By D.X. Machina

The wedding ceremony had concluded, and Lessy and Moze were still a bit dazed, not only because they were finally married, but because of the trouble their friends had gone to.

Sorcha had called Lessy shortly after they left to ask for a delay of an hour or so, one she blamed on needing time to wash the outfit she wanted to wear. Lessy was annoyed, at first…but then her mom had called to say that really, if they waited two hours it would work best for her, as her dad was in the middle of some project. And then Filfi Adjaye who had had been slated to officiate, called to suggest that there might be a different officiant, but he’d still be there. At this point Lessy was quite certain that something was up.

Now, Lessy could have pushed back – she had rarely had a problem with that. But if Sorcha and her parents and Adjaye were conspiring…there had to be a good reason. And to be fair…she hadn’t given them much warning. They were probably pulling together a present or a video or something. And she was sort of curious to see what they came up with. So they arrived a bit later than planned, and said hello to Sorcha and Joseph and Lessy’s parents, as well as Adjaye and a few other friends from the colony.

And then the holograms in the room began to light up.

They’d gone with soft light, because hard light was too much of a drain on the Freemanian power grid right now, but that hardly mattered. Lessy’s Aunt Loona was there to preside over the wedding, and Hector and his fiancé Terith and Ulee and his fiancée Sevra had joined, not to mention Pryvani and Zhan and Thyllia and Ryan and Rixie and Alex and Eyrn and Naskia – and though it surprised her, in the end it had been Naskia’s presence that caused Lessy to briefly lose her eternal composure.

Nobody discussed the logistics, which Sorcha had managed to put together while changing (she had decided to go with a simple dress and be done with it; she didn’t have time to waste with dithering), and that Nonah and Dhan had enthusiastically embraced. Fortunately, Loona had access to some of the best communications equipment in the Empire, and while she hesitated briefly about using it for a personal event, Pryvani had noted that Moze was the leader of Freeman Colony, supporting him was a perfectly reasonable thing for the Floor Leader to do, and if anyone complained, Pryvani promised she would reimburse the Imperial treasury.

The conference room was pretty full, or appeared to be, with the Titans around the table and the humans upon it. But it was a good kind of full. And though it was just a simple registration ceremony, one that took the Floor Leader all of ten minutes to complete, the people in the room made it feel like a grand wedding indeed. Not because the people were important or wealthy or famous – though many were – but because they were the people Lessy loved, and Moze loved, and the people who loved them back.

“You’re smart, you know,” Alex Carey said to the newlyweds, not long after the ceremony had ended. “Married life is awesome. Rixie and I never should have waited as long as we did.”

“This is exactly why we did it,” Moze said, with a grin. “We thought about waiting, but Lessy said, ‘Well, Alex and Rixie waited far too long, let’s not make that mistake.’”

Alex laughed. “Your husband’s a smart guy,” he said. “I’d shake your hand if it wasn’t a projection.”

“And a good sense of humor is going to help,” Rixie said. “It’s not always easy. You know that. But if you can laugh during the tough times…you can get through them.”

“I hope that we’ve had tough enough times for life,” Lessy sighed. “But I know better.”

“You’ve got a kid on the way. You’re gonna find out that the toughest times for you aren’t anything compared to that,” Alex said with a nod. “But don’t worry. You’ll laugh through those too. Unless you have to cry. But if you do…you’ve got a lot of friends who will cry with you.”

Lessy wiped away a tear, and said, “I know you will. I know you will.”

Meanwhile, Loona leaned back in a chair, and wiped away her own tears as she talked to Nonah and Dhan. The three Armacs had all had a hand in raising Nonah and Dhan’s kids; Loona was an honorary aunt, but she was also a constant presence in the lives of Hector, Ulysses, and Alesia.

“I’m so glad Sorcha told you,” Nonah said, sitting on her own chair, and wiping her own tears away. “It wouldn’t have been the same without you here.”

“You should be so proud of her,” Loona said. “You raised a fine woman.”

“We are,” Nonah said. “And you should be too, for the same reason.”

“I’m just their aunt,” Loona said.

“You were always careful about that, Loona,” Dhan said. “And we love you for it. But you were as much her parent as we were.”

“No,” Loona said. “She’s yours. I’d never….”

“You never would claim her as yours, Looney, because you knew what that could have meant, once upon a time,” Nonah said. “You never wanted anyone to question who our children belonged to. But you were there for all of us when you didn’t have to be.”

“I was just….” Loona began, but Nonah waved her down.

“I’m not saying that to mean we’re forever in your debt or anything. We aren’t, Loona. Families don’t keep track of those kinds of debts. We all owe each other everything. You’re my friend, and my sister, and our co-parent. And our kids are all amazing, and all three of us should be proud.”

Loona burst into tears at that, and swore, though not so loud that it would be seen as unbecoming of a head of government. “I wish I could give you guys a hug. And I will, next time I see you. And if we kept track of those kinds of debt…my life is so much better because you are a part of it. You wouldn’t owe me anything. I’d owe you.”

It was about this time that Aisell walked over and put an arm around Loona’s shoulder. “So,” she said, “when were you going to tell me that Ulee was marrying Sevra Megalos?”

“Huh?” Loona said, trying to recompose herself. “I told you a while back that he got engaged.”

“You told me he got engaged. Not that he got engaged to Luke’s great-great-granddaughter!”

“What?” Nonah said. “Sevra’s from Avalon.”

“I am,” Sevra said, having heard her name booming across the room, “but my dad wasn’t. Hi, Aisell, it’s been a long time.”

“Too long! Loona told me Ulee was marrying someone who worked for Ammer, she didn’t tell me it was you! How are you? How’s your family? Alex still trying to become a billionaire?”

Sevra laughed. “The rate he’s going, he might just make it. He’s already a director at Tribe Maris Atlantis. And since you’re gonna ask, my niece Quendra is doing great, she’s starting preschool in the fall.”

“I didn’t realize you were a part of the Tribe!” Nonah said, grinning.

“’Daughter of Jatan the Wanderer, son of Ricer the Defender, son of Maria the Strong, daughter of Quendra the Great and Luke of Earth.’” Sevra rattled the names off from memory, as she’d done dozens of times before.

“And I’m sorry Ais,” Loona said, “I didn’t know Sevra was related to them. How’d that happen?”

“My dad visited Avalon, and he met my mom, fell in love. He got life-extended, and stayed on Avalon. We’ve been back a few times, but….”

“But it was always a bit uncomfortable,” Aisell sighed. “Yeah, my brother-in-law…he’s been through that.”

“Yeah. I mean…I guess I didn’t mention it because I’m not a member of the Tribe, not really.”

“Oh, now that’s silly!” Aisell said. “Like you said, you are the descendant of Quendra and Luke. And as a fellow member of the Tribe, one who also can never fit exactly right…it is still, and always will be, a part of you. And you should bring Ulee down to Faeliopolis one of these days. If only to introduce him to Leezah’s cooking.”

Sevra smiled wide at that. “Thank you, Aisell, Eyes Like Ice. I will.”

“And if you ever need anything when you’re there, let me know. I know that Luke and Quendra have dozens of descendants at this point, but I was faith-aunt to Maria and Disa. That makes me a great-faith-aunt to all of you.”

“That’s very nice, but really, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Of course I do!” Aisell said. “I’ve got you. All of you. Always.”

Lessy was busily accepting congratulations as newlyweds always do, and she’d had no shortage of well-wishers since the ceremony had concluded. But there was one person she sought out, who had not queued up to say hello.

Naskia had been sitting in a chair, observing, but not really participating. Grief, she had found, came in waves. Sometimes she felt completely fine, almost surprisingly so. She was always aware of Niall’s absence, of course, but most of the time it was like a dodgy knee – it hurt, but it didn’t keep her from going about her daily business.

But there were times it washed over her almost like her mother was back in the small room behind the lecture hall, breaking the news all over again, and it was all she could do to keep from breaking down in tears.

Niall should have been here, at Lessy’s wedding. Lessy had taken her very last name from a suggestion of his. She’d been as close to Sorcha as a sister, and as close to Niall as a niece.

But more than that…he wasn’t just missing this wedding. He’d be missing the wedding that would follow, soon, the wedding of two members of the wedding party who were over at the far side of the table, Sorcha grinning at something that Joseph had said, a grin that she’d inherited from her father….

“Nas,” Lessy said, “thank you for coming.”

“I’m glad it worked out so I could,” Naskia forced herself to say. “You look lovely.”

“Thank you,” Lessy replied. “How…no,” she stopped herself. “Not gonna ask you that.”

“Not going to ask me what?” Naskia said. “How I’m holding up?”

Lessy sighed. “You’ve heard it too much, I would bet. I did too, after…well, after. But you can always tell me if you want to. I hope you know that.”

“Oh Lessy…I’m sorry,” Naskia said, rubbing her eyes. “This is a happy day. The best of days. And here I am…you should be enjoying yourself, not worrying about me.”

Lessy smiled. “This is a happy day, yeah. Moze and I are married. And I don’t have to worry about it for a long time, I hope. But…one of us is gonna lose the other someday. And if it’s me….”

Lessy wrung her hands, and looked down. “You and Niall, you guys were great examples, you know? You guys, my parents…we had people around us to look at and see that yeah, that’s what love is supposed to look like. And when it ends…it’s supposed to hurt, I think. If it mattered. I wouldn’t….”

She wiped a tear away. “I’m sorry, I don’t…words don’t really say what I want to say. I was going to say I hope that if I lose Moze, I miss him as much as I know you miss Niall…but that sounds horrible, and it’s not what I mean. Not….”

“No, no, you’re right,” Naskia said, quietly. “I know what you’re trying to say. It hurts so much I can hardly stand it sometimes, but…that’s the price for having been his wife. And I know it’s selfish…he did what he did to save you, and Sorcha, and half of the people in this room – virtual room, anyhow – but that doesn’t make it not hurt, and it doesn’t bring him back. And that hurts. And it should, but…it does.”

Lessy nodded. “I took psychology from Thio Smit – he was teaching the intro-level class when I went through, just a look at it,” Lessy said. “He got way off topic one day, started talking about the way we think of ourselves as these self-contained things, that my mind is my mind alone, yours is yours, Sorcha’s is Sorcha’s. But he said that there was an Earth philosopher – forget the name – who said that’s not exactly right. Because we communicate with everyone we meet, we get to know them, get to know how they think. And the people we love…we get to know them so well that we can think like them, sometimes. That maybe we aren’t literally sharing a mind…but our minds are still tied together, because our bond is so close, so strong, that we still know what’s buzzing around their head, even if they don’t tell us. Our mind is literally running the same way theirs is, in that moment. And because of that…even when we lose someone, if we loved them, if we knew them well, that part of them that became part of us…it never goes away.

“Niall’s a part of you and a part of Sorcha and a part of me,” Lessy said, “and a part of a good many other people. I don’t know if that counts as soul or anything like that – but I think, if he was here….”

“He’d ask us why we were wasting time talking about him when we should be having a drink,” Naskia said. “And why nobody had thought to bring whisky.”

“Yes,” Lessy said. “But we’d both know that he wasn’t that upset we were talking about him. In fact, he’d be kind of glad that we all cared enough to miss him. Even if he’d grumble and pretend like he didn’t care.”

“That’s exactly right,” Naskia said. “And he’d tell you, Lessy, that you found a fine man in Moze, quite the artist – he might go on a tangent about how much math there is in art – and then he’d tell you that between him and you there’d be nothing you couldn’t accomplish. And he’d thank you for being a friend to Sorcha…and a friend to us. And a friend to his wife, who should cheer up and enjoy herself and stop moping around already.”

“And then he’d say I looked lovely, but not quite as lovely as you do. And then he’d go on flattering you for as long as you’d let him.”

“Which was usually as long as he wanted to go on,” Naskia said. She smiled, and looked down at her friend, and her daughter’s friend. “I hope that you and Moze have a long, long time together. And yes, the one of you who loses the other…it will hurt. I promise, it will. But if you’re lucky, you’ll have friends around to remind you why that pain is nothing, nothing, compared to the joy that’s always a part of you.”