"Oh, good, you're here, please stop our brother from having a panic attack," Owen said as Mina entered the room.
"One, panic attack? Two, our brother?" Mina responded walking over and gently stroking Kaedan's back as Owen tried to place a golden clip in Kaedan's hair. Mina sighed and held out her hand, and Owen handed it to her, stepping off of the stool behind Kaedan so Mina could take his place.
"One, I have no idea why he's panicking, two, he's basically your brother as much as he is mine," Owen said, fixing Kaedan's suit jacket that matched Xander's.
"Aww," Mina cooed, "Does that mean I'm your older sister?"
Owen gave her a dead stare, "Mina, if you think you aren't already my older sister, where have you been for like the last few years. You set a curfew for me."
"This is so touching, I'm going to cry," Mina fake-sniffled as she fixed some of Kaedan's curls.
The aforementioned man wheezed, "It's my wedding, both of you stop making each other cry. Besides, Owen said to calm me down, not make me cry more. Also, stop talking about me like I'm not here!"
Owen laughed and patted his shoulder, "Alright, alright. You're gonna be fine, you guys got through the messy break-up, got through meeting the relatives even though said relatives already knew about you two and approved—"
"For the most part," Kaedan muttered, "Pretty sure Lumina used to have plans to murder me in my sleep and I can't say I blame her."
Mina snorted, "But she wouldn't have done it because it would have made me very sad. So, in all honesty, you're very lucky I love you."
"I'm going to kill you in your sleep," Kaedan deadpanned.
"Not if you want to make Lumina a future widow," Mina froze as she processed what she just said, and it seemed Kaedan and Owen were processing it as well.
"Wait, what?!"
"Holy fuck, did she propose to you!?"
Mina waved them away, turning red, "No! No, no, no! She didn't propose or anything, we just…Vaguely mentioned that maybe we would get married after all of this shit is over. However that would work. Anyways, this—It's Kaedan's wedding, why are we talking about me?!" She whined.
"Because watching you suffer is the best way to calm me down from a panic attack. Now, details," Kaedan grinned. Mina knew she wasn't going to escape from this so easily.
"We had sex immediately after," She deadpanned.
"Gross."
"Not the details we meant, Mina. I'll let you off the hook for now," Kaedan shook his head, "Holy shit. I'm getting married. To the guy that I literally hated six years ago. How did this even happen?"
Owen raised an eyebrow, "Actually, I'd like to know as well. About the hating part, I mean. How did that happen?"
"Oh," Kaedan sighed, "Right, so remember how I told you about our brother and how he basically asked Xander to help us when our family tried to disown me and get me locked up for trying to find you? At the time, I didn't really like the idea of outsiders getting involved. So, of course, I immediately took Xander as an outsider and it was hate at first sight. On my side, I guess, because apparently, he found me interesting. It was funny, he genuinely was helpful and I was adamant not to see it. Wyran knew about Xander being a part of the White Lotus Assassins but he assured me that Xander would never let it hurt us…" Kaedan looked down, "Hence my anger when I found out Wyran had died because of the White Lotus, and while Alex was there, no less. I was really stupid back then. I should have stopped for a minute and thought if Alex would really do something like that."
Mina made a sad noise, "You couldn't have known, Dannie. Your brother had literally just died, no one was expecting you to think things through."
Kaedan sighed, "Except for me. I think that's what scares me the most. What if I hurt him like that again? Mina, I scarred him. Do I even deserve—"
"Nuh-uh, stopping you right there, right now," Owen shook his head, "You apologized back then when you found out he couldn't have done anything, right?" Kaedan nodded, "And you've apologized now after getting the whole truth, right?" Kaedan nodded again, "And you're working on your anger issues and you know better than to do what you did back then, right?" Kaedan nodded a third time, more vigorously, "Well, then, don't you think it's time you forgive yourself? Kaedan, I think all this time, when you were so angry, you were angry with yourself. But you didn't know what to do with this anger so you started coming off as aggressive or having anger issues. It's time for you to let go. It wasn't all your fault. Say it after me. It wasn't your fault."
Kaedan took a deep breath, "It…It wasn't my fault."
"That's it," Mina encouraged, "It wasn't your fault, and you're doing everything you can to fix what went wrong. You've been trying to fix it for years and now that you know everything, you will continue to make things better for him and be better for him. But for that, you first need to let go and forgive yourself," Her voice got softer, "You're allowed to have this, Kaedan."
At those words, Kaedan promptly burst into tears, leaving Mina and Owen in a panic.
"What did you do?!"
"I don't know, I just went off of what you said! Kaedan, Kaedan, honey? Look at me, It's okay, there's no need to cry," Mina swiped away his tears quickly, "Also, you're going to ruin your makeup if you keep crying."
"Mina!"
"What?! It's true!"
Kaedan laughed as he looked up, "Fuck," He uttered, "I really am? I'm allowed to have this? It feels like a fevered dream…I didn't think I could have better than I already did and yet…I'm having a wedding day, and I have two of my siblings here, and as much as I wish Wyran could be here…I know he's probably even more glad than I am that this day would come. Let it be known to never mistrust Wyran's judgment," He chuckled, "He told me Xander would always protect me…And he hasn't proved me wrong yet."
"I don't think he ever will," Owen said softly, "It's obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that you two would do anything for each other."
Kaedan couldn't contain the sob that came out as a laugh, "We would, wouldn't we? But we'd do anything for you guys as well, just so you know. We love each other so much but you know Xander would be willing to die for Lumina without any hesitation. It's the same for me about you guys. Anything, anything either of you needs, I'll happily give you. You're both my younger siblings, whether blood-related," He looked at Owen, "Or not," He looked at Mina.
Mina and Owen took one look at each other and proceeded to burst into tears. The roles were reversed as Kaedan frantically tried to calm them down.
"Why are you both crying now?! Aren't you supposed to wait until the ceremony for that?! Come on, Fenix and Lumina are going to kill me and I would hate to have to kill them to defend myself because nothing will stop me from getting married today!" Kaedan exclaimed, wiping their faces.
Mina laughed and almost tackled Kaedan to the ground, barely letting him regain his balance, "Shut your mouth, you sound stupid now."
"You were crying literally seconds ago!"
"Who says I'm not still crying?!"
Owen let out another sob and joined in, almost completely knocking Kaedan down, "You can't just say something like that and not expect us to cry! That's so unfair!"
"Guys!" Kaedan whined, "I will start crying if you both don't stop. And I look fantastic right now!"
Mina stuck her tongue out, "Your future husband looks prettier."
"Does he?" Kaedan asked excitedly, "You got to see him? Tell me everything, I want to know every detail. Was he happy? Sad? Nervous? Excited?"
She rolled her eyes, "He was very pretty, yes, you'll get to see more later, just wait a few more minutes, he was happy that he is getting married to you, he's sad that you're taking forever to get ready so you can both hurry up and be married already, he's nervous because you're both idiots and you both are nervous for something that'll obviously work out, and he's excited because motherfucker, of course, he's excited, he's getting married."
"To me," Kaedan pointedly added.
Mina sighed, "Fine, he's excited to be married to you, God knows why."
Kaedan pouted, "On my wedding day of all days? When I'm going to be married? Hmph, I guess I'll just embarrass you on your wedding day."
"Xander better be prepared," Owen sighed.
"You better be prepared as well," Kaedan glared at him, "I will most definitely be embarrassing you at your wedding as well."
Owen spluttered, "We haven't even been together for a year, let alone Fenix and I even thinking of marriage!"
Kaedan grinned, "One, you immediately thought of Fenix when I said you getting married which is pretty much a confirmation itself, and two, I'm thinking into the future. Although Mina is in the most danger currently, since her wedding day is probably going to be very soon."
Mina glared at him, "I will embarrass you during the speeches."
Kaedan glared back, "Who do you think has more dirt? Bitch, I watched you grow up. Want to see who'll suffer more?"
"...You win. This time."