“Kira are you sure about this?” Sierra asked softly, kneeling behind her. She was currently evening out the soon-to-be bride’s hair with a pair of scissors before she began styling it. Kate and Beth were sitting in front of her doing her makeup. “Charles is a great guy, and he’s helped you a lot… more than I ever did. It’s just you came to the decision so suddenly.”

The girls stopped working on her makeup, intent on her answer and reasoning.

“I am. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. I don’t know how to explain it.” Kira closed her eyes and exhaled. “Charles has been nothing but patient with me during our time together, more than I probably deserved. I was the one always holding back, and he let me dictate the pace of our relationship because that’s what I always needed to feel comfortable and safe. I needed to be the one in control, and he let me. He didn’t have a problem with working around my issues.”

Kate nodded, her eyes glistening in understanding. She knew just how much her sister had been pushing herself each step of the way.

“Then today, when he saved that injured kraken child, and healed the injuries those… torturers inflicted on it. It just clicked for me, and I knew. He was the one. There was no point in waiting any longer. There’s more to it than that, but yeah, I’m sure. Charles is it for me. I love our little family.” She looked pointedly at Silvi and Myriam, who were sitting nearby.

“Good, that’s all I needed to know. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t rushing this for some reason.” Sierra quickly hugged her and went back to styling her hair.

“Close your eyes, sis,” Kate commanded as she began applying the eyeliner. “What could have made her rush it?”

“I have no idea, but Kira’s been through enough. If there was even a chance, I wanted to check before she went through with this.”

“Thanks,” Kira whispered, thickly. “I don’t know if I ever said this, but I’m glad we reconnected and moved past everything that happened.”

“You didn’t need to, I knew. But thanks, I am too.”

Beth lightly began to brush some blush onto her cheeks. She had already moisturized them and laid down some foundation. Now she was finally moving on to the final stages. She had worn minimal makeup before the world fell apart, and that was how she was doing Kira’s now, in a minimal style.

It was what she knew. Any other style risked turning the bride into a clown. Besides, in her opinion, Kira didn’t need a lot of makeup. One of the benefits of increasing your attributes in the right places was it cleared up any issues your skin might have had.

It wouldn’t make you beautiful on its own, but it did enhance what you already had. In Beth’s estimation, Kira had been a somewhat harsh pretty before everything. Her nose had been slightly crooked, and her eyes tended to glare at everyone. However, if you ignored those and just took in her slightly sharp cheekbones, long eyelashes, and lean muscled arms, with her height, then the entire package worked in her favor.

Of course, back then you would have had to also to contend with the scars on her back and her always angry personality.

Now those scars were gone. Her nose had been straightened, and the savage, hateful glare had all but vanished from her eyes. It was a miraculous change from the woman she had once been. Some of them Beth had seen for herself, others Kate had needed to fill her in on.

No matter what, it led to a woman who, while maybe not a model, was more than pretty enough for her own wedding, even without makeup.

“Is mom preparing the dress?” Kira asked, trying to keep her cheeks as still as possible.

“Yup, she was beyond surprised when we told her you were getting married in just a couple of hours. I don’t think whatever dress she digs up is going to be white, but it’ll at least fit, and hopefully look good.” Her younger sister told her, as she used a piece of cotton to wipe away the smudges from her eyelids. “Okay, open your eyes, and let me see how that looks.”

“White would have been nice, but I understand if she can’t find it. Tailoring whatever she does find to my size will take at least that long as it is. Maybe I should have said tomorrow, just to give her more time.” Kira blinked, her already long lashes enhanced to look even longer and more full. “No, I’d get married in a pair of jeans, if she can’t find anything in time.”

“I’m sure mom will love that. After she just worked over some dress for three hours, only to see you get married in a pair of jeans.” Kate joked as she leaned back to take in her handy work.

“Well, when you put it that way, it sounds like a bad idea.” She fluttered her lashes. “How do they look?”

“It is a bad idea. It doesn’t just sound like one.” Kate muttered. “They look good. Don’t you all think so?”

Beth nodded, and Sierra craned her neck around to take in her eyes. “Ugh, it’s almost unfair how long your eyelashes look now. I bet all the women who had you working on their cars either hated you or loved you.”

Kira chuckled and rolled her eyes. “What about you two? What do you think?”

Silvi and Myri came over from the corner where they had been keeping themselves occupied with a game.

“Wow, your eyes look so big now!” Myri exclaimed, leaning in close.

Silvi smiled, her silky ears twitching atop her head. “I like it, and I’m sure Charles will as well.”

Sierra patted Kira’s hair and moved around to her front. “Okay, I’m done with your hair. As soon as Beth is done with your makeup, we’ll be all finished. What do you say we have a small, low-key bachelorette party after?”

“I think I’m mostly finished with her makeup,” Beth pulled back the brush she had been using to apply the blush. “Do you know of anything else that needs to be done? I’m sure you have more experience with this than either Kate or me.”

Sierra studied her friend with a critical eye before shaking her head. “Honestly, I don’t think she needs more than this. Any more makeup would just detract from her natural features. What you’ve done is already perfect.”

“What about this?” Myri pulled out a tube of purple lipstick from her pocket. “Doesn’t she need to put this on still?”

The older girls took in the color and then held it up against the purple highlights in Kira’s hair. The lipstick matched perfectly.

“Wow, that’s impressive. She managed to match your hair right on. Still, not sure if that’s the color you want to wear for your wedding.” Sierra was less than impressed with the choice of color for the occasion.

“Oh,” Myri’s eyes drooped sadly.

“Don’t worry sweetie, I’ll wear it, but it’ll be the last thing I put on, even after the dress,” Kira told her, giving in to the little girl’s sad face instantly.

“Sis, you just caved like a chump.” Kate joked, palming her face.

“Yeah, but I’m alright with it this time. If wearing some purple lipstick is all it takes to make Myri happy, then I’ll gladly do it. What about you, Silvi? Any requests?”

“You could use some more silver colors, but other than that, I just want to be there when it happens.”

“Of course you are going to be there, Silvi, both of you are. You are part of our family, or I guess, I should say, I’m becoming a part of yours since you were a member of his family first. There is no way I wouldn’t want the both of you there. Weddings are supposed to be joyous family-centric occasions, and that’s exactly what you two are, family. I would never dream of excluding you, and I know Charles certainly wouldn’t either.”

“Family, I like that,” Myri whispered, so softly only Silvi’s sensitive ears heard her.

The other girl’s tail wagged against her. “I know. It’s exactly how I feel as well now. Me being like this is even better than when I was your family’s pet before. We get to be sisters, with Charles and Kira as our father and mother.”

The little red-haired girl nodded slowly as everyone else continued talking around them.

“Now what kind of party did you have in mind, oh great Oracle?” Kira put her hands on her hips playfully.

“You know who you look like right now with that hair? The Major lady, from ‘Ghost in the Shell’, she and the girl from ‘Titan A.E.’ kind of have similar hairstyles.” Beth pointed out with a grin.

“Sierra!” Kira whined. “You were supposed to be styling my hair away from that look.”

“And I will, later. I thought it was more appropriate to stick with your signature look for your wedding, and simply class it up a bit for now.” Sierra quickly defended herself.