Cherry Blossom Snow

Segue

Mia, Nanette, Evangeline, Pwalvaserk, and Iminathi had been tasked with preparing decorations for the wedding of Malvern and Sai, which was intended as a small ceremony at Clarence House. However, there was a notable lack of progress from the young girls due to numerous distractions, most of which were caused by Mia.

"Pwalvaserk," Mia said, "if you're willing to share, I'm curious about the incident in which you lost your limbs."

"The car bomb?" Pwalvaserk asked.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

"I don't mind," Pwalvaserk assured her. "What do you want to know?"

"How far were you from the blast?" Mia asked. "How did that distance compare to the current distance between us and St. James's Palace?"

"Isn't this St James's Palace?"

"No," Nanette answered. "This is Clarence House. St. James's Palace is the place right next to here."

"I was close, I guess, but not that close," Pwalvaserk continued. "I was about a block away. The Secretary of the Treasury was the target. I'm told there wasn't much left of him after the attack, and considering his policies, I was never really bitter or angry at the Welsh separatists responsible. I just had the exceptional misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"In that case, what are we even doing here?" Mia asked.

"I fail to see the relevance," said Iminathi.

"We're setting up decorations," Evangeline observed.

"For what?" Mia asked.

"For a wedding," Evangeline replied. "For Malvern and Sai."

"What have they ever done for us?" Mia asked. "What have we got to gain from this?"

"Good point," Iminathi commented. "What are we doing here?"

"I figured we were helping because it's nice," said Evangeline.

"Do you all just forget that one of the people getting married is my father?" Nanette groaned.

"No," Iminathi replied, "but to be clear, your family's happiness means less than nothing to me. I barely even tolerate you as it is."

When Malvern returned from work, he approached his daughter while he kept his hands behind his back.

"I'd like to introduce you to a new member of the family," said Malvern. He held out a sleeping Reinaldo to her.

"Who is this?" asked Nanette.

"This is Reinaldo," Malvern replied. "A human/cat hybrid. I snuck him out from work in my coat pocket. I just worry about potential consequences."

"Elizabeth made it out safely with Yoko," said Sai. "I think you'll be fine."

"Where are they, anyway?" asked Malvern.

"I asked Elizabeth to track down Chikara and Akira. She said they should be somewhere around Sydney. Oh, and Eleanore will be bringing Norabel."

In the end, the five young girls would never get around to preparing anything. Malvern and Sai, however, didn't really mind, as they had low expectations of the children anyway and decided that they would instead be married at the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. Simón, Eleanore, Lubin, Jared, Lloyd, Nanette, Mia, Evangeline, Pwalvaserk, Iminathi, Reinaldo, and Norabel were all present. However, before things were to begin, Sai and Malvern were waiting for something. A plane made a rough landing on the Mall, severely disrupting traffic. Out from it exited Chikara, Yoko, Nikita, Vladimir, Akira, and Yuki, followed by Elizabeth. Rico and Satori were already in the area spying on the event. Perplexed by what had just happened, they decided they would take a closer look.