Private A Match Made in Maranatha

[Inanna Harth]

Maranatha, Alderaan​

Outsiders might be a bit surprised at how informal and unstructured Shi'ido weddings seemed to be. The outdoor venue, a forest grove in which tables and chairs had been set up in a broad circle, had no central altar or podium where an officiant might stand. In fact, there was no officiant in sight—Shi'ido weddings were more competition than ceremony. There was also no grand entrance for the couple, who were already there to greet the guests as they arrived. Seats were vaguely assigned, but not strictly enforced; people took chairs as needed for their plus-ones and other surprise additions.

Not that there were all that many guests to begin with. Shi'ido valued familial and clan relations very highly, so a few more distant kin of Inanna showed up despite having not seen her in literal centuries. Apart from that, the couple's social circle was not particularly wide, with only a few close friends being invited. It was a small, intimate gathering, though nonetheless buzzing with barely contained excitement.

Inanna stood off to one side with baby Serena on her hip, welcoming the last of the guests to arrive. She was spectacularly dressed and seemed to be in her element, although the repetition was getting a little tiresome. She was also naturally nervous about what was to come... although she wasn't half as bad off as she would've been had the old traditions been taken more seriously.

"A few more people and then we're starting," she muttered quietly to Cato as the trickle of guests began to gradually thin out. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it all turns out fine."

Alicio Organa Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato's Bonadan upbringing had no particular traditions associated with weddings. None outside of the standard fare involved with most humanocentric ceremonies, anyway. Regardless, he had no particular desire to flaunt that aspect of his life, and thus they went all in on a traditional Shi'ido event.

He was dressed in a sharp, slim white suit; Rather nicely fitted, considering it was a rental (and about the only human detail in the whole wedding). His hair was a little bit tidier, and his face freshly shaved. It was the most effort Cato had probably ever put into his appearance, but was still "him", so to speak. He'd remained quite casual about the upcoming ceremony right until today. Though he tried to mask it, the groom was undoubtedly nervous. Cato rubbed his hands together, and nodded along, "Sure."

Yet considering this was his wedding, he had very little idea of what was actually supposed to happen, which didn't help with his nervousness. But Inanna had his trust, and she seemed to know what she was doing. Cato spotted Alicio and Amani on the approach, and offered a wave. They would at least spare him from being the only one out of the loop.

The gathering was relatively small, certainly when compared to the wedding of the aforementioned nobles, at least. But if anything, Cato preferred that. They didn't need a grandiose display to legitimize their love (and frankly, couldn't afford one anyway). This would do nicely.

"…You look amazing… by the way," He suddenly said, taking a moment to study his bride's beautiful dress.

Inanna Harth | Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

MARANATHA, ALDERAAN
​

As Alicio and Amani stepped into the venue, he took a deep breath in, savoring the atmosphere. It was a quiet affair, smaller than the Organas' own marriage spectacular, though that had it's own undeniable charm. Part of the nobleman wished that he and Amani could have had a wedding like this; intimate, hushed, tranquil, with that undeniable starburst of excitement the bride and groom were likely feeling.

Stepping quietly up to Inanna, Cato, and Serena with Amani in hand, Alicio bowed his head deferentially to them. "About time, slowpokes," he said, suppressing a cheeky chuckle. Then, he smiled wide. "Congratulations, you three. I'm excited for the ceremony."

If Cato thought he would have a kindred, lost spirit in Alicio, he was sorely mistaken. The Count had studied Shi'ido culture extensively when he'd invited them to Alderaan, and had done even more research in preparation for this day. "And... good luck~," he said, winking at Cato, the glimmer of prophecy in his eye.

But as he turned to find a spot for himself and Amani, his gaze lingered on Inanna for a moment longer. There was the flickering of something sad under his joy for her. He couldn't help but think on their spotted, storied, messy history together. The pain. The tears. The hurt. The gala.

“She’ll be fine. She has things to look forward to.” I don’t.

But Inanna was wrong, back then, wasn't she? She'd had a bright future, with an excellent man. And that's what gave meaning behind his final, parting smile with Inanna. She had so much to look forward to now.

Assuming Cato, you know, survived.

- Inanna Harth - Cato Harth -

 

[Inanna Harth]

"…You look amazing… by the way."

“Thanks. This isn’t a real dress.” She winked, but it was more for practicality’s sake than cheekiness. If she was going to be running around in the woods, she’d rather not do it in an expensive wedding gown someone had to slave over making. Inanna looked Cato over, taking in his white suit and smoothed hair. “You look pretty handsome yourself. What do you think, Serena? Is your daddy handsome?”

Serena nodded, then turned to wave toward a pair of guests who had just arrived—Alicio and Amani Organa. Alicio’s comment about their slowness earned a look from Inanna. “Hey now, I was legally ‘dead’ for a while there,” she protested. “Dead people can’t get married. But thanks anyway.”

Of course Alicio was excited to watch the spectacle. Inanna had made an attempt to explain to Cato what would happen during the wedding, but he still seemed confused. Or perhaps he was simply in denial…

The Organas were the last of the guests. After checking to be sure there were no more stragglers, Inanna took Cato’s hand and led him to the middle of the circle, where her brother Pygar was waiting. The guests started cheering and whistling, imitating the sounds of birds and animals and generally making as much noise as possible—an old Shi’ido tradition designed to frighten away predators on Lao-mon.

Inanna held up a hand for silence. “Before we start, I’m going to invoke ish’ken over Serena,” she said.

Her announcement was greeted with a chorus of awwws and cheering from the Shi’ido guests. Pygar looked amused. “Isn’t that jumping the gun? You’re not married yet.”

“Oh, I’m confident that I will be the one marrying Cato today,” Inanna replied with a smirk. Laughter followed, then a silent stillness fell as she faced Serena, placing her thumb in the toddler’s tiny pink hand. "Serena, daughter of Cato Harth, I invoke the spirit of adoption over you. Henceforth you will be my daughter, equal to the children of my body in rights and privileges under the laws of my people. You will inherit that portion of my property that is due a daughter of my house, as well as my family name.”

As she spoke the words passed down through generations of her family, she felt a stinging behind her eyelids and her vision began to blur. She likely would’ve broken down crying, had Serena not decided to reach out and cover her mouth with her free hand as if trying to get her to stop talking. Snorting, she pulled her hand away. Serena whined impatiently. “Hang on, pink. I’m almost done.

“Your name is Serena Harth. You are the third child of Inanna… Harth.” May as well jump the gun even higher. “May you bring honor and glory to your house for as long as you live.”

There was more cheering as she kissed the top of Serena’s head, then passed her on to Cato’s mother. Pygar grinned, finally getting to make his little speech. “All right, most of you already know how this goes, but for those of you that don’t: every single woman present chases the groom. Whoever catches Cato and holds onto him for at least seven seconds becomes his wife… unless someone else challenges her to a duel, in which case whoever wins the duel then becomes his wife.”

The eligible women began to gather nearby. Inanna counted maybe half a dozen contenders, most of them Shi’ido. Most surprising of all was her mother Lilith, who joined the group with arms crossed over her chest. “Don’t give me that look,” she said, her stern expression broken by a sly wink. “I’m perfectly qualified.”

“Oh, and no cheating with Force Powers. Normally we give the average Shi'ido male a seven second head start, but since this one is only Near-Human, we’ve doubled it to fourteen seconds.” Pygar held up a timer. “On your marks… Get set… Go!”

Cato Harth Alicio Organa​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato smirked, "I kinda figured," He stood a little taller at the compliments from both Inanna and Serena, "I try."

Last but not least among the guests was of course the Organas, who came to give their well wishes before sitting back to enjoy the ceremony. Cato chuckled at the exchange between Alicio and Inanna, then dipped his head in appreciation, "Better late than never."

Amani waggled her fingers at the adorable baby Serena, then addressed the others, "You two are looking great. Best wishes, you've earned it," She and Inanna hadn't always gotten along, but burying the hatchet had been a healthy step for both of them. The woman deserved her own chance at happiness again, and it seemed she had found it.

With that, the Organas stepped aside, though not without a final wink from Alicio. It seemed the amount of people out of the loop was down to just Cato, Amani, and the elder Serena, "Thaaanks," He groaned. If this ceremony was even half as strange as Inanna made it sound, he would be in for quite an experience.

The first steps began soon after, beginning with Inanna's official adoption of Serena. Cato watched the initiation with a sense of pride, wiping away at his eyes and laying a hand on Inanna's shoulder when he sensed the emotion rising in her as well. If a few sniffles from the crowd (most likely Amani and Cato's mom at least) were any indication, they weren't alone either.

Once the adoption was complete, Pygar laid out the ground rules for the wedding's rules. Cato blinked, and swallowed nervously at the sight of a horde of Shi'ido women gathering, including his would-be mother-in-law. Five years ago, this probably would have been a dream for him (aside from the Mother-in-law part), but now he was a committed man.

“On your marks… Get set… Go!”

Cato hadn't been paying enough attention. He stumbled a second late, and took off in the opposite direction of the assembled bachelorettes as fast as his legs would take him.

Amani shifted in her seat, "Yeah, I'm just gonna… sit this part out."

Inanna Harth | Alicio Organa​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Cato’s initial hesitation provoked a chorus of giggles from the women. Even Inanna couldn’t help smirking, though she fought the urge to laugh once he finally took off running.

“He does know that he can hide and climb trees and whatnot to get away from us, right?” her cousin Akasha asked. “Because otherwise, this is going to be a really short chase…”

“I told him what to do,” Inanna reassured them. “Besides, it's not like we'll be murdering each other to get to him. You all want me to win.”

An awkward silence followed her words. Inanna frowned, but didn’t tear her gaze from the distance as she waited for the timer to go off…

When she finally heard the noise, she shot off like a bullet—only to stumble and fall flat on her face. The others passed her by. How convenient. But there was no time to determine whether it had been a tree root or someone’s foot that had tripped her. She got back up and kept on going, cursing under her breath…

Cato Harth Alicio Organa​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato didn't have the chance to notice Inanna faceplate as soon as the chase began. He was far too focused on getting himself out of sight. Probably for the best, seeing as he either would've become to distracted by helping, or laughing. Probably both. He weaved his way through trees until, confident he had made good use of his head start, picked a tree at random and began to scale it.

Bonadan may have not had many trees for him to climb, but Kashyyyk did, and he was pretty good at it, all things considered. Cato shuffled his way up the trunk until he could be obscured by the canopy. For the moment, he laid in wait, hoping that he might wait out his pursuers as they passed by.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

A couple of the women passed by the tree, completely unaware that Cato was above them. Then Inanna arrived a few moments later, looking around. Given that using the Force was against the rules—and her ability to sense the presence of others had never been all that good to begin with—she also failed to notice Cato up in the tree…

Cato Harth Alicio Organa​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato clutched the tree tighter when he saw a few of the women pass by. None had the thought to look up, not here at least. After a bit, he considered getting down or finding a new hiding spot, but then he saw a familiar head of hair from above. He shifted, trying to lower himself, "Psst!" He whispered harshly, "Inanna!"

Cato's foot slipped, and he slid partway down the trunk, before hitting a notched that caused him to lose his grip. "Ope- Shi—" He fell back onto a branch, then down to the forest floor, almost hitting Inanna.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna looked up, then tried to catch Cato as he fell. But out of nowhere, a figure swooped in to seize him from her arms.

It was a Shi’ido, albeit one who had taken a Wyrwulf-like form. Her voice gave her away, however. It was Lilith.

“That’s not Inanna,” she said, continuing to run with Cato firmly in her grasp. “Four, five, six…!”

She abruptly released Cato before the seven second mark could be reached, dropping him quite some distance away from where he had been before. The woods were thicker there, the canopy overhead blocking out the sunlight.

“I will try to direct my real daughter to you, but be careful. Any one of them could masquerade as her. It’s the oldest trick in the book. Rather unoriginal, really.” With that, she took off back into the forest.

Cato Harth Alicio Organa​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato winced before he hit the ground, opening his eyes to see himself caught in the jaws of a large lupine beast. He yelped in a slightly higher pitch than he intended. It spoke, which only confused him further, until he picked up on the context clues indicating that this was, in fact, Lilith. She dropped him right before the deal could be sealed (thankfully), and left him with a warning, "Um… thanks."

Cato dusted himself free of some of the bramble, before making a second attempt at a climb. The forest was noticeably denser here, which was nice, but the trees were also more of a pain to climb. And since he couldn't use any Force shenanigans to assist him, he was stuck awkwardly crawling up a gnarled trunk, wedged between a few branches and trying to slither free, "Settle down, get married, they said. It'll be good for you, they said."

Nobody really said that to him, but he imagined the hypothetical "they" would have if given the chance.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

For a little while, Cato’s section of the forest was quiet, even peaceful. But it didn’t last long.

“Cato!” a familiar voice called out. “She’s not Inanna!”

“No, I’m the real Inanna! She’s lying!”

Two figures staggered into view. Both looked like Inanna, much to each others’ annoyance.

“If I find out who you are, I’ll wring your fething neck—”

“See? Am I that violent? She’s not Inanna.”

“Oh, shut up! He’s watched me kill people before!” Crossing her arms, the Inanna on the left quickly added, “In self-defense.”

“You’re going to have to figure it out, Cato,” the one on the right called up into the tree. “Ask a question only the real Inanna would know, or something.”

Cato Harth Alicio Organa​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato twisted around from his roost to see not one, but two Inanna's approaching him. The sight made him groan. They had a brief, catty exchange, before prompting Cato with the age-old "figuring out who is a clone and who is a real one" strategy: Ask something only the original would know the answer to. All things considered, his immediately guess was that the more violent of the two was probably the real Inanna. But better to be safe than sorry.

"Well, I have a few very personal details I could recount, but maybe those are best left in the bedroom," He rubbed his chin in thought, and shrugged, "Uhhh... What's the name of my old gang? The one we saved my mother from?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Neither one of them had an answer at first.

"Oh, chit," the violent one muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to remember. "It was some stupid name, like... Twenty-Five and White?"

"25 & Light?" the other suddenly blurted.

"Wha—hey!"

"I remembered it."

"No, you took a wild guess!"

While the two bickered, a third party was on the approach. And a fourth. And a fifth…

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato squinted sternly. They just couldn't make it easy. The first one's response made her the most likely candidate, even if it wasn't technically the correct one. Getting even close to the right answer on a complete guess seemed unlikely. But still he remained hesitant, especially as more crawled out of the woodwork, "Ugh."

"Alright, double or nothing. Uh… When we were on Zaathru, I told you there was a tic of yours that I found cute. What was it?" They were the only two people there (other than the natives). Surely the only person who could get it right was the real Inanna, "Don't say it. Show it."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"You guys went to Zaathru?" somebody asked, quite shocked.

"Didn't you hear about Samyaza? He came back from there. If they hadn't gone to Zaathru to verify his story, nobody would've known what really happened..."

While the others distracted themselves with relaying family news (it was clear they weren't particularly concerned with catching Cato), the Inanna on the right looked up at Cato with a smile. "What, this?" She did the thing with her nose.

The one on the left cursed in Shi'idese. "Did I overdo it?"

"Yeah, a little," Inanna said, laughing. "But at least I'm not marrying a moron." To Cato she stretched out her arms. "Can I come up now?"

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato smirked, and nodded. That was the real deal, alright. In retrospect, he had expected her little mannerisms to clue him in sooner. The sort of things one would only pick up on after a long and intimate history together. But it was all getting a bit high stress for him to focus so acutely anyway. That was how he defended it in his mind, anyway. Probably best just to leave out the fact that he was initially leaning towards the other, more violent Inanna altogether.

"That you may," Cato stretched out a hand, and telekinetically pulled her towards him until they could touch, helping bring her up the rest of the way, until they were face to face. Literally Cato and Inanna, sitting in a tree. He chuckled dumbly, thinking of the old children's rhyme, "Y'know I'm used to weddings putting a lot more attention on the bride."

"Is this the part where I finally get to marry you?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"We're not supposed to use the Force to—Aw, who gives a chit at this point." Inanna plopped down on the branch beside Cato and wrapped her arms around him. "Mmm. Are you sure I'm the real me?"

"Y'know I'm used to weddings putting a lot more attention on the bride. Is this the part where I finally get to marry you?"

"Just be glad we don't have family members witness the consummation anymore," Inanna muttered. "We still need seven seconds of physical contact, and then you're all mine. Who's counting?"

"Me!" one of the other women called up from below. "One... two... three..."

The others joined in on the countdown as Inanna pulled Cato into a kiss.

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

Are you sure I'm the real me?"

"Don't even start." Cato waggled a finger, and chuckled. His mirth was momentarily interrupted by the mere mention of a consummation with an audience. He cringed, and silently counted himself as lucky, before Inanna pulled him into a kiss. Cato held her tight until the countdown made their marriage official, reluctantly pulling away only after a few seconds more.

Cato sighed blissfully, and glanced down at the onlookers for a brief moment, before locking eyes with his wife again, "I'm damn crazy about you, Inanna Harth." How could he not be? She was the best thing to ever happen to him.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

There were cheers and whistles as the countdown finished. Inanna blushed, but then laughed. “You’re still the only thing I see in any room you’re ever in,” she whispered in his ear. Then, though she tried to come up with another equally spectacular declaration of love, her powers as a writer seemed to fail her in the heat of the moment. “I’m… you… I love you!” she finally blurted, kissing him again with wild abandon.

For a little while Inanna just looked at Cato, as though trying to commit his features to memory, freeze this moment in carbonite forever. She was momentarily distracted by a flash from below—somebody had just snapped a holo. It served as a reminder that they weren’t alone.

“Our other guests are waiting with bated breath to see who won,” she said, brushing some dirt from his shoulder before cupping his cheek in her hand. “There’s food to be eaten, and copious amounts of booze to be drunk, and when it’s all over… I have a surprise for you.” Grinning, she did that thing with her nose that he loved. “Let’s go!”

Cato Harth​