Yerbol continued her train of thought regarding the ceremony, in particular the location, prompting Aria to frown thoughtfully. “I guess here would work.” she mumbled, fingertips absently tracing patterns over the back of his hand. “It’d be a long trip for your parents though, all the way from Taris.” 
Her partner followed up with the statement that Taris would NOT be an appropriate wedding spot due to the risk of Rakghouls gatecrashing the procession. Chuckling, Aria retorted with:
“I don't know, Chwuq and Taral might get jealous if we let the Rakghouls have a more important job than them. Maybe you're right.”
She didn't know which thought was more entertaining: Rakghouls with flower baskets or the two Tuk'ata smartly dressed in bowties or some other kind of formal attire, both prancing down the aisle with the rest of the procession. Such thoughts were probably an indication that sleep was required. Nodding, she mumbled her agreement as she settled against his side and let her eyes drift closed, mumbling. 
“Mhm, so could I.” 
_________

While the duo had predicted Neta's ecstatic reaction and subsequent eagerness to help with many of the planning aspects, they could not have predicted the kind of attention that the wedding ceremony itself would require, or attract. Aria could not recall precisely how the guest list had inflated from Yerbol's immediate family, their friends and a few others here and there, to one hundred (!) people. They had hastily refused to add any more, claiming that there simply wasn't enough room in the courtyard to accommodate any more seating. The excuse thankfully seemed to keep the media happy, much to Aria's relief. The Champion had vehemently insisted upon “NO CAMERAS!”, her stress levels already nearing breaking point before she could consider the thought of the entire thing being broadcast all over the HoloNet. So much for “small and quiet”. She HATED the attention, much to the amusement of many individuals who claimed her attitude was entirely opposing to those of both her parents, who had been indifferent to every kind of scrutiny the paparazzi could have thrown their way. 
The topic was somewhat of a sore spot for Aria, serving to remind her that neither was able to attend what was certainly the most important part of her life….ever. Not that she lacked other support in their stead of course, there was a veritable contingent of other women who fawned over her enough for several mothers and sisters combined: Tabitha, Neta, Kira and Vano of course, as well as Sho who had shot through on the next freighter almost as soon as Aria had said the word “wedding”, and (much to her surprise, due to the Elder always being so serious and Aria putting it down to the fact that she lacked interest in such matters of the heart) even Cheriss showed a marked interest in helping Aria cope with the stressful pre-ceremony time period. It was as close to “organised chaos” as the concept could be, as far as Aria was concerned she couldn't wait for it to be over. 
“That's what they meant by ‘wedded bliss’ right?” she had joked with Kira early on in the morning in the command center as they watched people whirling chaotically past them carrying chairs, flower arrangements and food platters, “The relief after all this is finally over? I've never known anybody to make so much fuss over something as simple as us putting our names on a piece of paper!” 
She'd caught a brief glimpse of Bex and tried to approach him to ask about Yerbol, who she hadn't seen since they had woken up that morning and been whisked away by various persons to attend to this, that and the other, before Cheriss and Neta swooped in and ushered her away shaking their heads the entire while.
“Come now, Aria. It's bad luck for him to see you before the ceremony starts.”
The Champion had tried not to roll her eyes.
“You know that's just a silly superstition, right?” 
_______

Although, as the time drew nearer, Aria began to wonder whether there was some kind of merit to the idea at all, given the misgivings that seemed to all be occurring at once. Neta had left her in one of the guest quarters just off one of the meditation rooms (the only room big enough to cram so many women into it all at once and STILL have enough room to breathe) in the company of Cheriss, Sho and Vano in order to help Kira and some of the men re-organise the confused flower shipment. 
“At least we’ve still GOT flowers, right?” Aria laughed nervously as she tried to brush it off and not get too stressed. “I mean, it could be worse...they could have not got here at all.” 
“Don’t jinx it, kiddo.” Neta warned her with a broad, dimpled smile before disappearing off again. After getting cleaned up and drying her hair, Aria wished she had taken Neta’s advice and kept her mouth shut. She had been confused about why Sho was grinning so suspiciously, until she actually noticed the problem herself.
“Are you sure you weren’t wearing heels at the fitting, Ari? Cause I dunno about you but it looks like there’s WAY too much skirt there for your little legs.” the Mandalorian jested. 
“Oh, you’re kidding.” 
“It’s not THAT bad.” Vano laughed nervously as she tried to keep the would-be bride from launching into a full-out panic.
“How tall do they think I am?!” the Champion’s voice went up an octave as she flapped her hands in a distressed manner. “I’m NEVER going to be able to walk in that!” 
“I’m sure they can take it up.” Vano argued. 
“IN AN HOUR?!” 
“Ari, honey, just sit down.” Cheriss coerced her into a chair, the Champion flopping into the seat with an audible “WHUMP”, still dressed in just the slip she was to wear underneath.
“Forget everything else, this is the WORST thing that could have gone wrong today!”
“We’ll think of something, just try not to panic.” 
“Worst comes to it, you could always just go in your birthday suit.” the deathly silence and disapproving scowls that were shot in Sho’s direction implied that nobody else in the room shared the Mandalorian’s crude sense of humour. 
“I was KIDDING, jeez! I don’t see the rest of you doing anything else to try and make her feel better.” 

The two younger women whisked out of the room with the out-of-proportion dress in tow to attempt to get the errors fixed, leaving Aria alone with the Qyaari Elder who set to work on calming her down and sorting out her hair.
“So, what’s the matter?” Aria responded to the question with an exaggerated groan of protest. 
“Cheriss, just because you’re my Godmother doesn’t mean you get to psycho-analyse me on my wedding day.” 
The Dathomirian clucked her tongue softly, shaking her head as she pinned back an unruly section of the young woman’s fringe.
“My dear, I’ve known you since you were a little girl. I think I’m more than qualified to know when you’re trying to put on a brave face.” the smirk disappeared, Cheriss’ tone softening as she continued in a quieter tone: “So, what is it? Getting cold feet?”
“N-No!” Aria was quick to protest with a shake of her head that earned her a chiding tap on the shoulder and a “keep still!” from Cheriss.  “No, I know this is what I want, I just...worry that other people might not agree.”
“You really think he’d change his mind? You two have been practically inseparable since you met.” A pause. “Or is this about your parents?” 
“I hate it when you’re right all the time.” Aria huffed, her snappiness dissipating as she mumbled. “...I wish they were here.”
Cheriss ‘hnn’d sympathetically, squeezing the Champion’s shoulder as she finished putting the last pin in place. “Sometimes I still worry they’d be disappointed.”  
“Don’t start crying now, you’ll ruin that makeup Vano worked so hard on.” Cheriss chuckled, finishing up with: “They’d both be very proud of you, Aria. And don’t rule it out, you and I both know your father’s been keeping an eye on the two of you.”
“So I wasn’t imagining his voice in that cave?” 
Cheriss shook her head in confirmation. “Honestly, I don’t doubt for a second that your mother’s the one dragging him back by his ears or he’d never leave.”
Aria wasn’t entirely sure whether her godmother was being serious, but the image it created prompted the Champion to finally smile again as she snorted.
“Does it really work like that?”
The Dathomirian grinned and shrugged. 
“We’ll never know I suppose.” 
The rest of the bridal party returned shortly afterwards, dress suitably altered, and they were soon scrambling to ensure Aria was properly dressed before the music began and announced the start of the ceremony.
______

Aria swore her heart was pounding so violently in her ears that she couldn’t even HEAR the music as she followed the procession down the aisle. She didn’t know what made her more nervous, meeting gazes with Yerbol or the sideward glimpses she caught of the vast audience on either side. Stopping beside him, she was immensely relieved to finally be able to stand still (much of her thoughts during the walk down had been occupied by “don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip for the love of Force”) and turn to face Voldon while the music died down to allow the former Battlemaster to begin speaking. Aria hoped the speech wouldn’t last TOO long, in fact she was more than eager to get this over with and get back to the state of relative normality they had been enjoying three months prior to their decision to tie the knot. 
[i]Boy, am I glad to see you.[/i] She risked a sideward glance at her partner while Voldon spoke a short paragraph about what a “momentous occasion this was for the Qyaari as well as Aria and Yerbol themselves”, chewing her lip. [i]Don’t change your mind when I forget what I was going to say in a moment, okay? I didn’t practise. I was too busy panicking.[/i]