My One and Only

Chapter 29

Sakura fiddled with the small crown-like headband on her petal hair. She tugged at the transparent, loose sleeves covering her arms. She adjusted and readjusted the curls of her hair. Her nervous jitters were making her want to go over everything and anything about the way she looked in this moment over and over again. 

Okay, stop, she tells herself. Sakura takes a deep breath and looks at her reflection in the mirror as she smiles wide in anticipation. She turns from the mirror and tells the maids she's ready to leave the room where she'd been painstakingly groomed and prepped for today. Sakura opens the door and walks out to the hallway, she can hear the maids walking behind her, carrying her veil and train. 

The walk to where Itachi was waiting for her was short but filled with a kind of impatient expectation that left her chest and arms tingling all over. She found Itachi, and her eyes immediately sought his. When he finally looked up, his eyes making contact with hers, he smiled warmly. A smile that made both made Sakura's heart flutter and took away any negative kind of nervousness about today. 

"You look beautiful." He said when she finally reached him. 

Sakura's smile got wider, "You look very handsome today, too." She said in an unwavering voice even as her cheeks reddened.

Itachi grinned, "Only today?" He teased.

They lingered there, hesitant to enter the double doors. Both because they wouldn't be able to talk for a while once the ceremony started and because Itachi could feel Sakura's nervousness. But finally, Sakura moved forward, and Itachi followed beside her. They shouldn't keep their guests waiting for long, after all.

All movement and talking stopped as the nobles gathered in the room turned their heads towards them. Sakura wanted to shrink backward with all the probing eyes suddenly on her, not all friendly. But Itachi's steadying hand kept her moving forward past the very first row of people. 

Sakura looked over to the people just a few feet away from them long enough to notice her parents also in the crowd. Both wearing quite identical smug expressions. She quickly turned away, deciding that nothing was going to sour today.

They stopped before the priest, standing side by side. As the priest began his spiel about marriage and the sanctity of it, Sakura, for the most part, zoned out. She noticed Itachi's parents were sitting behind the priest, of course, watching proudly from their thrones. She also sees Shisui and Sasuke standing a ways away from the rest of the nobles, lining the wall opposite where she and Itachi had entered from.

Sakura blinks as she senses the priest finally finishing his speech. "Let this union be blessed by God and may their reign bring years of prosperity!" He announces to the crowd.

Itachi and Sakura turned towards the mass of nobles, officially proclaimed husband and wife. Cheers and applause suddenly fill the once quiet room as the multitude seems to come to life. 

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Royal events gathered large crowds. It was obvious to Sakura before, but she'd never been faced with the reality of it. It seemed the entire city had gathered, ranging from commoners to the nobles that had been gathered at the hall minutes before. 

She and Itachi were in an open carriage as they paraded through the city in celebration of their wedding. The people lining the streets showered them with rice, leaving them with wishes of prosperity and fruitfulness, and rose petals. Sakura had forgotten today also served as her official coronation as crown princess.

They crossed the city to arrive back at the royal palace. Where the reception of the wedding would be held. And simply because of the fact that they were nobility, an outfit change was in order. What kind of royalty would wear the same outfit to two different events? Even if they were connected and even if it was for one's own wedding. This dress was much more flowy and girlish than her wedding dress.

This time, when they entered the grand ballroom that Mikoto had worked so hard to make sure was decorated to perfection, the room did not go quiet. But jovially welcomed the main characters of the event as they descended the staircase to the ballroom. Nobles flocked to them to congratulate them, though kept a healthy amount of distance, not dumb enough to risk angering Itachi with their closeness.

Mikoto and Fugaku come as well, and the group of nobles part and respectfully mingle among themselves to keep from intruding on the royal family. With all the elegance and refinement of a queen, Mikoto pulls Sakura in for a hug, despite it not being the most dignified thing to do in public. She hugs Sakura tightly, so tightly Sakura thinks she might not be able to breathe if she hugs any tighter, and says, "I'm so happy you're officially family Sakura-chan!"

Sakura feels elated at that. She already knew Mikoto liked her but the reaffirmation doesn't hurt. Fugaku actually voices his approval as well, and Sakura is overjoyed.

Shisui comes next, all smiles and teasing words like usual. "Don't leave too early!" He says with a wink as he stalks off to talk to some pretty unmarried lady he'd spotted as he was talking to them. Sasuke doesn't come up to them, and Sakura knows it's because he feels awkward, so she doesn't hold it against him. Later, he catches her eyes and gives her and his brother a small smile, the most they'd get out of him, so Sakura is flattered.

Itachi asks her for a dance, without hesitation she says yes and he leads her towards the dance floor. The other nobles move out of the way for them, and without instruction, everyone gathers around them in a sloppy circle. She knows their eyes are on them but Sakura doesn't care as she sways to the music, her dress-the same color as her eyes- swaying gracefully around her. 

Itachi's hand is warm at her waist and her footsteps follow him, executing perfectly the steps she'd spent weeks practicing. The sounds of the people blend away and her feet move seamlessly, barely a thought needed for her to keep rhythm. Her eyes are glued to Itachi's, and all she sees is him. As he spins her in his arms, Sakura truly believes today couldn't have been any more perfect.

The End.

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Hey everyone! Thank you so much for supporting my fanfic to the end and taking the time to read it. I know it got rough around the middle, things weren't going as I'd imagined and I wasn't really happy with how this fic was turning out, still am not. I started writing this more than a year ago, and I think in that time I might've just outgrown it. New ideas for fics also took my inspiration away from this one.

Still, I didn't just want to leave it incomplete, but there were many times when I just lost inspiration so a new chapter would take a while to come out. So I'm really thankful to anyone who gave this the time of day despite the bad writing. Knowing that there were actually people that read the new chapter I updated definitely helped me write this, haha.