting married!" Raoul watched Sun a moment before looking back to Taro. He walked over, a smile on his face. He patted Taro's shoulder.

"Not my Tatsuki!" he said in a laugh. Taro grinned, seeing some of these people again was like a breath of fresh air. They had been his first and best friends, and Raoul was the very man who had helped him kick the habit. Taro nodded at him, holding up the information card.

"I'm afraid so, Rob," he said with a smile, glancing over as a door was thrown wide open and two young men fell through it, one trying to crawl over the other in thier desperation to get where they were going. Taro laughed as he recognized one of them as his walking buddy, whose name was Yasuo, but everyone just called him Ya. Yasuo stumbled over his friend, and right into Taro, grabbing him around the neck in a bear hug, that Taro should have expected but hadn't.

"Only god knows what you have been up to, Lawson, but he also knows how much we missed you around here!" Yasuo exclaimed, finally letting Taro go as he laughed and took a deep breath to fill his slighty squashed lungs. "I hear something about a marriage?!"

"Yeah, the son of a bitch is getting married. Probably to some pretty little thing too," Sun said from behind Taro who looked back at him and laughed. He shook his head, looking back at Raoul as a few other people came around to give him thier well wishes and see how he was after all this time. Raoul smiled warmly at him and put a big hand on Taro's shoulder.

"You're a good a kid, Taro," he said, then nodded back to the door from whence he had come. "Come on. Its time I paid you a salary long overdue..." he paused and nodded. "You even get extra, just because you have done more than we can and are getting married." Taro shook his head.

"No, man. I just need what is owed. I don't need anymore than that," Taro said reassuringly. Raoul shook his head and began to lead Taro back.

"Boy, you were my son for a good two and half years. I'm giving you extra, Taro. Don't try and change my mind," he said with a chuckle. Taro nodded, smiling at his back, and glad that Jesimae would never know how close he was--and would always be--to these people.

"Alright, Raoul. You win."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae sighed out as she hopped into the hover taxi and typed in the direction of where she was headed. She sat back and let out a sigh of aggravation as she glanced at the large dress that was covered. She loved her old job, how she wanted to go back and work again, how she wanted to hear the blasters, the screams, the rush, the...everything that made the job horrible. She knew it was wrong and that that she was a murderer and that Taro would probably not stand for it, but she wondered if perhaps he ever felt the same way about his past jobs. Suddenly she squirmed. Taro, a stripper, a hooker....did he ever want to go back? Was the money worth it? The friends? The lifestyle? Jesimae knew that she shouldn't have let it bothered her the way it did, but she was at least now respecting it due to her own desires that ept her in her dirty professions as well.

Jesimae felt the turbulence and snapped out of her daze. She glanced around outside and frowned slightly from the blaring sun. She felt the taxi move in traffic and she saw a few hover crafts pass and be passed before turning down a street to be stopped by a light. She wondered where Taro had gone, he had left in a hurry! She bit her lower lip as she glanced around at a few shops and suddenly as the hover craft crept forward a large sign caught her eye.

"Raoul's...oh my god." Jesimae couldn't help but scoot over to the left side of the taxi to glare at the large building at the corner reading the title under the sign. "Exotic dance club and bar. Hmm..." Jesimae read it to herself lowly and then shook her head. She loved Taro, loved him far too much to let a little job cause problems. People did things that might not impressive or very good. If Taro could look over her shady past, then so should she. Jesimae leaned away from the window and looked the other way.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro hugged Sun tightly as he made his way towards the door. Sun held onto him a moment longer than Taro had expected him to, but he didn't mind. He had hugged almost every person in that building by now, and Sun and Raoul were the two he cared the most about. He leaned back away from the young Korean and smiled at him.

"It was nice to see you again, Sun. I didn't realize how much I had missed some of you free loaders," Taro said with a small smile. Sun chuckled at him, and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

"You too, Taro. Good luck with this girl you've got. I know she's a gem if you've gotten her. Love you, man," Sun said, patting Taro's neck and face and smiling at him. Taro patted his shoulder and nodded at him.

"You too, Sun. See you," Taro smiled, turning to the door and pushing through it, a big grin on his face. He had missed those people more than he thought he would ever have. Seeing them again reminded him of a lot of goos things from his past. Even though there had been so many bad things, there were a lot of good things too. And walking in there and seeing some of those people reminded Taro of that.

Turning and heading back towards his apartment, he took several deep breaths and let them out. He couldn't wait to get married suddenly. He wanted to be with Jesimae forever. He never wanted to let her go. She brought him happiness like no one could. And he never wanted to lose that. Ever.

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn tossed away her apple core as she walked around the corner chewing away at the reminents of her small mid-morning snack as she made her way to the auto repairs shop. She hummed a tune to herself as she glanced around at the shops that was offered nearby, not seeing anything turly that interested her. She had a slow start this morning, only waking up about an hour ago, and remembered that she had a date with Sacha, her new friend in Coruscant, although she doubted it would stretch beyond what was offered now considering she wouldn't have reason to see him again after her bike was fixed, but he was an interesting person to have met to say the least.

It was sad that she didn't have friends there, just acquaintences around the city that would probably barely remember her name if they passed and said hello. She did need more friends, she wanted more friends, but her goal was to find her sister and now that Sacha was going to help her it was time to get a little more involved with life. She pushed her hair out of her eyes as she stuffed her hands into her jump suit pockets and saw the shop just a few steps away. She smiled as she swallowed down her last bite and turned the corner, smelling the familiar smell of oil, metal, and leather. Very appealing to someone who loved hover vehicles as much as she.

She turned inside and glanced around seeing nobody at the desk. She waited for a few moments, glancing around and leaning on the counter before finally turning away and walking into the large garage area where she had taken the bike the day before.

"Hello?" She said lowly as her eyes moved around. "Sacha, are you here?"

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha puckered his lips as the drink slid down his throat and he leaned back in the chair in the break room. He was the only one around at the moment, and it didn't seem that it was going to be a really productive day.

However, when he heard someone call for him, he glanced out of the door and yawned wide. Standing, and pushing his glass of liquid away from him, he pulled his toboggan farther down over his head and fixed his cut off gloves, jumping over a cord on the floor and going out of the door. He hung on the frame a moment looking around the shop before spying Jazlynn near the door. He smiled and walked out, going over to her and nodding.

"Hey there," he said with a smile. "Here to pick up your old girl then I assume?"

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn found his face after recognizing his voice, she turned and looked him up and down and smiled wider than before. "Good morning, you look like you ae hard at work, my friend!" She laughed lightly and nodded and glanced around the shop trying to find her bike.

"Now why should I come here to my bike when I can come see you?" She looked at him and gave a little flirty smile and laughed. "Yeah, where is my baby girl? I've missed the speed and the sound of air in my ears!"

[Sacha Lawrence]

Sacha scratched the back of his head an chuckled a little before motioning towards the finished area that was barred off from everywhere else. He pulled a key card from his pocket and slid it, hearing the bars unlock with a clunk.

He pulled the heavy door open and peered inside looking for her bike. He made an annoyed sound when he didn't see it first off then went inside, picking his way through the closely set bits of machinery that needed no more work. He looked at the tags on the covered things to identify them, and when he finally located it, he was standing in the back of the barred off area. He looked up and smiled over at Jazlynn.

"Found it," he said, pulling his key card out and sliding it on the other side and sliding it through the door opposite of the one he had entered and pushed the covered bike out. He motioned for Jazlynn to come around. "She's as good as new."

[Jazlynn Phoenix]

Jazlynn walked into the room and found Sacha behind a few things before seeing her bike. She smiled happily and clapped her hands and took a quick seat before glancing up at Sacha.

"Thank you so much! I have missed her!" She played with a few controllers and let out a sigh so glad to feel her underneath her again and to have her hands wrapped around the handles. She nodded to herself and looked up at him and shrugged.

"How much, my friend? I am willing to pay you anything you ask since I am in one of those moods!" She winked and laughed happily.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae bit her lower lip as she moved from side to side, turning her neck to see the dress from all sides. She loved it, no doubt about it. The wedding dress was a perfect fit, perfect color, perfect everything! She was never so surprised and so excited in all her life to receive a dress that she would only be wearing one time in all her life. How strange it all was, how strange it was that she was standing locked in the bathroom staring at reflection. The tall mirror did her much justice and she was so glad that it was going to come into good use for once.

"Dear god." She whisepred to herself as she held the soft fabric in her hands turning to the side to see the back of her dress to see the sparkling topaz her friend had put on as a classy touch. She loved it and she was almost positive Taro would love it as well. She stood back and looked at herself head on and let go of the dress. She was getting married. For crying out loud the woman who feard commitment was standing there red as could be, a smile so big that it would take years to go away, and a hug eswell of emotions that were crashing over her like an ocean.

"I'm getting married." She said in a low whisper. "I'm getting married." She stated again. Suddenly she began to laugh and jump up and down. "I'm getting married!" She screamed knowing she was the only one in the house. How stupid she was, acting a fool in her wedding dress in a locked bathroom.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro snuggled down into huge jacket as he made his way back down the street towards his apartment. The bag of credits was zipped up in his jacket and he felt suddenly like a drug dealer again, going through the December swept streets of Coruscant's slums, dodging junkies, and jumping drunkards, trying to scrape by. To feed himself, to feed Jiro. All of it for Jiro.

Taro took a deep breath and sighed as he jogged around the corner of a building, nodding cordially to a man who leaned on it, smoking. He looked back ahead of him, his mind working so hard to wrap around everything that was going on. He was going to be a husband soon. He was going to have a wife, a true realy one. Jiro had practically been his wife for so long, it was a shock to his system that he wasn't going to be living with Jiro anymore. He wasn't going to be seeing his littlest boy so often. It was a sad, slightly empty feeling, yet a joy that he couldn't describe. Because it meant he would be living with Jesimae, being with her every moment he could possibly manage.

Taro supposed he had known what he was doing when he had proposed to her. He had known that it meant letting go. Saying goodbye to a way of life he had grown so used to that he had convinced himself there was nothing else for him out there. He had know that it meant embracing a new idea, a new future. It meant getting a solid job, it meant worrying about a new apartment. It meant getting he and his wife all the things they needed, and having room for the things they wanted. It meant juggling time with his wife, and his brothers, and his friends. And of course, there was always that little thought in the back of his mind about children.

Taro hadn't given it much thought, not in all the barely controlled chaos of the past few weeks, but there was always the possiblity that Jes wanted children. They hadn't dicussed it much, and most of his life, Taro has detested the idea. But now, thinking about it, it might be so bad. In fact, holding a baby that was his own, jointly deciding a name, raising it together...it might be...nice.

Taro shook his head and sighed again as he came into view of his apartment. His mind had been wandering to so many things these past few weeks that he had never considered before, and it was scaring him how much of a responsible streak he had found in him.

Glancing down at his watch as he entered his apartment. 12:30 p.m. Jiro would still be out looking at the temple. Haruko was probably with Asher trying to get his tux fitted. But where was his fiancee?

Unzipping his jacket and tossing it on the table, Taro slung the bag of money over his shoulder and moved over to a couch where he deposited it. He looked around the apartment breifly before feeling a tickle in his nose. Covering his mouth, he sneezed violently. Shaking his head and looking around again, he spoke with a slightly nasally tone.

"Jes? You here?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae heard a violent sneeze and suddenly stopped looking at the mirror out of the side of her eye as if she had been caught stealing candy and was being scolded. She bit her lower lip and held her breath before she heard Taro's voice, his sweet, calming, gentle, loveable, sexy voice. Suddenly she realized...

"Crap!" She was still in her dress and he was probably looking for her. She quickly unzipped it and pulled the shoulders off and watched it fall around her ankles. She let out a sound of dispair and picked it up and hung it on the hanger nearby.

"Ummm...in here, baby!" She tried to dust off any particles that could have jumped onto it by being on the ground for just a second. She grabbed the large cover for it and pulled it over the dress and zipped it closed, keeping it from getting dusty. She sighed as unlocked the bathroom door and walked out in her underwear not even realizing that she was leaving the dress in the bathroom.

She wasn't one for tradition, but she was wanting to follow them all before her wedding simply because...well she wasn't really sure! She didn't want Taro to see the dress, or her in it, before they got married. She was going to wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. She walked out of the bedroom and into the living room where she swore she felt her heart skip a beat at the very sight of a red nosed Japanese boy, who had a face like an angel and a temper like a demon.

"I'm right here."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro stood straight as he glanced over to where she had come out of the bathroom in only her underwear and bra. He grinned at her and then looked her up and down. Walking over to her he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Forget something, love?" he asked, leaning down and kissing her nose. Then he sniffed. "I think I'm getting sick..." he muttered, stepping away and watching her for a moment. "Either that or I am allergic to something we've brought in here in the last few days because every damn time I come in here I sneeze." He grinned at her. "Wouldn't that be Lawson luck if I got sick during our wedding?"

He laughed then turned and went over to the couch, grabbing the sack and going back over to her, holding it out. He grinned again, genuinely happy and excited for no good reason right this moment.

"Credits. Tangible and ready for use. I have to get another batch of them, but this will cover tuxes, dress if need be, and fee for the temple...probably a few things for the reception...and maybe transportation for anyone who will be coming in..." he took a deep breath and nodded. "And the rest I get will cover everything else..." he paused glancing around. "Ji and Haru still out?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled at him and laughed lightly as he wrapped his arms around her. God, just a week and a half and he'd do this for the rest of her life. The deal would be sealed. Their lives would be written in the books and their life would be lived together. It'd be finalized.

"Aww...if you get sick we can hold it off for a few days? I don't want snot dripping anywhere." She winked at him as he turned to grab something off the couch with a bright smile on his fac. he turned around and held out a small sack for her. He spoke a mouthful, spoke confidentally, spoke dominantly, spoke...in a way that was responsible and that answered all her questions and problems.

"Oh, Taro!" She was so happy that all was finally falling into place. She grabbed the sack and looked into it seeing the many credits that could probably cover more than he figured. "Ji and Haru...yeah....they are...gone..." She looked up at him wit hbewilderment.

"Where...baby where did you get all of this money? Did you rob somebody?" She laughed lightly and looked up at him with a broad smile on her face. Taro Lawson never fails!

[Taro Lawson]

Taro grinned down at her and then shook his head, walking towards his bedroom. He pushed open the door and went inside, tossing the bag on his bed.

"No, I didn't steal it," he said playfully, although the words had struck a chord in him that had not been hit in what seemed like forever. He glanced out of the door at Jesimae as he went to his drawers, stripping off the long sleeved shirt he had on and deposited it on the floor next to his feet. "I was owed a debt from one of my old employers. And he liked me too much not to give me a little extra...I told him I was getting married..." he grinned to himself. "You should have seen them all. Everyone wanted to give me money."

Grabbing a red t-shirt that read something--he didn't look to see what--and pulled it on over his loosely fitting jeans. He turned back to look out at Jesimae.

"You get your dress, love?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled as he turned and followed him into the bedroom where he began to strip, expressing his feelings on the whole ordeal and how everyone reacted to the news.

So, when she was passing by the club, Taro was probably inside there. It hurt her feelings to tgthink of him that way, but she let it slide knowing it was the past and he had been neding that money, owed that money. She smiled at him as she watched him pull on a shirt and jeans, sadly, and wal into the bathroom.

"You get your dress, love?" Jesimae snapped out of her questions that burned in her brain about his last job and the people there and remembered.

"My dress!" She ran into the bathroom and grabbed it off the peg that it hung on and held it tightly in her harsm as if it were a part of her body." She realized how silly it must've been to Taro to see her become very possessive over a simple dress and she let out a light hearted laugh. "Yeah," She smiled at him. "I got my dress today. I want so bad to put it on and let you see it! But...I can't." She walked over the bed and laid it down and took a seat at the edge of the bed.

"So, you got money from those who owed you. Did you go to Raul's?" She wasn't startign an argument just a conversation. Her initial idea was to just accept it and get over it and so far, she was doing quite well!

[Taro Lawson]

Taro laughed when she ran and got it and came back in, hugging it to herself as if he might rip it away from her. Then she chuckled and laid it down. He looked at for a moment as she asked him whether or not he went to Raoul's. He let out a long sigh and then nodded a little bit, looking from the dress back up to her.

"Yes. That's where got the money..." he paused a moment, then he shook his head. "I'm sorry your wedding has to paid for with the money your fiancee got from a strip club. You don't know how ashamed I am of that...I wish it didn't have to be that way...And if you want, I can just use the money I already have," Taro said, looking up at her.

Jesimae didn't know how humiliating it was to have to tell your fiancee that you are paying for her wedding with money you got taking your clothes off for mostly men who had a hard on for you. It was degrading, and Taro didn't want her to think about it while she was walking down the aisle. And he would do whatever necessary to make sure this was what Jesimae wanted it to be.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae nodded and saw the small distress in his eyes, oh how his eyes usually told her tales that he never wanted to share. She smiled and shook her head wanting him to understand that it is okay and that she was not ashamed of how he used to live and make a living.

"Baby, I don't care. Money is money and it spends the same way." She stood up and walked over to him and gave him a reasuring hug and kiss. "I love you, I don't care about your past anymore okay? I know what I need to know." She looked at him and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Are any of your friends coming to the wedding? I mean...I don't mind, Taro baby."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro grinned down at her and leaned down, wrapping his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder. He took a deep breath and let it out before leaning back to look at her and answer her question. He thought a moment.

"Umm...I have an old friend whose um, around usually. I would really like for him to be here...I imagine Jiro would like for Ren to be here..." Taro chuckled. "That is if you don't mind Orange and he glaring each other down the whole time!" Taro laughed. Then he shook his head. "Other than that, as far as I am concerened there is no one. I am sure Jiro will think of other people I haven't, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We'll have to sit down and make a guest list so we can get invitations out." Taro took a deep breath and sighed.

"Kusso. This is too much work!" he laughed.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed as he stated on the mean looks. She was sure that Orange would be under good behavior if properly provoked and besides she was the maid of honor, she'd be too busy holding her flowers and crying her eyes out because of the scene unraveling.

"Hard work will pay off!" She kissed his cheek and looked up at him. "Are you saying I am not worth the hard work?" She laughed lightly joking with him. She was getting married, la la la la la la! She squeezed him and shrugged her shoulders as she let out a sigh.

"If Jiro wants Ren there then...let him come. Orange can shut up for one day! She can play nice when she has to. As for you," She leaned back again and stared into those deep pools of darkness she loved to get lost in. "invite who you want. If you want them there, then baby, I want them there as well." Again she chuckled.

"I mean how often do you get to show off my sexiness?"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro laughed down at her, reaching up to brush a rogue curl off of her cheek. He nodded, reaching back up to knock some of his own hair out of his face. Then he looked back down at her.

"Not often. Can't wait to see thier faces when they see you," he grinned. "Jealousy abounds in the Lawson household." He smiled again, then he looked up at the ceiling as if he were thinking. Then he looked back down at her. "Speaking of which...in about a week and a half you'll be Jesimae Lawson..." he said, thinking it over a minute. Then he grinned down at her. "I like the sound of that...Jesimae and Taro Lawson. Mr. and Mrs. Lawson..." he continued to think about it for a moment. Then he looked back down at her.

"Oh...and by the way...we haven't even talked about a honeymoon. Any thoughts on that one?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae let her head fall back and laughed, happy that they were even having such a conversation. She loved him so much that it felt so nice to joke around with him and to know that all was going to be well, even if it didn't seem like it at this particular time.

When he mentioned the fact that she was to soon be Mrs. Lawson it sent chills up and down her spine. In all the world she never thought in a million years her life would come to this. She never thought she'd get married and never had she fathomed the thought of gaining a new last name. Taro was off in his own little world saying their names together in any form possible and she could do nothing but laugh and relize how much she enjoyed hearing him say it. Suddenly it changed again, honeymoon.

Jesimae frowned and realized she had not even given it a thought. Honeymoon! She didn't even think there would be one!

"Honeymoon? I don't know, I haven't thought about it!" Suddenly a new excitement formed inside. "Where would you like to go? Anywhere with you is fine to me!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro grinned down at her then reached up to stroke a beard he didn't have. He hadn't really given it much thought either, though it had crossed his mind a time or two. He looked down at her and then shrugged.

"We have money...we have a ship...we have endless space to travel..." he said, letting his words trail off as he winked down at Jesimae. "We may be able to acheive the same effect without having to pay docking fees..."

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight to him as if someone might burst into the room and steal her away from him. He laid his head on her shoulder and too a deep breath, breathing in the way she smelled. He smiled to himself, as he felt a deep swell of happiness knowing that in a week and a half he would have this forever. Forever and ever until death forced his hand.

He and Jesimae would never have to part again.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae moaned at the comfort of their position and being so close together, how she loved it! How she was loving the fact that nobody else would have him, nobody else would be holding him like this for the rest of eternity. How possessive! Oh well!

"Mmm, I would love to travel the endless amount of space with you! You know..." She laughed lightly and felt her face blush slightly as if she were embarassed of the past events they had gone through. "like it was when we went to find Jabari. It was just you and me and nobody could bother us." Of course Jiro had been with them but he had been fighting off an illness from blasting into space which allowed them severe peace and quiet, even though she had been everything but quiet!

"Or we can go to a few places. Your choice!" Either way she'd be with Taro and nothing could stop them from waking up to see each others faces. How much she was loving the idea of being married, being his forever, having it finalized, having him completely, even the last name.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro grinned into her shoulder and took another deep breath sighing it out. He looked at the wall opposite to him and behind Jesimae as he breathed in her smell.

"Well...I know a couple people in some high places...we could get into some nice resorts in some very beautiful places..." Taro said. Then suddenly, he got an idea. He leaned back and looked at her. "I know Naboo holds some bad memories for you, but there is a resort practically on the other side of the planet from where we were. The Yorokobi Gardens. Its a traditional Japanese garden, with a shrine, resort, baths, and hot springs. We can be totally alone and at peace, and I can show you the full Japanese experience..." he smiled down at her, then he grinned wide. "And I will buy you the most beautiful kimono that exists." His grin melted down to a loving smile and he touched her face.

"If you want to go there, its the nicest place I know. Its your decision though. Anywhere you go, I'll follow."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae listened to him contently and suddenly an image of it all popped in her head. She and Taro together allowing his culture to shine through in a world that put it on the back burner. She could see the excitement and joy as he spoke and she could only imagine what it would be like to be with him and to be there where he described. Her face grew into a large smile and she realized she would enjoy it simply because he wanted to take her there.

She felt an immense sense of joy, how wonderful it would be to have Taro share his culture and his knowledge with her. Not only would she see him in a way she had never seen, but he'd be doing something that would make the two of them happy.

"That sounds perfect, Taro. If we go you best hold up your end of the bargain. I want that kimono!"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro nodded as big as he could manage.

"A kimono you'll get. With sakura, obi, the whole nine yards. And I promise that you won't have to be Japanese the whole time we are there. Afterwards, we should go somewhere you want to go...anywhere you like going especially?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed deeply and throaty. Taro walked right into that one. She simply hugged him tightly, nibbled his ear and whispered seductively. "The bedroom."

She was a sexaholic she was sure, but she wasn't complaining and apparently neither was Taro! Jesimae was still in a state of shock that she was engaged and it was really a nice thought, but being married was even better.

"After the wedding what is poor Jiro going to do? Is he and Orange going to get hitched next?" She laughed and looked up at Taro and smiled. Funny how everyone had someone found someone and they all worked well together.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro threw his head back and laughed, the thought of his tiniest brother getting married making him amused. Of course, the way Jiro went on about Orange, and how happy he was that they were back together, Taro wouldn't be surprised if they did get married.

Then again, Jiro also blabbed a ridiculous amount about Ren Wilcox. If Taro hadn't recently found out when they were in space that Jiro and Ren had been together, he would have thought it was just friendly talking. But Jiro had mentioned getting back into contact with him and chatting with him from six at night to eight in the morning, and being sad when they had to hang up. Taro knew Jiro loved Orange, there was no doubt about that at all, he just didn't know if there would be any marrying going on for the simple fact that he still seemed a little hung up on Ren.

But that was drama for another time. This time was for he and Jesimae. He needed to work on so many things it wasn't even funny. He needed to look at his tux, he needed to see the measurements for Haruko's tux--Haru was much to tall to be Asian--and he also needed to look into what the hell they were going to do for decorations on the roof of this place. Taking a deep breath and then smiling down at Jesimae, he nodded.

"I dunno about that, but they certainly will have more time on thier hands once we're taken care of," he said with a wink.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae sighed out and nodded. There was still so much crap that needed to be done, so much drama that could unfold over a short period of time! The main drama she wanted to keep her focus on was, of course, keeping the peace at the wedding and the reception. She and Taro had fussed all they probably could have, but she wasn't so sure if Orange and Jiro had. If Jesimae sat Orange down and gave her a little chit chat about how to keep her mind focused on Jesimae's happiness instead of her own for once, then all could be well. The only thing is she wasn't exactly sure how to tell the firey Englishwoman that Jiro wanted Ren to be there, wanted to be there to celebrate a day in his brother's life, after all they were inseperable friends.

Perhaps, Jesimae thought to herself, firey was an understatement, She began to think on how things were back in the day while they were on their way to Tattooine and the rather large fight that broke out between them, Hell, not just Ren, but Jiro, Haruko, and Taro as well! Who the hell hasn't this woman fought with? Jesimae groaned and moved away from Taro as her mind began to work hastily on the things to come. She was inviting some friends, that friend being Mei-li. Oh no! More drama! Jesimae had completely forgot about inviting her! She had randomly bumped into her a few days ago and had been quick to invite she and her little girl, Jesimae's neice. Mei-li happily accepted. Jesimae was curious if Jiro would feel a little awkward with her being there considering it seemed the two had a little flirting going on while back on Naboo.

Oh the drama! How it never seemed to stop, how the memories never seemed to pour, and how old flames managed to pop their way into the most memorable of times.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro shook his head as he looked at the tuxedos. How unattractive they were. He hadn't liked them to begin with, but now, seeing it actually on one of his brothers' bodies made them that much worse. He chewed his lip as he and Asher stood aside, watching Haruko pick at the tux and look at himself in the mirror. Taro cleared his throat, exchanging a look with Haruko in the mirror.

"I've seen worse..." Taro muttered. He saw Asher nod out of the corner of his eye. Then he shrugged. "I've seen better, too."

"Now, hush, Taro. Haruko looks handsome," Asher said reassuringly. Haruko snorted and Taro laughed.

"If looking like a penguin is what's considered handsome, then I am all over it," Haruko said, throwing a grin at Taro who smiled back at him and nodded.

"Soreha watashi ga mita aruko togatawa gotono mottomo minikui bubun dearu," Taro chuckled from behind his hand. Haruko threw his head back and laughed, plucking at the end of the jacket.

"Watashi mo!" he answered with glee. Taro shrugged, going over to Asher and kissing her on the cheek.

"Thank you, Asher. You're such a great help. I'll have to take these things and talk to Jes about. God knows there's so much we need to talk about anyway. I'll add this to the list!" Taro said with a smile. He nodded to Haruko. "You go ahead and take that off, I'm gonna hunt down Jiro for his guest list and then I'm gonna kidnap Jesimae and discuss this tux situation."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae yawned and blinked her eyes as she tried to get the sudden flood of water to go away. She had been signing the invitations and putting stamps on them to mail them out, although it was a tiny list it felt like a million were bing sent out for all the writing and stamp licking she was doing. She had been up pretty early trying to get a head start on calling the flower decorator, sending the invitations out, get her dress steamed, get the girls dresses cleaned and prepped for the occassion as well. Jesimae also had a lot of time worrying about Taro and the rest of the boys and how they are reacting to their tuxs, something gave her the feeling that not all was so hunky dory whenever they went to go try them on and get sized.

Jesimae sighed out not really remembering whose invitation she was mailing and this frustrated her. She now had to rip open the sealed envelope and read who it is addressed to, find a new envelope, seal it up, address it, and get a new stamp. Her head was hurting, along with her mouth and jaw from licking so many stamps. She sat back and sighed, quickly standing up to go get herself some water for she knew she was going to die of dehydration from stamp licking. Where was Asher's brother when she needed him?

Jesimae had to tell Taro about her sudden disliking of the idea of wearing tuxedos. He had been worrying hectically about it and trying tp please her that she swore she didn't have the heart to tell him. She was hoping he'd drop ehr a hint on how he wanted to wear Yukata's instead, but she was having no luck. Taro was too damn nice about it and was seeming to enjoy it far more than she had anticipated. Sadly, she thought they looked horrendous. How Haruko's height was thrown into upheaval when she saw him trying one on! Instead of looking like he was attending a wedding he appeared to be the mortician at a funeral!

"What to do!" She said to herself in a low whisper as she lifted a glass of water to her mouth. If she didn't speak now, she'd go to her grave always thinking Taro and his brothers looked awful.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro wandered in from the room, looking down at the list of things he still needed to do. There weren't too many things, but looking at the list over and over seemed to make it grow longer. The Japanese characters were messy and he kept going over them to make sure he was reading them right. But he had gotten confirmation from Haruko--he really was reading it right.

Taro looked up as he walked in and saw Jesimae making up invitations. He smiled at her back and walked over quietly. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, dropping the list of things on the table next to her and giving her a hug, kissing her temple.

"Konnichiwa, Konojo," he muttered into her ear, kissing it for good measure, then reasting his chin on her shoulder. "I see you've gotten a head start on these invitations."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed lightly, raising her eyebrows and letting out a disgruntled sigh. How easy he made it sound.

"Our wedding is right around the corner! I still have to get these mailed out, have everyone respond, tell the decorator how many chairs we'll need, when we'll need them, where we'll need them. Then I have to call the caterer. This is a huge hassle. So much for a simple wedding. It is making my head spin!" She sighed out happy that her complaint was now out of her system. She smield and looked over at Taro, how cute he was! Never failed. He could be having the worst day of his life and he'd still be gorgeous.

"So, how about you and your task? Everything coming along? How does...Haruko....look?" She was wanting to clench her jaw and grimmace at the thought, but kept her face straight and happy. Tuxedos...bad idea she was sure. Besides she was more interested in how Taro would look in one. She could only think he'd be beautiful. His true Asian roots being able to shine in both the temple and in his dress.

She bit her lip and smiled. Good news, that is all she wanted to hear.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro gnawed his lip and then let out a sigh. He moved around the table and sat down next to her, pushing a couple invitations and his To-Do list away from him. He looked up at Jesimae and wet his lips, trying to say this so as not to make it sound as bad as he knew it was going to anyway.

"Awful," was the word that tumbled out of his mouth instead of what he had wanted to say. He was so eloquent in Basic after all. He looked down and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Jes. But the tuxes...I mean, I guess they are okay, but they just don't look...natural. I know its what you wanted, and we can still wear them if you like, really. They aren't unbearable. And when given the proper motivation, the Lawson's can look good in anything," he said with a wink. "I am sure we can make them work, for you."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae was a bit taken aback by his bluntness, simply because he enever thought he'd actually tell her since it was her dream, according to him. She frowned and shook her head.

"Work? For me? I want them to be what you want as well!" She sighed out and shook her head and ran a hand over her forehead. For the first time in a while it had been the first huge releif she had had! She looked up at Taro and began to chuckle, imagining Taro in his tux would be cute, but it'd be too huge. Jiro would look fine but she knew that that kind of attire would throw off his personality, and Haruko...she didn't even go there for she doubted nothing but Haruko's clothes fit him. That and a yukata.

"I never wanted a tux on you all!" She let it out after holding it in for so long. She was sure she could have saved everyone a lot of grief but she didn't have to heart to tell Taro after he seemed so enthralled about it! So willing to wear them! "Haruko would look horrible! Nothing would fit him! Something would either be too big or too short! Jiro would look uncomfortable, and you'd..." She bit her lip and invisioned it. She laughed harder than before.

"Taro you'd look like...you are too tiny to wear it. You'd look like a little boy in your fathers suit. Not good."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro's jaw dropped. Why hadn't she said anything before!? Before he had spent the money getting them sized and rented? Before he had said they were going to get them? Before any of this had happened at all?

Taro couldn't believe it. Of course, there was a releif there, a releif that he wouldn't have to wear that godforsaken bit of cloth ever again, but there was also annoyance. If she felt so strongly about it, why hadn't she said something already? He stared at her. And stared at her, and stared at her. Surely she was joking? Maybe he had heard her wrong. Myabe she really was telling him this after all the trouble he and his brothers had gone to getting the perfect (or mostly perfect) tuxes, and paying the outrageous rent for them.

But he could tell from the look on her face that she wasn't kidding. She really was telling him that she was blowing off all of thier hard work to make her happy by telling him now--at the worst possible moment--that she had never wanted them in a tux. Taro put two fingers on his forehead.

"Buddha..." he muttered, turning back and beginning back towards where Haru and Asher were, probably still trying to make the tux fit Haruko's odd curves correctly. "I'll just go inform them that we just paid three arms and a leg for something we can't even use. Thanks for telling me this now," he muttered, a little annoyed. He knew Jesimae probably would have told him if she hadn't had a good reason not to, so he wasn't really angry. Just extremely bothered.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae hissed to herself when he has muttered his God's name. She wasn't really giving him the truth at a perfect time, matter of fact she knew that there was no time perfect to tell him anything with a wedding in several days and couting. She knew he was going to be annoyed and she was a bit mad she didn't speak up before but she was hoping to avoida blow up considering any more arguing and things would have really hit the fan and ther might've p[ossibly not been a wedding at all.

"I'm...so sorry, baby!" Jesimae stood up and called to him as he walked away thorwing her a hand that was meant to be a signal to not bother him at the moment. She bit her lower lip and screamed she loved him, but she got no response. Dear God how things never ended with these two. She sighed out and felt a headache coming on an she just took a seat. She began to focus on the problem in front of her. Invitations. She'd let Taro clean up the mess she created and if he didn't talk to her for a few good hours she'd be perfectly fine knowing she deserved it for bottling up such a huge opinion.

She sat down and for a while began working quickly and making good time on the invites, but her mind began to wander. She had to do something for him, he and his brothers. They had been worrying about the tuxes and Taro was worried about everything being perfect and even paying a lot of money for them. She knew she was going to probably pay for this one. But she kept a soft smile on her face for some reason she felt that things weren't on the rocks that things were going to be fine. Plus she was just remembering what she and Jiro were doing secretly behind Taro's back. Hopefully that would make up for the problems she had caused in the past.

"What!?" The shriek from Asher, Haruko, and Jiro made her jump. Okay, it might appease Taro, but she wasn't so sure about the other willing party. Dear God she had created another mess.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro blew a lock of hair out of his face, the just tainted strand getting on his nerves right this moment. Jiro's face had paled slightly, and his clothing, which had been neat and straight that morning, were slightly askew. Asher and Haru were showing there own wear, and the news he had just brought them had not made them happy campers.

Taro shrugged, picking up Jiro's brown suede jacket from the floor where he had tossed it earlier and pulling it on. It was from a higher end store, so it didn't fit quite perfectly, but it would keep him warm, as it was rather cold in here. Jiro wiped a hand across his forehead and sighed, putting his fists on his hips.

"So we're going to have to figure something else out, God knows what Jes has in mind. We'll have to return these, and see if we can get anything back from it..." Taro said with a shrug, looking down at his hands. Jiro waved hand in front of his face.

"We've got our Yukata's. We could..." he said, shrugging. Taro shook his head.

"I don't know. You'll have to take that and throw it at Jesimae. She is calling the shots over wardrobe from now on. The Lawson's aren't cut out for this."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae contorted her mouth in odd shapes as she sat down staring over the Japanese characters and translations that Jiro had scribbled down for her. He was a pretty good teacher she had thught to herself over the past few days. She had learned a lot, although living with them had helped her immensley, now that Jiro was breaking things down into simple form and teaching her slowly, even by writing out words that they might sound like as to get proper pronunciation. Now he was beginning to leave words without meanings, wanting her to learn them on her own. Of course she had to go back to another paper he had written it on, but he was trusting her to learn it.

Jesimae looked at the clock on the upperhand corner of the desk. It was nearing one in the morning and the boys were still in the living room cracking up and laughing so loud that, at times, she wondered how Orange even got to sleep in the next room. She sighed out and leaned her head on her hand as she whispered the words, meanings, and sentences to herself, barely drowning out the sound of excitable voices screaming Japanese in the room over. The walls were either paper thin or those boys had a pair of vocal chords that could be heard for miles. Jesimae smiled and knew it was probably a little bit of both after all she had never herd anyone scream or talk so loud in all her life until she met those three Japanese boys.

Jesimae took a break knowing at this late hour and studying for over two straight it was time for one. Her mind was too preoccupied now that she began to become nostalgic. Thinking of when they first met was something she had been doing a lot lately, partly due to excitement for marrying into the family the other because she missed those times. A lot had happened to them in over the course of a year and four months, so much so that she had somtimes wondered about her future had she not even met them. It had been so long since she had gone to her apartment and picked up items that were long forgotten. All Jesimae had now was what she had aquaired over the course of living with them, new clothes had been bought, furnishings had been bought...even pictures had been replaced. As well as new memories. She moved in the chair and leaned back, hearing it creak underneath her weight.

She crossed one leg over the other and she began to swivel it side to side as she mindlessly allowed her eye to blindly focus at the ceiling. Jesimae Phoenix was no longer Jesimae. Her life had been altered so much that it was almost shocking to believe even if she had experienced it all. Her lifestyle was certainly different, her urges to go back into bounty hunting not so evident, her gambling habits had dissipated, her lust to be alone no longer wanted, and her family....no longer thought of. Jesimae looked over her shoulder when she heard Haruko scream something followed by mixed voices. She smiled to herself and stared at the door not following anything. That was technically her family now and she was content with that. Everyone she had met she loved in one way or another and she called them family and held them close to her heart.

Jesimae leaned forward again and stared at the paper with notes scribbled all over the place. Hopefully, she thought to herself as she scanned the written words, Taro isn't mad anymore. Since she had broken the news about the tuxedo and yukata conversation it seemed he had been keeping his distance. He hadn't seemed mad, just aggravated. Jesimae knew that this was another love quarrel they'd have before the wedding and it'd be sorted out sooner or later, she just hoped it was sooner rather than later.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro laughed like a kid as Jiro made a stupid face at him, immitating what he looked like in the morning. Haruko, on the couch beside him smack Jiro on the shoulder, shaking his head and turning, making a different face, a better immitation of what Taro looked like in the morning. What a pointless conversation this was, but how Taro enjoyed it. He loved having moronic conversations with his brothers. They were his boys. His baby boy and his crazy boy. They were his brothers, the people that could always make him laugh.

Taro leaned back in the couch, holding his stomach as his muscles ached from laughing so much. He shook his head, then looked down at his watch and sighed.

"Yoku , watashi ha neka serukotowo eru bekidearu," he said with a nod, standing straight and stretching. Jiro did the same, yawning wide, his eyes watering slightly.

"Hai, watashi mo," he said. Taro leaned over and hugged him, kissing his ear and mussing his hair. Haruko stood as well, nodding.

"Watashi mo," he said, patting Taro on the shoulder and brushing a hand over Jiro's cheek. "Oyasumi." Taro nodded and jumped over the couch waving to Jiro as he headed for his room, and Haruko as he headed for his room. Taro walked to the door of his room, flipping the lights off in the living room and pushing the door open quietly, thinking Jesimae would still be asleep. However, when the door was fully opened and he saw her at his desk with a peice of paper, he smiled a little. She was probably working on things for the wedding.

Taro's earlier annoyance with her had gone away after awhile and he was ready to make amends. He watched her put the paper away then walked over, sneaking up behind her placing his arms around her shoulders and kissing her ear gently. He rested his chin on her shoulder and sighed out, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"I love you, Jesimae," he said quietly, reaching over her shoulder and pressing the lighting control, the lights in his room going off. "I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have gotten so bothered..." he whispered quietly to her, kissing her on the cheek again. "Forgive me?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae closed her eyes as she stared at the paper not really wanting to study any longer. She leaned back and put the paper away in a drawer and hiding it under a few pieces of paper about certain things for the wedding. She knew Taro would see that and run so she wasn't taking too many precautions about putting it somewhere. Besides it was basic words and it wouldn't really make much sense to him anyhow. He'd think she was just trying to remember a few words for her own entertainment. She slightly jumped when she felt the tiny arms of Taro wrap around her shoulders and have him lean his chin on her shoulder before sighing out, telling her he loved her.

She wanted to smile and smack herself in the face for she couldn't take hearing that. It made her so happy. She leaned into him slightly and watched him reach over and turn the light off before he actually apologized. She smiled to herself and nodded.

"Don't I always?" She said with a slight laugh. She stood up and sighed out, knowing it was time to hit the hay. She just wanted everything to be over and done with. To have that last name was beginning to become her lifes mission. Jesimae walked over to the tiny little dresser and opened the drawer quickly pulling out a shirt and undressing into a shirt more fitted to sleep in.

"You shouldn't have been bothered, baby." Jesimae looked over and saw him in the shadows and felt her body simply melt. "I should have said something much sooner. I shouldn't have put you through hell. So, forgive me?"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro watched her change and leaned on the desk. How wonderful she was. How beautiful. How everything he had always needed, wanted, or anything. She fulfilled his every. Emotionally he needed nothing more than her love. And physically she fulfilled every fantasy he had ever had. She was lacking in no area. Taro couldn't think of a more perfect woman. And she was his. It still blew him away, to this day. She was the most perfect woman in the universe and she belonged to him. She was all his. And soon, they would cement that for good.

"Of course," he whispered, looking down at his feet and then leaning his head back, reaching up and rubbing his neck. He felt it crack slightly and he yawned, looking back over. He smiled a little in the shadows. "You know, in a few more days, you'll be Mrs. Lawson," he said, still unable to believe it. "I can't imagine a Mrs. Lawson. There are so many boys, I never thought a woman would want into this insanity."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled so big that she swore people from other Universe's could see it through his apartment. She had to stop a moment before pulling the shirt over her head. She had to allow herself to think of that again. A few days. No way!! Was this happening? Jesimae felt her heart flutter with excitement and nerves. What was going to happen after they were finally hitched? Things weren't going to change, sure, but it would somehow be different she just knew it would. Surprisingly she was loving that thought. She looked over at his shadow and let out a low laugh as to not disturb anyone else considering she was wanting to jump up and down with glee and malke giddy hyper childlike noises.

"Well although you all are crazy, I have one the best reason why I'd want to!" She pulled her shirt on and walked over to him and put her arms around his waist and gave him a deep kiss. One that she hadn't done in quite some time. She let out a sigh of happiness and contentness. She leaned back and frowned softly, running her hands up and down his back.

"Taro?" She said softly to him as she found his eyes through the dark room. "Are you nervous?"

[Taro Lawson]

Taro let out a breathy laugh as he looked down at her. Nervous? No, not Taro Lawson, right? Wrong.

Taro had never been so nervous in his life. He was about to pledge his life to another human being, about to actually act on the emotions he held deep inside of him, something he was not used to. He was publicly stating that he loved this woman, and Taro never made feelings this intimate public. It was scary for him, yet he never wanted to do something so much in his entire life. He wanted to just call the temple now and do it right this moment. But he knew he couldn't. He smiled down at her and let out a nervous laugh.

"Petrified," he said quietly. Then he leaned down and kissed her as deeply as she had him. "Absolutely mortified." Another kiss. "Completely terrified." A kiss, then a smile. "But the happiest man in the universe."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae's heart was beating so fast inside of her she swore it'd fly out. Despite being with him through good times and bad, being with him for over a year...she was almost shocked at how crazy it was to think that he still gave her a feeling that took her back to that night she and Jiro crawled through goop and into the apartment where she literally met the man of her dreams.

"Good." She said kissing him again, enjoying their little game. "Because I am, too." She kissed him again and let out a sigh, butterflies reaplcing that childlike feeling. She leaned her cheek on his shoulder blade and closed her eyes as she held him tightly. "I don't want this to happen any other way, yet I want it to be over with. I bet something horrible will happen to us that day. I'll probably end up barfing on your precious Yukata's." She smiled and gave a slightly laugh at her own silly thought.

"I can't wait."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro couldn't help but laugh out loud at that as he ran his hands over her head. He shook his head.

"Yukata's wash," he said. "And besides, it'll probably be me or someone connected to me that ruins everything," he said in a laugh. "Just pray that things go off good. I just want to tack my name on yours and have you with me forever. I just want things to happen smoothly. God forbid that happen in the Lawson's lives," he laughed, leaning his head down and resting it on hers.

"I love you Jesimae Phoenix."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed lightly finding the thought appealing. Combined their bad luck would have been horrible. She loved being this close to Taro, she wondered if he even knew how much that she loved being close and touched by him. It made her warm and fuzzy inside, literally. It were as if nothin gbad could come to them because Taro was there and he'd fix any problem or strife that came their way. It was something she had never been able to experience before, safety and happiness. How good that sounded together!

"Watashi mo." She responded to Taro's term of endearment. She seriously could just fall asleep in his arms like this. If only time would hurry up and get to that wedding. She wanted that sucker set in stone, she wanted that last name, she wanted that last nail in the coffin for them to be united in such a way that made everything final.

[Taro Lawson]

-------

Taro had almost thrown up that morning. Almost.

He had opted not to eat anything until he was sure that he was in the clear. It wasn't even the morning of the wedding and he still felt like he could puke at any moment. He had exactly one day before he would give his heart away and replace it with Jesimae's. He was nervous as all get out, and he didn't know how to settle himself.

He had tried to busy himself with last minute preparations. But in about an hour, he and most of the people who would be there tomorrow were going to gather at the temple for the practice. Taro was nervous enough about that.

He ran a hand down his face as he got out of the shower, the towel wrapped around his waist. His stomach ache had eased in the shower and he was finally feeling hungry. He looked at the clock in the wall. Ten o'clock. He wondered if Jesimae wanted a shower. He assumed so. He would probably make breakfast for her too while he was making something for himself. Taking a deep breath, he let it out and leaned on the sink.

One more day. Just one.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae tossed and turned in the bed. She wasn't ready to get up for any sudden movement was going to cause something to happen that she was not wanting. Any stomach contents that were left from the previous night were going to be spilled on the floor, bed, herself, anything in sight to be honest. She had a hard time sleeping the night before and she knew it was going to get worse which was why seh was planning on having a few drinks so she knew she'd at least sleep a while.

God, it was tomorrow! The wedding was TOMORROW! Jesimae groaned at that thought. No, she couldn't do it! She couldn't stand in front of people and say things that meant the world to her, she couldn't kiss him in a place of holiness! She couldn't kiss him in front of strangers! She just....

"Oh...no." Jesimae jumped out of bed and ran towards the bathroom and burst through the door, not caring if Taro was stark naked or anyone else for that matter. She dropped to her knees so fast she almost fell into the toilet itself. She let it all out and suddenly realized that Taro was standing there in a towel, probably wanting to take another shower after witnessing that.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro felt worry, then a little laughter creep up in his throat. He kneeled down behind her, reaching down and pulling her hair up and away from her face so she would have a clear shot if the urge came over her again. He used his other hand to rub her back gently, a smile on his lips. Poor thing. He didn't know if she was actually sick, or just nervous, but either way he felt sorry for her.

"I know the feeling, dearheart," he said, massaging her shoulders with his hand. He watched the side of her face and leaned down, kissing her shoulder blade. "Sick? Nerves?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae let out a noise of displeasure. How in God's name did she get so nervous that it caused her body to go against her and cause her to throw up? She had done hard things in her past, like survive in a world of bounty hunting and death, yet she was more frightened of getting married than she ever was of getting killed.

"Jesus." She stated as she leaned her head on her hand, feeling Taro touch her back gently. Calming her greatly. "You guessed it. I don't think I can do this. I am going to pass out, I just know it." She was sure she was thinking the worst, but she didn't care. It was tomorrow! She let out a sigh and stood up slowly, holding her stomach. She grabbed her toothbrush and quickly began to scrub her mouth out, glancing over at Taro as he smiled with the best of intentions and flushed the toilet.

"How can you be so calm!?" She asked with a mouthfull of toothpaste and a toothbrush. Damn him for having nerves of steel!

[Taro Lawson]

Taro laughed out loud, pulling the towel off his waist and rubbing it vigorously through his hair, pulling on his exercise pants and laying the towel about his shoulders. He watched her brush her teeth and smiled at her in the mirror.

"You should have seen me at about one o'clock this morning," he said with a chuckle. "My head was in the toilet. But somehow I didn't actually barf," he said with a smile. "I am so nervous I can barely breathe, but..." he nodded. "We'll get through it. Cause we're here for each other to hold hair when we puke," he said teasingly, patting her back. Then he poked her side.

"And you better do it," he said, again, teasing her. "I did not light every one of those damn candles on this roof for you not to go through with it," he laughed, trying to make the situation lighter.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed like a giddy child and slightly fidgeted at his playful poking. She loved this man so much! Her friends always told her that she had met the perfect man when he was there holding your hair back. She couldn't help but to actually agree. Taro just didn't know how she'd hold his hair back and anything else that needed to be held. Not even the most repulsive thing could turn her away from her little boy. She smiled and looked at him as he continued to tease her about candle lighting. God if it weren't for her fear of puking on him she'd jump his bones.

"Believe me!" She said turning quickly to spit out the toothpaste that only urked her stomach more. "I am in this for good. If anything were to happen to you I'd slit my wrists." She washed her mouth out and sighed out. She was feeling a bit better now that she had let it out. She just prayed that she wouldn't do this tomorrow at anytime. If she were to barg at least let it be after the wedding and reception.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro laughed and moved back into the bedroom, tossing his towel into a corner and going to the door. He pushed it open and peered out. All was quiet. He knew Haruko was going to wake up early to go get thier Yukata's pressed and cleaned. Jiro...was probably still asleep as he never got up before eleven if he didn't absolutely have to. And Orange? Had she come over the night before? Taro laughed. Yes, he had heard her and Jiro together in the next room.

He turned and looked at Jes through the door imagining she probably didn't want any food. He chewed his lip and laughed. He was getting a little more calm now, but he was still so nervous.

"One day, Jes. And you'll be my wife."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled to herself as she pushed back a piece of hair out of her face behind her ears. She was getting married. Tomorrow! She was so scared of what was to come! She already knew what was going to happen and they were going to do the rehearsal later on so tomorrow wasn't going to be a shot in the dark. But it still made her nervous and scared of all the things that were going to happen, It was going to go by so fast she knew, so she had to calm down and she had to breathe! Everything was going to be fine! She was going to enjoy this day and tomorrow and tomorrow night especially for it'll be...well...their first...sorta.

Jesime afelt her body grow warm with that thought. If anything was to cause her day to go by painfully slow it'd be thinking of not touching him until that night. She smiled and shook her head. She was so perverted. She never remembered being such an addict to one mans body before in her whole life and she was absolutely loving it.

"Tomorrow..." She sang to herself as she brushed her haid. "I'll be Mrs. Taro Lawson!" She made a high pitched squeal and felt her eyes water. That was going to be the best day of her life!

[Taro Lawson]

Taro cringed a little at the squeal but couldn't help but laugh. How adorable she was. From the practice on, he and Jes would be separated. She would be with Orange and her other couple friends having thier girl's night out, and Taro, Jiro, Haruko and a few other's would be having a bachelor party. Taro would be stressing about the last few details, and certainly Jes would be too. And he would not see her that night at all. She would be staying with Orange probably, with her wedding dress awaiting her wearing it tomorrow.

He wouldn't see her again until she walked down the aisle the next day. That scared Taro, making it seem closer, yet he was so happy. Taro couldn't remember being so happy. Two years ago, if someone had told him he would be getting married, he would have laughed in thier faces. But now, it wasn't so strange.

Just scary!

[Jesimae Lawson]

-----------------------

Jesimae stared out the window of Orange's apartment trying to get the feeling of butterflies, nasuea, upset stomach and anything else that deccided to cause her body harm. She couldn't eat the dinner that Asher and Orange had paid for and had wanted to surprise her with. She had appreciated the gesture so much and felt so bad for not eating she ended up crying. She had never felt more hormonal than she had that night. God how she hated being a woman under stress! The things they did were not normal! She prayed that Taro got to have a ball with those two wild boys back home but all she could think about was her misery.

Jesimae sighed out as she looked around outside wonderinf if she could somehow sneak out of the house on over to Taro's and sneak a peak at him! Get a kiss..something! She had done all that earlier that night right after the rehearsal, but she was just wanting his comfort for she was on edge and was about to perform surgery on herself and rip out her stomach.

Jesimae had such fun with Asher and Orange, but she was already missing Taro. It shocked her and almost floored her when she realized that this was the first time she had ever been away from Taro. Sure they had their moments in slept in seperate rooms, but this was literally across the city from him. This would be the first, and last time, she'd be alone. She was going to enjoy the last night being by herself, but she knew she wasn't going to enjoy it half as much as she would if it were with Taro.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro had had fun with Jiro, Haruko and his best friend from Raoul's but now that he and his brother's were back in the apartment, just talking, he felt lonely. Jesimae wasn't there. Even if she hadn't have been saying anything, she still would have been there. But she wasn't and it was wrong. He felt wrong without her there.

"So, I'm going to have to give you up tomorrow, huh?" he heard Jiro, next to him, say quietly. Taro looked up and over at him. His littlest brother had not yet expressed himself about the wedding. Haruko had--he was excited. But he hadn't spent nearly the time with Taro that Jiro had. They were like twins, all but joined at the hip. Taro smiled a little leaning his head over and resting it on Jiro's shoulder.

"Yeah..." Taro said, a little sadly. He leaned up and brushed some of Jiro's hair from his face. "Yeah, you will. But I'll always be there, Jiro. I'm not leaving you, I promise."

"I know," Jiro said, looking over at his brother. He smiled a little. "I trust Jesimae. She'll take care of you. She'll pick up where I leave off." Jiro looked sad and happy at the same time. Taro grinned, throwing his arms around his brother and holding him tight.

"I love you, Jiro. You'll always be my baby boy."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae groaned miserably as she moved around in the bed. She wanted Taro to be beside her for it felt cold, desolate, and lonely. She remembered when she first slept in Taro's bed all by herself and how godly it smelled. The next day she had seen him again without his shirt on, it had made her so excited and made her feel so entirely different like she hadn't seen such a beautiful thing before in her life. To this day she'd still get all happy inside to think about it. She smiled to herself. if he couldn't sleep with her at least she'd have him in her thoughts.

There was soft knock at the door and she looked over and saw Orange and Asher walk in. They were smiling and happy, bringing their pillows along with them. Orange ran and jumped on the bed and Jesimae couldn't help but laugh. How it reminded her Jiro and his tendency to be hyper, although recently he had been a bit different.

"Hey, what are you all doing?" Jesimae questioned as she say up in her bed. Orange and Asher looked at each other and smiled.

"Thought you might want some company!" Orange stated with a large grin.

"We knew you couldn't get a good nights sleep without someone beside you!" Asher added. Perhaps tonight wouldn't be so bad!

[Taro Lawson]

Taro, Jiro, and Haruko bedded down in the living room. Taro was in the middle, Haruko on his left and Jiro on his right. They all laid on thier backs on the two mattresses they had dragged out, staring up at the ceiling quietly. Taro had never known any of them to be so silent. They had been so for about twenty minutes, simply staring at the cieling, saying nothing.

Suddenly, however, he felt the mattresses shaking and he looked over. Jiro was laughing hysterically, but had a hand clamped over his mouth. Then he heard Haruko and he looked over. His elder brother was in hysterics as well. He grinned and just as Haruko and Jiro exploded into wild laughter, Taro lost it and began rolling around between them, holding his stomach.

He didn't know what was so damn funny, but it sure was.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae's laughter began to settle down after a while when they had stopped hitting each other with their pillows. Since they had walked into the bedroom they had turned on the lights, eaten icecream, had girl talk, and had ended it all with a pillow fight. Jesimae didn't know a better way to have ended the night now that they were all squished together on a tiny bed and the lights were out. They'd giggle every now and then whenever someone said something funny, thought of something amusing, or just had the sudden case of the giggles.

Jesimae let out a sigh as she laid on her back staring up at the cieling, her mind wandering over to what Taro had done and what everyone was doing. She loved her friends, but Taro was just everything to her and being this far apart was killing her. She glanced over at the clock and suddenly her stomach turned. It was 2 AM. Less then five hours she'd be getting dressed and trying ot keep her stomach from going haywire and causing disasteraous results that could halt a wedding.

Jesimae bit her lower lip and looked at Asher and Orange. They were starting to drift into sleep. She smiled and crawled out of bed and walked over to her jeans in the floor. She bent down and grabbed her comlink and snuck out of the room, hearing Asher groan something. Jesimae closed the door and tip toed into the dark living room and took a seat on the couch and quickly saw her comlink light up brightly, shedding light into the room. She dialed quickly and bit her lower lip and waited for an answer. Hopefully Taro wouldn't be asleep just yet!

[Taro Lawson]

Taro had to smack Haruko across the head to get him to stop laughing, had to struggled away from Jiro who had him in a death grip, and stumble over top of them both to get to his comlink. They were both still laughing uproariously when he grabbed it and answered.

"Mn, moshi moshi," he snickered, waving a hand at his brother's who only cracked up farther. He turned away from them so he could control himself. He held the comlink closer to his ear and sighed out through his nose. "Mm, hello?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae closed her eyes and felt so relieved to hear him speak,to hear those boys in the background, to know that they all hadn't gotten themselves killed! Jesimae wanted to cry because she missed him so much, but she controlled herself....surprisingly. She bit her lower lip and heard Taro speak again.

"I miss you." She said in a low voice not wanting the boys to hear and not really wanting the girls to either. This was probably the most private call she'd ever make in her entire life.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro heard Jesimae's voice and couldn't help but smile. He turned, looking at Jiro and Haruko over his shoulder. They were having thier own little conversation in Japanese and wouldn't notice if he slipped into his room to talk to his fiance. He moved to the door, going in and shutting it behind him, locking it as well, just in case Jiro got the cute idea to burst on him while he was in the middle of a private conversation with his almost wife.

"I miss you too, baby," he said quietly, going to his bed and sitting down on the frame--the mattress was in the living room with Haruko and Jiro. He looked down at his feet, smiling from ear to ear, the sound of her voice making him much happier than any human voice should have. "I've been holding down the fort with the wild boys over here," he chuckled, letting out a breath. He missed this woman so much.

It occured to him that really, in the past year and several months, this was the first real time they had spent apart. Certainly there were times when they had been away from each other, slept seperately, gotten thier space, but that had not been for so long at one time. It had been one night, but they had always been in the same building together. Now, she may have only been just a few districts over, but it felt like she was galaxies away. He couldn't just go into the next room and touch her face. He wouldn't see her until the next morning at ten thirty, when she was going to meet him in the foyer and they would walk down the aisle together. He wondered what she was doing, how Asher and Orange and she had entertained themselves.

"How are things for you?" he asked, then smiled a little. "Stomach settle down?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled so brightly that it probably lit up the room more than the comlink had. She wanted to just hug the phone as if this would somehow give her peace of mind and fulfill that need to touch and see him. God to smell him would be nice as well. This was torture for her andshe was having a hard time dealing with this space. At least she knew that no matter how mad they got at each other and slpet in separate places in the house, they'd both go insane if it last for more than two nights.

Jesimae sighed out and held her stomach after he asked his question. It was much better now that she had heard his voice knowing he hadn't been killed by Haru and Jiro.

"I didn't eat dinner. I was so sick to my stomach." She laughed lightly and suddenly felt like an idiot. "I cried because of it." She ran a hand over her head it suddenly becoming very warm in the room. She was dying without Taro! She was almost sure that her arms had been cut off and that all of her air supply was lost because Taro had fulfilled every need she ever had. Taro was her heart, if anything were to happen to him she'd die without it. One person just couldn't live without their heart.

"Asher and Orange are sleeping in the bedroom. Apparently my dependence on needing you beside me was obvious. They came to sleep with me." She let out a very low and soft chuckle. She was almost going to break and burst into tears. Not because she was getting married, or that her stoamch hurt, or that she loved hearing his voice, but simply because she missed him. She sniffed back the tears that were trying to just roll down her face.

"How about you? I am glad to hear that you all are still alive." She smiled and bit her lower lip. God how much she loved Taro.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro grinned, hearing as Haruko and Jiro began a lively pillow fight in the next room. He went to the door and held the comlink to it, allowing her to hear their wild cries as if they were a couple of banshees. He let the comlink linger there for a moment before raising it up to speak again. He let out a laugh.

"It's a warzone here still," Taro said in a laugh. "I was too afraid to sleep alone, so Haruko and Jiro dragged in two mattresses and we have all bedded out in the living room," he admitted to her. Then laughed. "And don't you dare tell any other living soul that either. That is husband, wife confidentiality!" he said through another laugh. He bit his lip, looking up and around him. He missed her so much, just hearing her voice was a slight respite for what ailed him, but he still couldn't touch her, or hold her, or kiss her. He was having to live without her for much longer than he was really comfortable with. He had never needed to be with someone like he needed to be with Jesimae. And he never would again. She was all he needed, for the rest of his life.

"We're going to both have such shadows under our eyes in the morning," he said laughing, half from the thought and half because he heard a grand crash as it sounded like Jiro had thrown himself into the table.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed lightly at the noises that were going on in the background of their conversation. It sounded more like a nut house and she could only imagine what they were screaming and laughing about. She could only imagine what those three could scheme up together! She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of happiness. Although it wasn't really helping her at all hearing him speak she was just so relieved to be talking to him. She hoped that it wasn't bad luck of any kind.

"I won't be able to sleep tonight I am sure. I just miss you too much and I am too scared." She laughed lightly and let out a sigh. "I guess I will let you go back to the boys. I am sure they are going to realize that you are on the phone." She laughed. The sooner she went to bed the sooner she'd be able to see Taro.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro smiled at the comlink as if she would be able to see it. Then he let out a breath and switched the comlink to the other hand, smiling a little wider.

"Alright," he said through a sigh. "Big plunge in..." he looked down at his watch. Three thirty. He smiled. "Seven hours." He grinned a little wider, happy, nervous, and scared all at once. He sighed. "I love you baby."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae smiled not really wanting to hang up, but finally realizing that she was getting tired and nddeded to rest. If she wanted to be aware of what was happening tomorrow she needed at least a few hours of sleep. She had so much to do tomorrow that it was pathetic. She breathed out and nodded as if he coudl see her.

"I love you too. I miss you. I can't wait to see you tomorrow." She groaned and tried to find the strength to hang up. "Okay. I guess I'll go. Ashiteru. See you tomorrow."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro smiled, mirroring her 'aishiteru' and slowly disconnecting the line. He yawned wide and stood up from the frame, tossing the comlink onto his bedside stand and going to his bedroom door, unlocking it and opening it, peering out into the living room.

Haruko and Jiro were sitting on the mattress, playing some game that Taro didn't recognize. He smiled to himself. And he realized that this would be the last time he would really see this anymore. In a way he was sad about it. He would be leaving Jiro and Haruko and Jesimae and he would live together, and he would only visit his brothers, and they he. It hurt a little knowing it, but he knew that it was right, and that he wanted to do it. He wanted to live with Jesimae, and he knew that Jiro needed to do some things on his own anyway.

Moving into the living room, both of his brothers looked over and smiled at him as he crawled back onto the mattresses and laid down between them. Jiro put a hand on his head, and played with his hair, and Haruko looked down at him, a smile on his face.

"I gotta sleep, loves. I have to get married tomorrow."

[Jesimae Lawson]

"Kuso!" Jesimae said as loud as she could as she ran from one end of Orange's apartment to the next. She was having a dilemma. She was eating her breakfast, Orange was fixing her hair, and Asher was ironing out some last kinks in her dress. The only dilemma she was having was that she couldn't stop moving, couldn't stop fidgeting, and she had just ruined her hair. She was fuming with anger that was turning into a rush of hormonal turns. She was bridezilla! She wanted to cry, but she couldn't for Asher had done her make-up.

"You need to stop eating, breathe, and calm down! You are just walking down a damn aisle with Taro. Repeating a few lines giving each other a kiss, and then walking back out the door. How hard can this be!" She and Orange had already exchanged words, only to end up making up two seconds later considering it was too late to hate each other since the wedding was coming fast.

"Shut up, Orange! This is more than walking down an ailse!" Jesimae slammed the bathroom door so she could go release herself. Asher had been keeping quiet not harming anything just giving advice and smiling like always. Jesimae was already wanting to kill her. Jesimae was wanting this to end! She was tired and running so late that she was fearing the wedding would be put to a halt. That was her worst fear.

"You know what I think?" Asher looked up from ironing the dress to see Orange standing holding a curling iron in one hand a cigarette with the other. "This is more stressful on her for she is showing her love in front of everyone, plus she is scared something is going to go wrong." Orange stared at Asher and clenched her jaw.

"Asher...shut up and iron." Orange sighed out aggravated at the entire situation and smoked her cigarette waiting for Jesimae to return.

"Don't tell her to shut up!" Jesimae stated angered as she stormed over to the chair and took a seat. "We need to hurry! You are slow! We were supposed to be at the temple fifteen minutes ago." Orange was two secondsaway from putting the iron to her head and ruining her face, but she didn't. She grabbed another piece of her long hair and began to curl, praying that this was worth it.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro was kneeling in front of the Buddha statue in the temple, insence in his hands, his eyes closed as he felt Haruko and Jiro on either side of him. He was in his Yukata, a blue one, with a red wrap and pink sakura on it. He had not worn in in ages and had murdered himself several times trying to get into it that morning. It had to be pinned at the back under the wrap because his waist was a little too small, and he had ripped his finger off trying to pin it.

Haruko had done his hair, twisting it prettily atop his head and securing it with decorative chop sticks. Jiro had worried about Taro shoes that he hadn't wanted to don until they got to the temple. So Jiro had carried them for him. And Taro had been responsible for keep his Yukatas up and covered with the jacket they had. The three of them had been a sight in the hover taxi going to the temple. Jiro fussing over the shoes, Taro stressing about his Yukata, and Haruko trying to secure Taro's hair correctly.

But now, most was silent. The room in the foyer he inhabited was across from where the room was that Jesimae would come through to him and they would meet in the middle, going down the aisle. He would not see her, for she would enter on the other side of the building from him, and he was nervous as hell. But as he sat there, his eyes closed, praying in his native tongue for guidance, for strength, and for assisstance all the years they were married, he could smell the incense, feel his brothers near, and hear the friendly talk of people waiting for the ceremony to start, he felt in place. This was where he was supposed to be.

Slowly, Taro opened his eyes, reaching over and placing his incense into a small jar of powder, so that the stick stood up and continued to burn, taking his prayers to Buddha. There was food laid out in front of the rather small statue. When Buddha was finished with it, men who had set the temple up for this would have thier meal from it. Taro and Jes were serving food back at his home, where they were having the reception on the roof.

Leaning back and taking a deep breath, he watched Haruko and Jiro place thier incense in the jar and sit back as well. Nothing was said, but nothing needed to be. Everything was alright.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae bit her lower lip as she stood in front of the mirror. it ws quiver so ast that she barely knew what to do with heserlf. Her eyes were watering, she was ready to cry, but she kept it inside and let out a sigh as Asher looked at her with Orange. Both were trying to keep their tears contained as well. The dress was on, her hair was pinned to perfection, the make-up was immaculate, and her two adopted sisters were standing their in their beautiful long form fitting silk dresses that would match the boys Yukata's perfectly. It seemed that all was working just fine. Nothing was out of place. Everything just suddenly seemed right.

"Thank you so much!" She looked at Asher and Orange and they all embraced in a tight hug. They all were quick to wipe their tears of joy away and grab their shoes at the door that had yet to be put on. Orange had the same Japanese law as everyone else: No shoes in the house! Jesimae had dawned on flip flops and grabbed her shoes and headed out the door, Asher behind her holding up her long dress, fixing a necklace that she had never seen before. Jesimae had nearly burst into tears when she mentioned that Taro had bought it for her.

Orange wasn't far behind. She had her shoes and was locking the door, holding up her own dress, as well as Asher's. This was teamwork Orange had never dealt with before, but they were all doing it so well together!

"The hover taxi is ready to go!" Asher said as they all jogged out of the building near the ship port where Orange worked. "I paid the way. All we need to do is get to the temple and avoid seeing Taro!" Jesimae crawled inside, watchign a few people stop to look at her for a moment before walking on. Jesimae was suddenly excited and ready to roll. So much so that she was bouncing up and down in the taxi.

"Let's go! Come on! Let's go! I wanna get married!" She laughed hysterically and continued to bounce the taxi swaying slightly. Orange and Asher both looked at her and told her to stop. Before all was said and done the three of them piled into the back of the taxi and were all ready to go get Jesimae married off.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro, Jiro, and Haruko all stood in front of a mirror, Taro messing with some sort of cream that Jiro had given him for shadows under eyes. He certainly had them after staying up so late, then not being able to sleep once he had laid down and all had gotten quiet. He blinked several times, turning his head this way and that, trying to see the the chop sticks Haruko had put in. They were grey with two blue strips around them at the top. He smiled at them, tapping them lightly to make sure they were secure.

"Everything look in place?" he asked Haruko and Jiro in the mirror. The other two, also in thier yukata's, looked him up and down and both nodded a the same time, grining at him.

"You look like the groom, Brother," Jiro said, his voice shuddering a little. He hadn't cried yet, and Taro was surprised he hadn't either. But as he watched Jiro in the mirror, he saw the younger boy's eyes water slightly. He scratched his head and looked down and away, trying to hide it. Taro smiled at Haruko who also looked on the verge of tears, and then turned to his younger brother. He put his arms around him, kissing him lightly on the lips before holding him close.

"Jiro, you've been there for me, when even I wasn't. You've smacked sense into me when no one else could, and made me laugh when cry was all I could do on my own," Taro said to him quietly. "Jesimae makes me happy. She is the only person to have ever stolen my heart away from me. She's the only one who can pick up your threads and continue them," he whispered. He heard Jiro sniff, then leaned back. The younger boy looked up at him, a smile on his face, his eyes still glossy but happy.

"And you know I would never have let her take you away if I didn't love her just as much," Jiro said with a nod. "Go on, marry the girl. God knows you both need it!" he laughed, choking just a little. Taro grinned, then looked at Haruko who nodded. Taro went over and put his arms around the taller man, feeling Haruko embrace him tightly.

"And you...you crazy thing," Taro laughed, leaning back and touching the other man's face. "You haven't been around long, but you've taught me so much about things I didn't even know were out there. You'll always be my Kyoudai..." Taro said, smiling. Haruko nodded, blinking at some of his own tears. If Taro didn't stop being so personal, he was going to start crying himself.

"I love you, Taro," Haruko said, brushing a little hair from Taro's face. "Now. Jiro and I are gonna go take our places. Make us proud, baby." And without another word, Haruko and Jiro had swept silently out of the room to take thier places and wait for Asher and Orange to arrive. Taro grinned after them, taking a shuddering breath, his nerves getting worse and worse, the closer it came. This was it.

Taro Lawson's life began here.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae had suddenly stopped laughing, stopped chatting a million miles an hour, and was suddenly just calm and staring blindly ahead as the other two fixed themselves and got ready to get out of the hover taxi and sneak Jesimae into the building like someoen was ready to hunt her down and shoot her. The taxi stopped nearby and Asher got out of the taxi, followed by Orange, then Jesimae. Asher took her spot behind Jesimae and Orange jogged ahead almost tripping herself due to not being able to wear heels or a dress since it had been quite some time since she needed this kind of attire. She swore the last person who had seen her was Haruko in such an outfit since she stopped prostituting after he had left.

Orange checked the premises and waved the two over and suddenly Jesimae felt sick, scared, horrified, and was beginning to feel the sudden urge to faint. Luckily she didn't when she walked into the temple and near the small foyer they had told her to go stand in before all was started. Asher let her dress down and she smoothed it out after Jesimae put on the correct shoes. Orange sighed out trying to calm down for now she was trying to get nervous for a reason that she wasn't wanting to share. The whole wedding thing...it was making her kinda want to do the same. She knew that this wasn't her day and simply let it slide of quickly. She smiled at Jesimae and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Beautiful! Asher and I are going to go find Haru and Jiro. We need to let them know you are here so we can get this baby rolling!" At the thought of that Jesimae wanted to faint again. She leaned agasint the wall and nodded trying to act cool.

"Great! I'll be here!" Asher and Orange quickly jogged away closing a tiny curtain that kept her hidden. She sighed out and began to recite the vows she had written in Japanese all thanks to Jiro's teachings. She prayed to Buddha that nothing would happen that this would be perfect.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro waited for Haruko to stick his head in and tell him all was ready, and to hear the music playing. The music he and Jesimae had chosen was a mix of music from Jesimae's descent and Taro's, making it a slow mix of deep flutes and piano. Taro shook back some of his hair. He was trying to remember the vows he had written and rewritten a million times. He didn't have them quite memorized because he couldn't memorize something this sacred. He knew it had to come from his heart. He had to just say it, spit it out. And memorizing it would make it sound just that.

For a long time, he stood there, inspecting himself in the mirror, making sure everything was in it's proper place. When he heard Haruko peep in and say that Asher was on his arm, and Orange on Jiro's and the music was about to begin, Taro knew that this was it.

He moved to the curtain that separated this room from the foyer. When he heard the music, he would move out and see Jes for the first time in what felt like eighty billion years. He licked his lips that kept drying out and rolled his shoulders. He was ready to do this. Ready for Jesimae to be his wife.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae wasn't ready. She couldn't breathe. She was by herself. Behind a large curtain. people werein there waiting. She could hear them. She couldn't breathe. She was trying to not freak out, but she was. What was going on? What was she to do? Did the man say wait for the music? Was the curtain going to open? Oh it seemed the everything that had happened last night was just a blur and that she knew nothing anymore. She was lost. But suddenly she heard the music and she was almost about to puke. She swallowed and tried to dry her hands of the sweat that covered them. Her hands were freezing! She was freezing yet she felt like she were on fire. She heard someone ask her if she was ready in barely a whisper. She remembered that someone would open the curtain and she'd walk out and see everyone for the first time. She bit her lower lip and tried to think. She touched her hair, looked at her gown, tried to make all the last second changes she needed. The person asked againa and she quickly snapped out of it.

"Hai. Yes." She whispered back, clutching the small group of calla lilies that she had made for the bouquet. She tried to regulate her breathing but it didn't seem to be working. She touched her stomach and let out a slow and deep sigh. The person informed her he was moving the curtain and suddenly she stood up tall and watched it curve to one side. Her eyes followed the peice of cloth but it was quick to find Taro and all his cutness standing in his Yukata, hair pinned with decorative sticks, his brothers with her friends. Oh it was so perfect! Any fears she had dissipated and it was replaced with such a feeling that she couldn't describe. She couldn't stop herself from smiling and suddenly she knew that she had to move from that spot instead of stare.

Jesimae drew in a breath and started walking toward Taro, which was quite hard considering she was ready to just tackle him after being away from him for so long. Oh, how handsome he looked.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro melted when he saw his baby. How beautiful she looked. She was like an angel. Her dress was long, white, calla lillies clutched in her hands in front of her, her hair pinned just so. Everything about her was perfect. Taro didn't think he had ever seen such an exquisite creature in his entired life. And she was his. All his.

Moving a little stiffly at first due to the way his stomach was flipping inside of him, he moved towards Jesimae, glancing at Jiro and Orange who were just beginning to move forward behind Asher and Haruko, who were to go first. Taro finally faced Jesimae after what seemed like a lifetime away from her. He couldn't help but smile, tears creeping up in his throat. He bowed to her, crooking his elbow for her to take. They turned together, looing down the aisle of the temple, everyone there standing in respect. Taro saw all his friends, most of them grinning like fools. He spotted Ren Wilcox in the crowd, and Yasuko Arai had made it too. He smiled at them as he readied to escort Jesimae down the aisle.

"You look beautiful, Jes..." he whispered out the side of his mouth, unable to stay quite any longer. "You're stunning."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae was ready to just die! He was so perfect! And the second he was by her side she was ready to just melt into the floor like a pile of mush. She had wanted this moment to hurry up and get there so fast and now that it had she wanted it to last. She wanted to stare at Taro for years in his formal wear for it was a side of him she had never truly seen before. It was more than appealing to her it was like he had walked out of her dreams.

"You are so beautiful. You look so handsome." Jesimae retorted as they began to proceed down the aisle. If only her brother had been able to be there. Jesimae didn't want to think of that really. He was dead to her now. She looked around slightly seeing that Taro's people had been overflowed onto her side. She smiled glad that it didn't look so dismal. She saw a few friends of hers here and there, but no matter how horrible he had been to her in the past, that familiar face just wasn't there.

Jesimae looked away and tried to keep in mind all that she had learned from Jiro, those words, the way you formed them, what they all meant...Japanese had never been so hard in all her life to remember until that one day. She bit her lower lip and knew that everything was going to be fine. Before she knew it, the two were stopped and ready to proceed.

Although they were having the wedding at the temple it was still conducted like many other marriages. The priestlike figure spoke a few words of wisdom every so often, asked if anyone did not want them to marry, amongst other things that he had said he'd do the night before. It was all going by so fast and Jesimae was glad that it wasn't going on painfully slow. Her heart was beating so fast she swore everyone could hear it, but she kept her cool and she didn't cry once.

Suddenly it was time to exchange the vows. She barely looked at Jiro standing behind Taro. She wanted to just skip her part and make Taro go first, but sadly in a traditional wedding the women had to go first. She just tried to remember those words and how to say them and what they all meant. She glanced again at Jiro and just let it fly out of her mouth. She drew in a deep breath and looked at Taro and smiled widely and tried to keep her composure.

"Taro when I first met you I was in such a predicament that any normal person would have kicked then out of their home. You didn't. I knew, somehow, from thhe moment I saw you that we would be together. You tended my wounds, you gave me a place to stay, you taught me how to use chopsticks, you even saved my life. You chased away all my nightmares, you fixed all my problems, and you always stood beside me. The moment I saw you I fell in love with you. You gave me everything when I had nothing and the only thing I can give you in return is my heart."

Jesimae let out a sigh of relief when she had finally gotten it oout in sometimes broken Japanese. She smiled a bit proud that she had managed to do it all correctly. She looked over at Jiro and smiled softly wanting to just give him a huge hug for teaching her all that she had just said.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro choked slightly when the Japanese words began to come from her lips. How wonderful she sounded speaking it. He smiled so wide at her, because every once in a while she made a mistake, left a small word out, or inserted a different one. But it was flawless in Taro's eyes, becuse she had said them from her heart, tried her hardest to convey to him in his own language how she felt. And there was nothing better than that. Taro smiled, looking down at his feet, taking a deep breath to say his own. He felt so nervous, his heart beating so hard in his chest he was sure it would leap from him and land on Jesimae, ruining her dress. But he swallowed and began.

"When you walked through my door more than year ago, I was someone that I hated. Someone that everyone around me hated. I was someone who would never be worthy of standing here to accept you. But when I met you, talked to you, kissed you, you changed everything in me, everything about me. I fell in love with you, Jesimae Phoenix. I have loved you from the very second I saw you until now, and I will never stop. You're my Kanojo," he said quietly, his heart hammering harder with each word. He felt tears glossing his eyes, blurring his vision a little, but he sniffed them back. "Aishiteru," he finished, squeezing her hands a little in his own.

And then, as if a nightmare had suddenly taken over, Taro heard a voice screaming from the front of the temple. His brow went down, and he looked over. They were screaming in Japanese and horror sunk over him as he saw someone running for the temple. Taro didn't know who it was, but by God, he would use a chop stick in his hair to stab him to death if he was here to ruin this.

And, of course, because the Lawson's do not catch a break, he was.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae was about to cry, she was going to just bawl and ruin her dress, her make-up everything. She wanted to just cry and give Taro a huge hug and bawl with him. She had never seen him glow so much before in all their time together. They had both acheived so much and she was actually ready and willing to accept that they were far from perfect while at the same time being perfect for each other. She loved him so much that seh wanted to just sscream it at the top of her lungs. But, apparently, someone screamed for her.

Her head whipped around so fast that she almost dizzied herself. A man was staggering into the temple and suddenly a fury ran deep inside of her. A man was screaming in a holy place, the temple of Buddha was being disrespected by the yells of obsceneties. Kuso! she thought to herself when she suddenly realized that she could understand some of the words coming out of the persons mouth. Whoever that person was had a bone to pick with Taro. Jesimae looked at Taro and clenched her jaw, ready to go kill the man for coming close to ruining things. Had he showed up any earlier he literally would be dead on the ground.

"Taro?" She said a bit confused as to who this person was. But whoever it was continued to scream and curse.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro's brow drew down as the person came closer and closer and finally entered the temple--through the wrong door. It was highly disrespectful to enter through the door the man entered through. It was the door that the spirits came and went through and by entering there, it was tantamount to spitting on a Bible, degrading an alter, cursing at a preist. Except worse. Because the spirits could get revenge.

When the man finally ran to a place that Taro could see him correctly, his stomach hit the floor. His name was Darren Raves, and he was Taro's old boyfriend. Old boyfriend. He had dated him when he had been Jiro's age and before. They had broken up and on bad terms too. Taro ran a tongue across his teeth as his mind tuned in to what the man was saying. He was speaking Japanese so quickly that it took Taro a moment to catch on.

"I love you, Taro. I've always loved you, I can't let you do this. It would ruin my life," was what he was saying when Taro caught up with him. Biting down hard on his tongue, he took one warning step down the steps that lead to the alter, towards the man.

"Darren, turn around and leave. I swear to God, if you don't," he purred through his teeth. But the man kept talking, telling Taro how he couldn't let it happen, how much he loved him. Taro clenched and unclenched his fists. A movment out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he saw Haruko walking down towards the steps. His bionic eyes had rolled back and was a tiny pinpoint of light that shone right on the man who was still yelling his love to Taro. Taro looked back down at the man.

"Walk away from me, Darren. Walk away from this," he said, anger and fury in his voice.

[Jesimae Lawson]

"Taro, lets just...finish." Jesimae said through clenched teeth as she stared the man down. She was going to kill that man. He had his chance, now she had hers and she was trying to seal the deal on something very important in her life, in their lives! But it wasn't happening due to the ignorant man who didn't know when to shut up and walk away from a situation. She saw Haruko stand tall and tried to intimidate the man. She was ready to go kill him with her own bare hands if Haruko didn't get him out of there quicker than that.

Jesimae couldn't care less that he was disturbing their wedding, but he was disrespecting not only Buddha and the temple, but everyone who was in attendance. She felt so embarassed for the man because he was too stupid to figure out he was goin to get pummled by a tall Japanese man who had a severe case of a personality disorder. If Mr. Lawson came out, Jesimae swore on the heavens above that she would let him do his worst.

Just...leave! Jesimae thought over and over again as she squeezed Taro's hand that she still held.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro nodded over to Haruko who had just been waiting for his brother to loose the hounds. Haruko walked calmly down to stand in front of the man who acted like he wasn't there and kept yelling. Taro watched as Haruko's hand clamped around the man's upper arm faster than lightning, and squeezed. Hard. Or at least hard enough to make the man look at him and begin to struggled to get away.

"Come with me. I think you owe me some money..." said Haruko, even though it sounded frighteningly like Mr. Lawson. But when Haruko looked over his shoulder and winked at Taro, Taro felt releif course through him. They'd get through this wedding yet. Stepping back up and watching Haruko all but drag a still protesting man out of the temple and out of sight, Taro looked back down at Jesimae, then at the priest who seemed flabbergasted by it all.

"Alright," he said, his voice apologetic, and directed towards Jesimae. Of course something like this would happen to them. The preist seemed to come to, and he cleared his throat.

"If, uh, anyone has a reason why these two shouldn't be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace," he said, and the line sounded quite comical after what had happened. No one spoke up, as if anyone did, Taro would have flown at them from where he stood, beat them to a pulp, then they would have had Jesimae to deal with. And not even Taro would stand up to her if she was that mad. The preist cleared his throat again. "The rings?" he asked, and a young man that was one of Jesimae's friends approaced the silver bands on a black pillow.

Taro took the smaller of the two and Jesimae took the larger. For a moment there was silence as they looked at each other.

"Jesimae Phoenix, do you take this man, Taro Lawson to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, until death do you part?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae was so excited to have been ridded of that man, but suddenly she was back into that same spot she had been at when she was behind the curtain. She looked at the rings and grabbed the one that was Taro's and glanced up at him and stared. This is it, Jesimae. This is it.. She heard her conscience taking ga hold of her and suddenly coaching her through it all. The only thing she wanted in the world was standing right in front of her and putting that ring on his finger would make this thing two mere steps from being complete. How exciting, yet scary. Jesimae held her composure and swallowed the large ball of tears crawling up her throat.

"I do." She said with more power and more confidence than anything she had ever decided in all her life. She pushed the ring onto his finger and bit her lower lip in an attempt to not smile and to not cry. If that was at all possible to do at the same time! She looked at the priest almost as if to say MOVE IT MAN! SAY IT TO TARO!. She looked back at Taro and heard the preist.

"Taro Lawson, do you take this woman, Jesimae Phoenix, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, until death do you part?"

[Taro Lawson]

"I do," he said, slipping the ring onto the small finger of the woman in front of him. And suddenly, she was Jesimae Lawson. With those two words, she was his wife. He couldn't help but laugh, and cry at the same time, a tear finally escaping down his face.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the preist boomed for everyone to hear. "You may now kiss the bride."

Taro had never done anything so quickly in his life. He wrapped an arm around Jesimae's waist and leaned down, whispering "Aishiteru" before pressing his lips to hers. The sound of applause and cheering from some of Taro's friends was secondary in Taro's line of thought. Jesimae was the first thing he was thinking about. And without thinking about it, he wrapped his other arm around her, lifting her off of the floor and twirling her around, holding her close to him.

He pulled away from thier kiss and sat her back down.

"Mrs. Lawson?" he said with a huge grin on his face.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae bit her lower lip so hard she swore blood would come gushing at any given moment. That ring slipped on so slowly she was dying! It was like that simple action took so many years to do! Jesimae loved the feeling once it was in place on her finger, never to come off until her body wilted away into nothing. She smiled and looked up at Taro and saw a tiny tear fall. She was tempted to wipe it away, but she let it fall freely for it made her so happy to see him crying out of happiness and joy! Like there was never a care in the world. Jesimae smiled so brightly when she heard the priest tell him to kiss her. She was more than ready for that to happen! Taro's quickness took her by surprise but she couldn't have cared less! The soft spoken word he said to her before would always be in her memory. It sent such a powerful shiver down her spine that she could barely breathe.

Jesimae wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tso tight it was a wonder she didn't break his neck. He picked her up and she didn't care. She had been floating on cloud 9 for almost half the morning it only felt different when she was sat back down on the ground. She laughed lightly and wanted to jump up and down. He looked at her with the biggest grin.

"Mrs. Lawson?" The words gave her the happiest feeling.

"Yes, Mr. Lawson? Shall we go!" She smiled so brightly that her face was hurting. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. This was the best day of her life! She was finally, FINALLY, Mrs. Taro Lawson!!!!!!

[Taro Lawson]

Taro laughed louder and giddier than he had laughed ever. This was laugh that bubbled up after being supressed for so many years. It was laugh of pure happiness. He took her down the steps, people's whooping and hollering as they began back down the aisle to a lively song called "Kimi no Tame Ni Dekiru Koto" by an oldies singer named Gackt Camui. But Taro wasn't listening to it. He was looking at Jesimae, at his brothers, at his friends. Jiro was next to him in a heart beat whispering how much he loved him and that he would always be there when Taro needed him.

Taro looked over his shoulder and saw Orange and Jiro standing together. He grinned at them.

"You two are next, if it kills me!" he called over the yells and applause. Then he looked back at Jesimae. She looked even more beautiful now that she was his wife than she had ever before, and that was bordering on the angelic. No, it wasn't bordering, it was. Jesimae was his angel. She always had been and would now be forever. He couldn't say anything over the music and people but he leaned down and pressed his lips to her temple and he hoped that would be enough to show her how much joy he had right now. It was not something he could desribe with words. Ever.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae laughed lively at Taro's loud laugh and happiness. It was the most fulfilling thing in the world. She had almost lost him once and she now knew that neither one of them were going anywhere anytime soon! She was so happy to see him smiling so bright knowing that it came from within. The kiss on the temple only furthered her love. She couldn't help how much she loved this man, it just seemed to keep growing to dangerous new heights each time she saw him.

"Thank god we are married!" She screamed with joy as loud as she could just for good measure and just to show her excitement. She laughed and looked at Taro and ket out a sigh. "You are stuck with me now, buddy." She said giving him a passionate kiss on the lips. She let out a sigh oncew more and laughed.

"Thank you for making me the happiest woman in the universe!" Jesimae looked at all the people and realized they had other arrangements so she could at least get to know some of them. "Lets go party, huh?"

[Taro Lawson]

When they were in the hover taxi, Taro couldn't help but almost tackle his new wife, kissing her eveywhere his lips could reach her. He felt as if he had never kissed her before today. He felt as if tonight really would be thier first time. He just wanted to kiss her and hold her and stay in the taxi and never have to face the world again. Never have to lose this happiness. But he knew as long as he was with Jesimae, he would be happy forever.

"Mmn," he said against her chest as he kissed as far down as her dress would allow. "You smell good..." he said, his voice muffled against her chest. He looked up at her and grinned. "You look good too..." he said, kissing her neck. "Let's see...you did good, too...and..." but he got distracted by kissing her jaw.

"Mmn...I love you..."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae was almost pushed against the hover taxi wall as Taro practically tackled her the moment the door closed and they were far enough out of peoples way to start the love fest. She was laughing happily as he kissed her anywhere he could reach. Sadly, the dress wasn't very low cut in the front as it was in the back. If his lips reached her shoulderblades there would be no way in hell they were attending a party! She laughed as his kissed tickled and the situation was still giving her thrills.

"I love you, too, baby." She said to him when he kissed her jaw, her hands just ruffling in his hair that she was almost sad to see being displaced by her eager hands.

"You looked so hot in your Yukata I was ready to just jump on you." She giggled at the thought knowing that was all she wanted to do. She sighed out and glanced at her hand that had the new ring on it. She giggled at the tickle of Taro's lips.

"How bad do I suck at speaking Japanese!?" She said with another roll of laughter as she moved to switch things up and kiss him for a while. God, today was definitely going to be the longest day of her life. Being away from him for one night meant they had some making up to do later on.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro purred a laugh as she began to kiss him and he ran his hands over her back leaning his head against the window of the taxi. He laughed again as her fingers touched his ribs and tickled him. He looked down at her and shook his head.

"You were amazing. I understood it perfectly," he said with a smile on his face. "That was...the best thing ever. I had no idea you knew all of that." He laughed watching her, thinking about it a moment. Then he sighed as realization came over him. "That little squirt of mine was teaching you wasn't he?" he said, another laugh escaping him. "You two are so sneaky."

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae let out a laugh as she leaned up for a moment to catch her breath. She moved a piece of her hair out of her eyes and looked at Taro and nodded.

"Yes...and it was all his little idea as well! You have no idea how good he was at teaching me. If I got a word right, he'd strip!" She teased him and winked quickly diving back into her kissing. She loved Taro so much and it was final! This had actually happened and the only thing that was to come was sheer happiness.