WARNING: SPOILERS!!! ~A Watty's 2019 Submission!

Saved for Return to Ni No Kuni

Alas, Oliver lay in his bed at the Cat's Cradle, unable to sleep. He kept thinking of his friends here in Ni No Kuni. What had they been doing all that time when he wasn't there? What did his friends do when he wasn't around?

Esther was becoming more and more powerful with the art of familiars, and Swaine was coming back to his place on the throne, that was obvious. But what had Harmony and Marcassin been doing?

Oliver looked towards his princely friend, who lay breathing softly as he slept and thought about his sister in the other room. They were in love and he knew that, but did they have plans? Had they broken up?

That was when he noticed something sticking out of Marcassin's pocket. He had been poking things back into his pocket a lot lately. But now something was nearly falling out of his pocket.

Oliver tiptoed over and slipped the paper from Marcassin's pocket, feeling very dirty and a little selfish, but he wanted to know what his friend was hiding. He slipped back to his bed, and unfolded the paper. It was an invitation! And it read,

"Dearest Oliver,

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Prince Marcassin and the Songstress Harmony. The wedding shall be held in the Rolling Hills in the Spring month of June on the third day. The Pastor is to be played by none other than King Tom Tildrum, and the Reception shall be held in the Grand Hall of the Porcine Palace. We hope to see you there, as it wouldn't be the same without one like you.

Sincerely, His Majesty Prince Marcassin and Her Majesty Princess Harmony"

So that's what they had been hiding! All this time and Oliver didn't know that two of his best friends were going to get married. And his sister at that! That made Oliver feel terrible. The third of June was coming up in two days, and they would miss their wedding because they were helping him. And what about Melody and Grant? In his world, Grant had proposed to Melody and they were planning on getting married soon as well. Would their wedding be put on hold as well if Harmony and Marcassin's was?

Oliver decided then that he wouldn't take any chances, and they still had much to plan. But he also didn't how tell Aaliyah, someone who was counting on him to help her save the world, her, and himself. But at the same time, Oliver didn't want his friends to be unhappy. And Senkrad was trapped somewhere anyway, right? And Tortana hadn't bothered them in a while. So it wouldn't hurt to let his friends have their happy day.

So as soon as the sun came up and he heard moving around, he gathered them all in his room.

"I understand that we need to save the world, but it has come to my attention, that two of our dearest friends would miss out on their happy day." He looked over at Marcassin and Harmony and held up the invitation. "I found this poking out of your pocket last night, Marcassin. Why didn't you tell us your wedding was coming up?" Marcassin's cheeks turned red.

"I didn't tell you that our wedding was coming up because I didn't want it to distract from the mission." he told the group. "Harmony agreed with me that we would wait until the world was safe, and then give this invitation to you." Oliver looked to Aaliyah, who nodded.

"Well, we're putting this mission on hold." She told the young rulers. "For you two have a wedding to get to, and we're not going to let you miss it. And from what I've heard from Oliver about King Tom, he doesn't seem like the type of cat who like a change of schedule." Harmony and Marcassin looked at each other, then began to protest, but Swaine, Esther, and Drippy had ganged up with Oliver and Aaliyah and agreed that Harmony and Marcassin should have their wedding.