Strictly Professional

Chapter 6: Stuffy family life go brrr

"We may not all agree with your choice, but we were wrong in trying to choose for you. It was also pretty wrong of us to ruin what's supposed to be a happy night for you, and a celebration for all of us. We'll be there to show our support tomorrow."

Dawn couldn't help it. She was already crying. Sure, the wedding wasn't cute or romantic. She wasn't here seeking approval from her family for the love of her life, but rather for her choice of the event. Finally, for the first time in a little over a decade, her family was accepting her choice.

In fact, if she hadn't been dreading the disapproval, she would have cried from the joy of seeing her aunts again. Seeing all that was left of her family was something she didn't know she needed. Sure, it felt a bit hollow without everyone else, but she'd been running on empty for so long. Even filling half the tank was an extreme weight off her shoulders.

At first, nobody knew what to do. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Time stood up and hugged her. Time, who was the least affectionate person to ever live, walked up and was the first to initiate a hug. The meaning that a hug from her held in this family was very heavy, and it was a sign of love that she rarely used.

Memory quickly stood up and rushed over, joining the hug. She was even more of a sobbing mess than Dawn, wailing on and on about how sorry she was and how they never should have chosen to leave her alone for so long. Dawn was pretty sure her sleeve was never going to recover, but she didn't actually mind.

Regret and Shadow exchanged glances and nodded. They both slipped over so quickly that nobody noticed. It was only when they also joined the family hug session that anyone even realized they were there. Like Time, they weren't very physically affectionate, so it was a true sign of support.

Tsunami, still having her mouth covered, crossed her arms and looked away. She wanted to join in, she really did, but they weren't doing the right thing. Even if it was right to let her make her own choices, this choice was reckless and irresponsible. She pouted and slumped down, glaring a hole into the table.

Plus, it was so unfair! Some random guy shouldn't be able to take her big sister away from her. Tsunami didn't want to share, and she'd never had to share her sister's attention with anyone who wasn't family. She got to be with Dawn practically all day every day, and now she wasn't even going to live with them. Plus, visiting her would be a pain with all of the paparazzi.

Eight looked at her young charge mischievously. She knew the real reason the angry tsundere didn't want her sister leaving, and she was pretty sure at least one reader would guess. Then again, she'd covered the tracks pretty well. Made you think Tsunami was a jerk didn't I? Eh? Ehhh?

The massive slime scooped up Tsunami, who yelled out muffled grunts of protest. The bodyguard just slung the young girl over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and walked towards the group. Outer nearly snorted as the volatile teen was carried past, and Blossom snapped a pic. This would definitely be one for the bodyguard hall of fame.

Eight dropped Tsunami like a wet cat next to her family. Tsunami turned away and glared. She felt tears prick at her eyes, but she was an adult now! Adults didn't cry when their sisters were going to be taken away from them, or when their particularly not affectionate family was all hugging.

Ironically, that was one of the many reasons she felt bonded to Dawn. There were many reasons; Dawn could use her magic, Dawn always taught her cool new things, Dawn's survival was a miracle. One of the biggest things though, was that her older sister was always there for her. Dawn soothed her at nights as a child, and even now when she had particularly bad terrors about everything they'd lost.

Dawn was very affectionate and soft towards her sister. She knew everything anyone would ever need to know. She helped Tsunami when things confused her, and explained the answer to whatever random question Tsunami had asked her since she was a kid. Why does the sun rise? Why did the stray dog bite her? Why were the people with cameras obsessed with following them?

Many questions like that had been asked, and each Dawn had always answered with a smile. Even now, whenever Tsunami would run in to interrupt Shadow and Dawn's painting sessions, instead of scowling like Shadow, Dawn would smile, pull her into a hug, and listen to whatever the younger had to say.

Eight leaned down to Tsunami's level, (very far for the eight foot slime) and forced her to look at them. She rolled her eyes at the teen's stubborn attitude, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I know you don't want your sister to leave. Frankly, I'll miss her and Ccino too. This will be good for her though, she hasn't been happy here in a very long time. I know you wouldn't support the wedding even if it was to the love of her life, so I need you to think on this. Who's sake is it for you want her to stay? Hers, or yours? Don't pretend to think hard about it either, you already know."

With a pat on the back, the slime person rose and walked back over to sit beside Blossom. Tsunami felt the tears that were formerly only a minor nuisance come rushing out. She ran over to her family and (rather aggressively) joined the hug. The blob of people could be heard laughing before it just dissolved into more tears.

Tsunami held on to her family as hard as she could. She didn't think a chance like this would ever come again, and she was going to get every moment she could out of this. Their family was far from perfect, and nobody had made the right choices. Even if they regretted it, they did leave the heartbroken children along for a little over a decade. That wasn't the right choice by any means.

A hug like this didn't fix everything; she would still hold deep resentment towards this mystery guy for stealing her sister, and she'd still be salty that her aunts left her. Of course, all of them would always feel a little hole that could only be filled by what was lost in the incident; but that was okay too. They would always have that pain to ensure they would never forget the joy they once held.

They would never be so distracted that they would forget all about those they loved. When times got tough and all they wanted to do was give in, they would stay strong. Strong enough to carry on and treasure the life they were given, because some people who had wanted to live it to their fullest had their opportunity stolen away from them. As much as they would want to give in and see them again, they would all know that's not what any of them would have wanted.

The three bodyguards looked on at this scene, each with a smile for their own reason. Two of them had been there for the incident, and one had joined just in time to see the aftermath. They had watched as the three youngest of the family struggled to keep up with this strange grief that consumed them, unable to identify it completely and placed in a situation where healing wasn't easy, if even possible.

The world had played a very cruel card to this family, and it took an argument big enough to pull everyone in once again to bring them together. It wouldn't be easy, the family was brought together once again just to be ripped apart. However, it would still hold. Now, they knew how to respect the choices everyone made, and not just view each other as survivors of a tragedy.

That was the way life was meant to be after all, wasn't it?