Summary:
Love!
Marco gave a hum as he looked at the arrangement. "We know so many gems, but otherwise we don't actually know any other aliens." He said aloud. "You'd think with all the crazy in our lives we'd know at least one or two other extraterrestrials." The wedding was just a day away, and for the most part, everything seemingly was going well, which meant they had to triple check to make sure nothing was wrong.
"Actually, Wander and Sylvia are aliens." Kelly told him. "Ooo is just so filled with supernatural stuff it kind of blends into the background."
"Besides, this whole wedding is going to be packed with guests from all over, so it's not like there's going to be much of a difference from a perspective level." Star noted.
"It's less about perspective and more about safety." He responded. "For example, keeping Vee away from anyone magical in case she gets hungry …" He turned to the shifter. "No offense, you're a lovely girl but sometimes I see you stalking Star's window at night."
"She smells like rainbows and sugar." Vee pouted as Star handed her a magic cupcake.
"There's pro's and con's to keeping my magic." Star stated as she went over the list. "But you have a point. Gonna have to keep some magic food by her side to tame the temptation. We also have the fact that some of the guests have…less than clean records, so we have to keep all valuables out of reach."
"I put a notice in the guest list. Anyone that loses something is on their own." Marco said. "As for the wedding itself, since we're doing it on the beach, there's less options for stealing since it's in such an open area … regardless, Kelly is on guard duty."
"I got my guard dog on duty just in case." Kelly pointed to a sleeping lion, who for some reason had Phineas and Ferb's pet platypus sleeping on top of him.
"As for guarding the guests, Dad is Greg and Sapphire's best man, so he's guarding him from now, to the bachelor party, all the way to the wedding." Star smirked. "They're probably having a blast."
Every male adult they knew … it was a miracle they hadn't heard an explosion yet. "And I've got the box with the rings secure and protected." Being the ring bearer was kinda cool.
"Good, protect it with your life." Star gave him a threatening look, before going back to the plan. "Okay, catering. Mom's working with that one bakery Ladybug recommended for the cake and pastries while Anne's family is providing all the regular foods, along with Ben's grandpa to provide food for those with…less than savory taste."
"Good." Marco paused. "Wait, if your mom is on food with Anne's family, who's giving Camila and Ruby their bachelorette party?"
"Eclipsa and Eda." May God have mercy on the souls of the boiling Isles. "Alright, Luz is the flower girl, is there anything else we're missing?"
He thought about it for a second. "An officiate?" He asked. "I know that with everything that we've done, there's probably no priest or preacher out there we can go to, but maybe the mayor has the power…"
"Oh, that was the first thing Steven covered. He's going to do it." Kelly cut him off. "He's certified and everything."
"Since when did Steven find the time to be legally qualified to marry people?" Marco asked the question he felt like everyone seemed to be glossing over.
"He had to occupy his time with something when Kelly and him broke up the second time." Star shrugged. "Apparently the internet is good for more than just cat videos."
"Yeah, pretty much everything you need to know is there." He answered. "Hey, I know we invited Andy … but are we sure about not inviting anyone else?"
"What do you mean? We've invited everyone important." Star exclaimed.
"Greg's going to have his first wedding without his own parents?"
"I don't see the problem." Kelly shrugged with confusion. "I didn't plan on inviting my parents when me and Steven eventually get hooked."
"Yeah, and don't you remember what Steven said when we met Andy? Greg's parents hate him." Star clarified. "That's his whole story, him going out on his own to reject his family."
"Just think it's a bit of a controversial message between Steven and Star accepting their family and no one else doing the same." He shrugged.
"Yeah, it does seem hypocritical, but that's on them, not us." Star rolled her eyes. "What do you want me to do? Invite them at the last minute and have them show up to see a son they probably don't want to see getting married to some random stranger in their eyes?"
"... Point taken." Marco nodded. "Where's Steven?"
"Resting in the house and looking over his lines, following doctors orders that he doesn't stress himself out trying to focus on helping others." Kelly sighed. "I've seen him relax a lot more since we've started therapy, it's actually helped a lot."
"Yeah, much as I hate to admit it, this therapist isn't evil." Star groaned. "Which is exactly, no matter what happens before or after, we're all going to make sure this wedding goes off without a single hitch! My brother has put way too much planning into this, and seeing it fail will likely send him spiraling."
"I can roll with that." Marco admitted. "Lets see … we made sure that Lapis cleared out any potential rain and tidal waves right?"
"She created a whirlpool that sank two yachts, but other than that, we're mostly good weather wise." Star nodded. "And in the unfortunately likely event that nature still gets in the way, we have Phineas and Ferb's tech to prevent any disasters that include volcanoes, earthquakes, spontaneous combustion, and so on."
"And the KND are on border patrol … they said, and I quote, 'weddings are boring and lame'." Kelly raised her fingers. "They only agreed to do this much on the account we'd give them a whole cake to themselves. Apparently they have bad experiences trying to get one."
"And with the Calamity Girls and Marceline covering everything on the music side, I think that's everything." Star looked through the list one last time. "Let's do this people, for Steven, and for our whole crazy mixed up family."
"For family!" They all joined hands and cheered togather.The preparation is set … the game had begun.
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Steven gazed out the window, watching the sunrise. Today was the day he and Luz had been prepping for. After so much time and mayhem … this was it. A moment of peace.
It wasn't just a regular wedding, it wasn't just a marriage that would unite two families that unfortunately experienced loss before, it was a DOUBLE wedding. A wedding that would not only unite his earth dad with Luz's mom, but one that would unite Ruby and Sapphire together in a brand new way after six thousand years.
He got up and approached the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. His friends have been amazing with carrying out all the plans he and Luz have thought and scrambled through for hours upon hours without rest. He thanked everyone for being so nice and thoughtful about carrying most of the load, but there were some things he just had to do by himself.
In just a few hours, it would be on him to unify everyone together. Some would say he's been doing that forever, but this felt so much more important than everything that came before. This felt more important than talking down the Diamond's and fighting Mina put together. And in spite of the fear that built up in his guts, there was a sense of relief and joy in the back of his mind.
Steven took a deep breath and squeezed the surprisingly durable stress ball (he had various questions on why the doctor had something that durable to begin with), he walked outside, singing a melody from his heart. "Mom was a Diamond who invaded Earth … saw it's beauty and it's worth." One of the very few credits he would ever give Rose Quartz.
"Mom made an army and she fought herself … Did that even end up mattering…When she faked her own shattering?" Some could say she made a bad situation worse, others could say she made the best out of a terrible situation. He could argue on and on about how good or bad Rose was…but the truth of the fact was…it was just too big for Steven to answer….or really care about.
"Mom lived in hiding by the name of Rose …With the friends she made and the form she chose ." A lie on top of another lie … Now all that's left of her exists is me." A legacy of a single child born from a life with a bit of joy sprinkled throughout it for the first time in her existence. A boy who was meant to enjoy and be happy with life, doing what he wished.
" And I think that we can all agree…..That is a little bit upsetting…" Even if he knew the truth now, even if he knew he was truly Steven and not Rose, the fact that he would LITERALLY carry a piece of her around with him for the rest of his life would always make him squirm just a little. " I'd rather think about….." He jumped in the air, dressed in his full tux as he greeted his family, all of whom were getting last minute prep in. ".... a wedding!"
He ran up to his mom, still with her apron on as she pulled pasties out of the oven. " Let's think about cake!" He turned to his Mewni Dad, who'd just got back from the words with some of the prettiest plants he could find. " Let's think about flowers!"
He ran over to Camila, who was getting the finishing touches on her wedding dress. "Let's think about dressing up…." He turned to Pearl, grabbing her arm and twirling her. " And dancing around for hours!"
"There's an awful lot of awful things, We could be thinking of!" How many people died, the vague and ominous messages villains gave them, the occasional bug monsters that sometimes came through the constantly opened portal through the multiverse.
"But for just one day…Let's only think about love!" He skipped in the air as he held his head up high.
"Heheh, it seems life in this house is as lively as ever." Camila chuckled as she turned to Ruby, who was holding her own dress in her arms. "Best for us to leave now. It's bad luck to let the groom see the bride before the wedding."
"Definitely don't want that." Ruby laughed as they made their way out of the door. "Just hope Sapphire won't cheat by using future vision."
"They look so happy." Pearl sighed fondly, wearing the tux she had worn during their trip to empire city. "Steven, thank you for doing this. I know it's been difficult, especially everything regarding Rose.
"Don't mention it, seriously, don't for today." He told her "We could think about lies….that we told in the past."
"There's so much." Pearl said dejectedly.
"We could think about hurt feelings, and how long they can last."
"It's so hard to move on."
"Or we could think about hope!"
"Hope?"
"You know I've been hoping!"
"About?"
"That everything's better now everything's now in the open!" According to therapy, that was barely taking the first step, but today, little details like that didn't matter.
He ran outside, watching as Willow grew some plants. "We could think about flowers." He looked at Amity using her abominations to set up the catering table. "We could think about cake." He looked over to Amethyst, who plucked the flowers and placed them all over as decorations. "We could think about wonderful promises we have the power to make!"
He ran out to Amethyst and grabbed her by the hands, swinging her around. " There's an awful lot of awful things we could be thinking of! But for just one day….Let's only think about love!"
"Starting the day off with a musical number already? Someone must be excited." Amethyst ruffled his head.
"Wait, so High School Musical wasn't being overdramatic?" Amity questioned. "I could've sworn Luz was pulling my leg when she said it was an accurate depiction of real life."
"Around here, it kind of is." Steven chuckled. "Thanks for the flowers, Willow."
"No problem. Earth plants are super easy to grow and manipulate." Willow nodded. "You guys sure you don't want any roses?"
"Nope. Believe me when I say roses are controversial around here." Amethyst responded while giving him a knowing look.
"Alright then, time for some magmadills then, really set the mood."
Steven chose to ignore that. "We could all rethink, How we feel about Rose." So many thoughts it drowned him. "When it comes to Pink, And the things that she did in the past, I suppose."
"Yep, the old girl did a lot." Amethyst sighed. Out of all the gems, Amethyst was the closest to being in the exact same spot as him. Knowing virtually nothing about anything homeworld related, yet the baggage still piled on her. He was lucky to have her in his life to deal with it together.
"Or we could both feel better."
"Uh huh." Amethyst snorted as they danced along with each other.
"Cause we could think about how." How amazing this day was. " We could think about us…And we could think about now!"
"That's the spirit, Ste-man!" Amethyst slapped him on the back.
"Just doing my best to be as lively and happy as possible." Therapy helped him think better, the pink flashes died down, and all his friends and family got to celebrate together for one massive party. There wasn't a single reason to NOT be happy today. "Hey, you haven't seen where Star is, have you?"
"She's on top of the lighthouse." Amethyst pointed upward. "Said she was the lookout's lookout."
"Still trying to look after me." Steven smiled as he shook his head. He loved that about his sister, but if he got to relax just a little bit, then so should she. With a couple of hops in the air, he managed to float his way to the top, approaching from behind. "Quite the view from up here, huh?"
"It sure is." Star said as she had binoculars out. "Ain't nothing going to get past me today."
"Thinking about threats?" He snickered. "We could think about war, We could think about fighting, We could think about all the foes, We're all afraid of facing." The list was almost endless to think about, expanding on for eternity.
"We could think about the broken gems and The Cluster in the planet's core." She continued. Even without the bond they were still in sync.
"Or we could think about the bubble we made..So that they can't be hurt any-!" He forced his sister to look at him, letting her know that today, he wasn't afraid of anything happening.
Star's eyes widened as her frown slowly grew to a smile. "They can't be hurt anymore!"
"We could think about joy!" He took her hand.
"We could think about pain!" She sang as they both floated back down, where Lapis, Bismuth, Pearl, Peridot, Eclipsa, and their parents were waiting for them.
"We could think about sunshine!"
"We could think about rain!"
"There's an awful lot of awful things, We could be thinking of...!" Way too many things.
"But for just one day, Let's only think about…"
"Just one day…Let's only think about! " Everyone backed him up.
"Love.......!" He let out a high note as they finally reached the ground.
"So you guys really DO break into musical numbers!" Luz shouted out of nowhere, making him jump and squeeze his stress ball tightly. "I want to be a part of the next one! Tell me, are these planned ahead?"
"Not really. Usually you just have to be around when it starts and then a spot opens up for others to come in." Steven explained.
"It's not just Steven, apparently it's a gem thing." Kelly said, gesturing to Amethyst.
"Hey, I don't break out into song." She pouted.
"So this is it." Luz giddily jumped in the air as she looked at the set up before them. "It's beautiful, everything we've planned is finally becoming reality. It…It almost doesn't feel real."
"But it is, and that's the amazing thing." He laughed as he took a look at Sapphire, dressed in her suit as she paced around the altar as his earth dad practiced his vows.
"Beauty of the thousand sun …" Dad patted his face. "Is anyone else burning up, or is it just nervousness?"
"No. I'm just as flustered as you." Sapphire said in her usual monotone, but the ice forming beneath her feet was another story.
"Eventually someday, these positions are going to be reversed." Star laughed. "They'll be watching us get nervous on the big day as they sit back to enjoy the moment."
"Guess shaky nerves don't change whether or not you're a kid or adult." Steven laughed as well. "Don't worry, it'll be fine, trust me, nothing's gonna ruin this wedding."
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It was supposed to be simple for Bluebird. Infiltrate the interior, find 'My Dad', then murder them violently to torture Steven Universe on a highly emotional level. But there was no interior, all members of the event in question were outside.
From everything they've observed from spying on the group for the past week, this was supposed to be some kind of human unification ceremony. She didn't bother to learn the messy details of it, the entire affair sounding way too much like fusion, which in of itself was a bit of a tricky subject to think about given her current status.
It doesn't matter what we think about ourselves, we just need to use this disguise to get in close. Ask for an autograph or something.He'll never know what hit him … muahahahaha.If you're going to do an evil laugh, don't do it in our head.
Seeing it was a wide open area, there was no way to sneak, so they simply floated forward. Tricky seeing as it gave her no coverage, but as long as she kept her distance in the sky, she'd just looked like a bird, heh, in the sky. Don't think puns either, this is supposed to be serious. That wasn't me … What, if I'm destroying Steven's hope, I'm doing it with flair. … Topaz did say there was always a third Topaz, just never thought it'd be like this.
The whole thing was a mixed bag for Bluebird. The only thing keeping her together right now was Aquamarine's and Ruby's complete and utter hate for the brat and everything they stood for. Almost anytime they focused on anything else, she felt herself slip and come undone almost instantly. She wasn't a fool, she knew for a fact that the moment the whole affair was done, the two would go their separate ways and never associate with each other ever again.
Was it a sad existence when they thought about it? Yep. Did she really care? In the long run, no. She'll enjoy living for the small but sweet euphoria of revenge and gladly make her leave.
Bluebird heard the sound of a clicking noise, stopping in their tracks. "Excuse me." She turned to a small organic with an appearance modifier on their face and a clear head, aiming what appeared to be a yellow bottle at her. "I'll need to see your invitation." All that inner monologuing comes from you, and now we got too distracted. Relax, it's an organic. Just pretend to be nice and they'll fall for anything.
"I'm quite sorry, I left it behind. I didn't think that a gathering of families would need protection." They innocently replied.
They pulled off the appearance modifier, narrowing their eyes. "That was on the invitation."
Crap, this one actually has a brain. "Oh, was it? Silly me, woefully ignorant of Earth language. Oh well, guess I can at least watch the event from the sky and.."
"Green brigade, this is Mr. Uno, we got a suspicious fusion trying to sneak into the wedding." The bald organic spoke into what she could only assume was a communication device.
She instantly attacked, sending out blades of ice in an attempt to silence this garbage, which he sadly evaded, other than a cut on their arm. "It seems the time for subtlety is over." They began flying fast.
"Good, because from the looks of it, you completely suck!" They felt something collide into their back, sending them into the grainy ground of the beach as something green and hair flipped off them. "Huh, tiny fusion, red and blue, gems near and around the eyes, you're Aquamarine and that Eyeball Ruby." The organic, known as 'Kelly', smirked as she assessed them, waving around a blink blade.
"So, you've seen through my brilliant disguise have you?" They smirked, forming blades that forced the green bush back. "Yes, but we have come together, as Bluebird Azurite, for one purpose alone."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're both super petty and want revenge on Steven, shocker." Kelly rolled her eyes. "Honestly we've been expecting something like this to happen for about a month. You two are just the first to be stupid enough to try."
"Stupid?" She chuckled. "I am quite the opposite, planning the moment he's happiest to destroy the ones he loves most, and even got here before the Diamonds did."
"Before what now?" That managed to get her off guard, looking confused.
"Ah yes, they complained about 'not seeing Steven enough', so they planned on visiting within the next few hours." She idly swung a blade. "But as soon as they see that this planet destroyed him, they'll destroy the planet."
"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! This is terrible!" The bush shouted in horror.
"Yes, my plan is absolutely flawless…!"
"They're going to make things super awkward! They should've RSVP'D!" Kelly ignored her rant, pulling out another one of those communication devices. "Red knight, this is Green Brigade! Diamonds are coming! I repeat, the Diamond's are coming! Get a landing zone ready for their ship! We need to move this wedding along!"
They're ignoring us … lets flee!Yeah, perfect diversion! Bluebird began flying as they all pathetically panicked. Just a few more feet to the location where she could enact her vengeance.
Just a few more seconds and sweet, sweet revenge would finally be he-
ROAR !
A pink shockwave sent her flying into the ground once more, blasting her into the streets of the town and cratering into a wall. Uggh, what was that!?I don't know, but something about it felt familiar. Bluebird looked up, seeing that mangy feline creature that snuck aboard Blue Diamond's ship on Mewni, and riding on top of it was…him. The platypus.
"Krkrkrrkrkrkr." The teal furred menace mocked her with that chatter, using its appendages to gesture a 'come at me' motion.
Oh you little- Don't get distracted by these rodents! They're nothing in comparison to our main target. I suppose so. It would be a waste of my talents too..
"Pfffft." The Platypus stuck its tongue out her.
"Oh you're dead!" Bluebird rushed forward with blades ready to end this nightmare of a rodent once and for all, creating a stream of ice along the way to limit the feline's movements.
"Grrrr." The feline jumped into the air, now running circles around the fusion.
"You just got lucky last time going against Aquamarine! You hear me!" The fusion shouted as she sent blade after blade towards the semi-aquatic creature, who managed to dodge everyone. "You have nothing on me!" They created a large projectile to toss, limiting the room for movement.
"Krrrrrr." The platypus chattered as it took out some sort of grappling device and launched themselves towards a rooftop while the lion seemed to roar and opened a pink portal, leaping forward and disappearing into it.
"Oh, you are not getting away from me!" Bluebird yelled as she flew towards the roof. Don't follow it, we're going off course! This is just a detour I need to make! Just one bug I need to squash before frying the big fish! I wouldn't deviate from the course, no matter the target!
"Hey bozo!" They turned to a girl with a green cap and a pipe. "Remember me, from space?"
She launched my entire crew into space! Oh, look who wants to make her own detour! Shut up, this will be for my entire squad's honor! What honor? You're a Ruby! There's little to be had! And as long as Steven exists, you don't have any either.… You're right, we're losing our goal. To make Steven Universe suffer beyond belie-
Whack
Smack
POW
Bluebird felt herself get whacked against the head by the metal pipe. "Wow, man you guys suck. You've been standing still for like two minutes and didn't even see me coming."
"Just getting priorities in order." With that response, they formed hundreds of blades as small as grass, launching them all in a wave.
ROAR
A pink portal opened, as the attack was sent back. "Stupid pink feline." They growled out as they struggled to pick themselves back up. "Doesn't matter how many obstacles are in my way, my quest for vengeance shall burn forever!"
"Maybe, but I think the platypus has something to say about that."
"The-" Bluebird couldn't finish as the rodent, now on all fours and cross eyed, walked towards her as it held a gem destabilizer in its beak, shoving it right in her face. "Curse you … Perry … the-" And Bluebird was gone.
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Greg thought he was ready for anything. Meeting aliens, watching magic in action, one day giving his son 'the talk' … this was not one of those things. Every part of him felt like it was freezing and twitching, ready to bolt out of sheer nervousness.
He felt like everyone's eyeballs were all gazing right at him, watching and waiting for him to make a mistake, waiting for the moment to laugh at him. The fanciest food he's ever had was a medium rare steak with a side of onion rings, and even then he'd go back to pizza in a heartbeat.
Point being, the fancy settings were not his comfort zone. He loved the simple comforts and wouldn't trade them for anything. This was his first wedding to boot, since he and Rose were just … casual with one another.
Maybe that was the other reason he was so nervous. Camila never asked or expected him to change himself for her, but the more they dated, the more he felt like trying, the more serious he wanted to take the relationship. This was new territory he was facing, and it both excited and scared him.
The only comfort he had was that Sapphire seemed just as nervous as he did, if the ice around her feet was any indication. "Guys, you're already here." His son, who not only organized this whole thing, but was MARRYING him off, rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Unless you both suddenly forgot your vows, the only thing you need to do is stand here."
"No, I made sure to keep mine in my pocket." Greg chuckled nervously. "The standing here might be an issue …"
"Just think of it like a show." He was super depressed and didn't care about himself when it was more than three people, so probably not what he should focus on.
"Oh why did I have to swear off my future vision for today?" Sapphire groaned as she rubbed off the ice building on her sleeves
"Because it's bad luck to see the bride, and we're already pushing it." Steven explained. "Oh, here come the brides."
The music, provided by a vampire if what the kids explained was true, played as the audience's attention was thankfully taken away from the altar and on the isle, where behind Camila's kid, being the flower girl, was his wife to be herself, slowly walking right beside the much shorter Ruby, who was doing her best to hide her own face behind the veil she wore.
Each step that his bride took was like a graceful dance, and every step forward, Greg felt himself get more and more mesmerized by what was taking place. This was actually happening…he was getting married to one of the most amazing people he's ever met in his life. That wonderful woman in front of him somehow agreed to be his wife.
She stepped up, giving him a warm smile that eased away the tension. "You really can pull off a suit, can't you, Mr Universe?" She teasingly asked.
"I don't know, it certainly doesn't compare to your beauty in a dress, then again you outclass me no matter what we wear." He chuckled. "I take it the bachelorette party was eventful?"
"I'm trying to ignore the many illegal acts committed … and the man tied up in Eda's basement."
"You can do this Camila!" Said Owl Lady shouted out from the crowd.
"You look amazing, Ruby." Sapphire complemented the shorter gem, still trying to hide her face from the crowd. "Can't tell you how many times I was tempted to peek."
"I'm very glad you didn't." Said gem replied, whipping off a singe mark around her shoulder.
Steven raised his hand, the music stopping immediately. "Dearly beloved, tolerated, men, women, children, immortals, creatures of all kinds across the universes, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Greg Universe, and Camila Noceda. Along with Sapphire, and Ruby." He said. "A recent love blooming from loss, and a love that's held on strong for even six thousand years."
All four of them blushed as the crowd let out a light applause. "If you had told me that I'd be here on earth today, marrying off my guardians…I would've completely believed it back then since that's just how my brain works." The audience laughed as his son continued. "Now I have prepared a long speech that-" Star ran up, tapping Steven on the shoulder, whispering something into his ear as the boy tensed, his face flickering pink just a tad. "That we will be skipping for the sake of the vows."
He would've asked more questions, but it was clearly not the time, and as they say in the business, the show must go on. "Ruby …" Sapphire spoke up. "You showed me that there was a world beyond my own vision, where I could be free to make my own actions, do what I wish … and live in a world where I can exist with someone as amazing as you."
"Sapphire." The red gem blushed. "We've been together for six thousand years, yet I feel like no time has passed. We've gotten to experience so many new feelings and express so many new emotions together that I never thought possible before. Even when we've struggled, we've still managed to find our way back to each other. You've changed my life, and I hope we can continue to do that for each other."
The blue gem blushed as well, Greg cleared his throat as he turned to Camila. "Camila … you're an amazing woman, who cares so much about others. You carry this constant warmth and happiness around you that makes me smile. I didn't think I'd ever find anyone else but … it must have been fate that we had such crazy kids." He weakly laughed.
"Oh Greg." She shook her head with a smile. "Before I met you, I thought finding something like what we have now wasn't in the cards for me. I was so worried about keeping my daughter's future secure that I let my life pass by. But you…with your relaxed outlook on life and kindness, you've shown me that anything is possible." Camila laughed. "I may not be as well tuned as the children are in the subject, but what we have together…I can only describe it as magical." He could feel himself fluster.
Steven let out a soft smile. "The rings please?" Marco dragged a safe the size of himself, putting in a code as it revealed … a smaller safe. Which he drew a symbol on as it opened up for yet ANOTHER smaller safe. After an eye scan it revealed another … and another … and another … "Dude, really?"
"I promised to secure them, and I kept up with it." The boy eventually pulled out four rings … followed with a note he unfurled and read. "'Heads up, the security was a piece of cake, double it for the next wedding' …"
"I'll choose to ignore that for now." Steven sighed as he watched them all put on their rings. "Whoever here objects to the union of these happy people, speak now, and know that any objection will be met with severe physical force."
River stood next to him with cracked knuckles, staring at the crowd. "I dare you." This was honestly the most restraint he's ever seen the man have.
"By the power invested in me by the infinite universe known as the internet, I now pronounce you Husband, Wife, and Garnet. You may now kiss and fuse respectively."
Sapphire and Ruby wasted no time embracing each other, quickly flashing and forming into Garnet as he and Camila slowly but passionately kissed. It was like a million fireworks were going off at once. Never before did he ever think he'd ever feel like this ever again.
He heard the clapping and cheering, mostly from his cousin Andy in the back. It seemed like even the wind picked up to celebrate as well … no, it was real, it was pushing things back. Everyone turned to a shadow in the sky … seeing a giant mechanical woman with no legs waving.
"Steven!" A voice shouted from the robot. "It's been a month too long since we've seen you, so we decided to come by for a visit!"
"Ugh, at least we got done with the ceremony." Steve grumbled as he turned to them. "Sorry about this, I gotta go…talk to the Diamonds for a while."
"It's cool stu-ball." He rubbed the kid's head. "Hope when you get a wedding it's more down to earth."
"It better be, or I'm going to scream." His son sighed as he pulled all four, well, three of them, into a group hug. "Well don't stop celebrating on my account, it's a wedding." He laughed as he jumped in the air. "Now it's time to party!"
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Star sat down against the temple. "That was nice." Dancing, karaoke, cake, all the fun things in life.
"I'm glad it was for someone." Steven groaned as he went down. "When I wanted to get away from the Diamonds, I wanted it to be for a few months, not one …"
"You'd think they would come back in like a year, since a couple hundred to them is like three minutes, being immortal and all." Kelly chuckled as she sat next to them. "Don't worry, the party's still going strong. In fact.." Kelly reached into her hair and pulled out a plate of food. "I save you two slices since I know you both didn't eat today."
"And here I thought the KND would eat it all." Star took a bite of the cake. "Man … mom's the best, I don't care what the ghosts say about Comet."
"To be fair, she was aiming to stop a war, so the bar was set pretty high." Steven laughed as he bit into his own. "So any highlights I need to know about?"
"Gus is a pretty good dancer, Eyeball Ruby and Aquamarine fused into 'Bluebird' to make you suffer, the Mcducks can sing surprisingly well, and the newly married couples are talking about vacation spots for their honeymoon." Kelly listed off. "Garnet's contemplating between a volcano in Hawaii or the Tundra."
"Well with Lion, literal anyplace is possible." Star said as she tried to remember. "Lets see, what else, Eclipsa raided the dessert table and got scolded by Anne's mom, Phineas and Ferb got into a rock off with Marceline and the Calamity girls, KO convinced Dendy to dance with him, which was super awkward and cute, and Ben tried to sneak away, but turned into Gray Matter and almost got stepped on from all the dancing."
Kelly snorted. "He'll be singing a different tune when he finds a girl he likes."
Marco moved down next to them. "Actually, according to Mabel, the first girl Ben had a crush on turned out to only be into his werewolf transformation as a messed up form of pet domination."
"Yikes." Steven winced. "On the bright side, it's nice to know romance is a hurdle everyone seems to struggle with."
"Tell me about it, bro." Star said as she looked on the dance floor, where Greg and Camilia were slow dancing, getting lost into each other's eyes. "But when the end results in something as beautiful as this, I'd like to think it's all worth it."
"Yeah, it is." Steven looked at everyone, people of all shapes and sizes talking to one another. The mystery twin's uncle was trying to scam that old frog into buying something, Wander was playing a tune on the banjo as Bubbles clapped along with it, Amethyst and Vee where having fun with their shapeshifting forms, and Eclipsa and the Owl Lady were brewing some kind of concoction in a caldron. "I don't care what the Koala or any higher beings says. If this many people can get along and have fun with each other, can have this level of peace with one another, then magic can't be bad, dimensional travel can't be bad. None of it can be bad."
"Yeah, we get an entire community created from the interactions of everyone else." Star looked at the scene before her. "… Hey Marco?"
"Something on your mind Star?" Her boyfriend asked.
"You think I'd make a good teacher?" Everyone's eyes looked at her weirdly. "What, don't tell me it's that unbelievable."
"No, not at all." Steven reassured her. "It's just, not what I expected you to think about."
"Well Pearl said I'd make a good politician, but honestly all the paperwork would be boring." She reasoned. "And now we have an infinite number of universes that don't know the first thing about each other … maybe we could teach them something."
"You mean, like a whole school?" Marco asked.
"Yeah. It took me about half a year to finally get how things around earth worked, and even then I was still a bit rusty." Star went on. "With the rifts open, the gem's uncorrupted, Homeworld no longer a threat, and more people and creatures coming through it, why not have a whole school?"
"Wait, we can go even bigger." Steven eye's eyes sparkled with wonder. "Like you said, we've built a whole community on the interactions of everyone we've met. Why not officially make one? We can make our own city! One that serves as the official nexus of everyone that wants to meet up!"
"Well, we made your house, what's a city?" Marco asked with a grin.
"Hell, with magic, alien tech, and whatever Phineas and Ferb have, building something like that seems like one of the easier projects." Kelly laughed. "In fact, we already have the perfect name for it: Nexus City."
"Yeah … alright guys, we found our future." Star smiled. "A city to help the entire multiverse." She went from ruling a kingdom to building a city. Star couldn't have been happier for it.
"Hey everyone, why are you still sitting around?" Luz came up to them in an excited daze.
"Because I just talked to the Diamonds, and I prefer a few seconds of rest before the next crazy thing happens." Steven explained.
"You think you can steal from Scrooge McDuck!?"
"The Owl Lady takes all she can find!"
"..Point taken." Luz admitted. "But feuding families aside, we planned this whole thing together." She reached out her hand. "At least join your family for one dance, bro."
"She has a point, bro." Star chuckled as she nudged her brother. "Better get one in before you miss your chance."
"Fair enough." Steven squeezed his stress ball one last time before putting it away. "Come on Kelly, let's dance till the sunsets."
"How bout it, Diaz?" Star then turned to her boyfriend. "Feel like sweeping me off my feet on the dance floor, my squire?"
"I've got a few moves I've learned over the years, my princess." He held her hand, kissing it. Yes, everything they had done and accomplished up to this point….it had all been worth it for moments like this.
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"Best….Wedding…..Ever…" Luz said, trying to shake off the sugar high she was on after having five slices of cake and two bags of sugar.
"Come on Luz, you didn't even consider our wedding." Amity said, keeping her hand linked with hers. "I'm sure you have plenty of ideas in that cute little head of yours you want to enact on."
"She does. Some of them are not exactly pg thirteen, so the list is just a tad bit narrow." Steven, her now new brother, laughed as they all began cleaning up. "This actually ended up going well, I may actually be able to turn wedding planner into a full career after today."
"Interdimensional weddings, that sounds like a blast." Mabel laughed. "After all, I already married a pig and a goat, what's an interdimensional deity with a tree?"
"I'm not sure if I want to know the context of what she's referring to." Star muttered to Marco as they put away the chairs. "I thought for sure the Diamond's were going to screw everything up, but at least they came and went after three hours."
"Yeah, they really just wanted to talk to me, even if they came off as a little clingy." Steven shuddered just a little bit. "I think I'm going to have to make monthly visits to Homeworld just to get them to stop showing up so often."
"Well you know what they say." Gwen said as she used magic to clean up without touching the garbage. "You can't choose your family. Otherwise Ben wouldn't be within ten feet of me ever."
"Like you're a treat to be around." Ben grumbled as Gwen dumped the garbage on top of him.
"Hey, that's not completely true." Luz said. "Sure, blood and stuff makes you related to someone no matter what, but we do get a say in who we accept in our lives." She patted Steven on the back. "Like how Eda accepted me, or how our parents accepted each other."
"And I pretty much abandoned my family like they abandoned me, so I have you guys." Kelly said, moving the table.
"Yeah, by that definition, my family tree is enormous." Steven laughed. "Well, I never say no to having more family."
"And family is the greatest adventure of all." Dewey mentioned as he tripped over one of the wire cables.
"So what's next for the weird and wild adventures of Star Butterfly and Steven Universe, and can I please be a part of it?" Luz asked.
"Well, what we have planned next might be smaller scale, but important nonetheless." Star answered.
"And I'm still on a therapy stress free recommendation at the moment." Steven wrote off. "So no adventure for a while, right now it's just rest, relaxation, and-" The pillar in the middle of the town started to glitch. "... and remembering that neither is possible in my life." He said, flickering pink.
"Don't worry, best case scenario, it's just a random octopus creature struggling to escape from whatever cold dark depths it's trying to escape from." KO cracked his knuckles as everyone prepared to move it.
"Why did life get to a point where that actually sounds reasonable?" Marco grumbled as they approached the rift. "Please tell me this isn't the universe ripping apart, we were just having a good day."
They approached the portal … as weird images began flickering. "Is … is this what I think it is?" Ladybug asked.
"I feel like these dimensional videos are getting way too frequent." Steven muttered. "Wasn't it every few months or something?"
"Hey, who knows, maybe something different will come out of this one." Luz suggested. "I mean, it came from the rift itself, that alone must mean something."
"And the best part, the universe isn't folding in on itself like a piece of paper, which means there's only one thing to do now." Star sat on the ground and summoned bags of popcorn. "Sit back and enjoy the show."