Everyone was excited about the carnival. Even Suho, who wasn't even going there and Mei had her suspicions about what he intended to do when everyone would be outside and he had the HQs to himself but she'd rather not imagine it because a) gross and b) LUHAN!

She'd stopped talking to him after their last chat because frankly, she couldn't bear to hear his voice – it just made her miss him that much more and it wasn't going to make him come back sooner, so what was the point? Better that she cry herself to sleep than make him feel guilty for something neither of them could help.

That didn't mean she didn't miss him but well, she couldn't keep crying, especially not when even Sehun – the guy with all the emotional sensitivity of a rock – noticed she was upset. He – and Tiffany – had been sweet enough to drag her along on what should've been their date and well, she was touched. So she was going to push her sadness to the background and enjoy herself.

So they said goodbye to the couple who'd volunteered to stay back and with the rest of the Legends except Xiumin accompanying them, the group made their way to the carnival.

It was arranged near the amusement park – in fact, the amusement park was sponsoring the carnival – and there was a vast variety of things they could do. Like the funhouse and the mirror maze and all those dangerous rides.

The Legends spread out once they were inside the crowded area, everyone getting in a different line so they could get the tickets for all the rides in the area for everyone. They agreed to meet near the huge Ferris wheel and Mei followed Kai as they got in line for the horror house.

'You sure you wanna go in there?' Kai glanced over his shoulder as they waited.

'It'll be fun, right?'

'Haha, I guess – though I don't think Tao will appreciate it very much,' Kai chuckled, making Mei smile as well. 'I suppose – do you think he'll try to impress Raina?'

'She already knows he's a sacredy cat,' Kai shrugged.

They chatted aimlessly and Mei began to feel a bit livelier than before. 'Thanks,' she muttered when they moved forward, feeling a little teary, 'for bringing me here.'

Kai smiled and shrugged again, 'I'd say you're welcome but honestly, it was Sehun's idea.'

Mei ducked her head, smiling. 'Still…'

The line was moving quite slowly, so they still had a lot of time to stay in the line. Kai asked her keep his place as he hurried out and got them ice creams, slipping back inside and leaning against the railing while they waited.

'So…' he began after a while, giving her a sideways glance.

'So…' Mei muttered, staring at her cone. It had pink patterns because the carnival had been arranged specifically to coincide with couples' day. Unbidden, Luhan's face floated in front of her eyes and she shook her head, sad again.

'You wanna talk about it?' Kai asked, the cone.

'About what?'

'About you and Luhan. Did something happen?'

'Like what?' She asked despondently.

'Oh I don't know, getting married behind our backs or something?'

Mei promptly choked on the ice cream she'd bitten, bending over and coughing as it went in the wrong pipe. Kai thumped her back helpfully, holding her until she stopped coughing, tears streaming down her eyes as she stared at him in horror.

'How…?' she whispered. They had been so careful…

'Ah,' he nodded knowingly, 'so you did elope.'

'Wait, you didn't know?' She demanded, annoyed that he'd tricked her so easily.

He laughed, lifting his hands protectively when she smacked him in indignation. 'Well, I – no, actually, me and Tiffany suspected – have for a while now because you two were acting way too lovey dovey and snuggly. It was suspicious.'

'It's not suspicious,' she protested weakly, 'we always snuggle.'

'Yeah but you also did stuff besides snuggling with Luhan, y'know? But since after the battle, it was like there was nothing else in your life. You woke up, kissed Luhan goodbye, spent the university sighing about him and then, locked yourself up with him when he came back.'

She blushed. Had they been that obvious? She couldn't even deny because that's exactly the past three months had been, one huge circuit starting and ending with her husband.

'Also, you insisted on sharing the room with him,' Kai shrugged carelessly. 'Tiffany said you'd sworn that you'd wait until after you guys were hitched because you weren't sure you'd be able to resist him. Pretty big giveaway if you ask me.'

She was too appalled to say anything. To think that Kai and Tiffany, her two best friends, had been gossiping about this kind of stuff behind her back. Is that what they did when they pretended to study?

'Let's not talk about who went behind whose back, okay?' He was smiling but she could feel his annoyance. Dammit, she was so going to get it later – from Tiffany as well. Maybe she should go and hide with Sehun, he wouldn't bother her…

'Sehun knows,' Kai, as always, read her correctly. 'He was the one who suggested elopement after all.'

Dammit! If even Sehun had picked on it…

'Luhan can't go around calling you his 'wife' and expect no one to hear,' Kai sniffed annoyingly. 'Anyway, since you were so moping around so much, we decided we'll forgive you this once. But,' he leaned forward conspirationally, 'you have to give us the details. What do you say, huh?' He wiggled his brows in a disturbingly Baekhyun-like manner, 'Deal?'

'Do I have a choice?' Mei pouted but internally, it felt like a huge weight had been taken off her chest. She'd talked about it with Tao for a while but it made feel extremely guilty that she hadn’t shared the news with Tiffany or Sehun or Kai – who technically came first on the BFF list – and she had no idea how to bring it up. Like, hey Tiff did you hear? I eloped with Luhan. Shaking her head, she shook Kai's proffered hand, 'Deal.'

'Great,' he gave her a megawatt grin and Mei suppressed a giggle. Just then, the people in front of them moved and it was their turn. 'Okay, how many do we need?'

Since Suho had told them to stick together – and the Legends were taking it literally – they were all going to be on the rides together. They got the tickets for all of the rest before heading towards the Ferris wheel to join the others. Only Chen was there and he offered them a huge smile and a large cotton candy which had turned their tongues pink by the time the others showed up.

It was the first time they were hanging out so publically in such a large group. Chanyeol had brought Nara – who was quite adorable with the way she needed everything broken down so she could properly grasp it and it was amazing how someone of with such sharp intellect could be simultaneously so childishly naïve. She was, without a doubt, adorable.

Baekhyun had invited Tae to join the fun, garnering much teasing. Tao and Raina were holding hands and giggling like a couple of schoolgirls, wearing matching shirts and rubbing it in Sehun and Tiffany's face. Kris and Lay were with them, Kris trying and failing to maintain his cool as his brothers got sillier and sillier in their antics.

The most surprising couple, though, was Kyra and D.O. No one had any idea either of them were coming along until they showed up, D.O holding her hand possessively as they walked and Kyra blushing like a rose. Mei realized with a jolt that it had been quite some time since Kyra had joined them in anything – even she herself had been more socially active than Kyra, despite her Lu-drawals and general dysphoria related to Luhan's departure around two weeks ago.

She was sincerely happy for them, though. It was pretty obvious D.O cared for her and it had been quite upsetting that Kyra couldn't remember the Legend at all. It looked like they'd gotten over some of their obstacles after all.

The group stuck together initially but then, couples started to drift off, wanting some privacy. Kris told them all to stay alert and call him if anything suspicious came up but then, Lay dragged him away to shoot some balloons and win him a plushie and that was that.

Everything was lighthearted and fun and it had been a break long due. Mei couldn't remember the last time they'd hung out so casually and to think she'd missed all the fun because she'd been too sad.

Sure, she wished Luhan had been the one to bring her along, especially since it was the couples' day and carnival was loaded with dates – they could've had so much fun – but hanging out with friends was great too. And Sehun was being especially sweet about the entire thing, sticking with her even when it was obvious both he and Tiffany wanted to have some alone time. She was truly touched.

By evening, clouds had gathered, threatening rain but other than a light shower – which was more enjoyable than anything else – nothing happened and Baekhyun and Chen cracked themselves silly, imagining how Suho managed to control himself.

By the time sun set, they were exhausted and completely muddled. They'd been inside the mirror maze and it was after they'd entered that they'd realized their mistake. The maze was uncomfortably reminiscent of their battle and it had made the girls a little more sentimental and clingy and though the Legends tried not to show it, they were also affected.

So Kris declared that they needed to head back quickly, seeing as they had night duty as well. After swearing they'd be back before nine, he agreed to let Mei, Tiffany, Kai and Sehun stay. Mei tried to get Sehun and Tiffany to leave as well but the couple was quite stubborn, insisting they didn't mind and in the end, Mei just gave up. They were hell bent on being sweet and there was nothing she could do about it.

They ended up at the game where they were taking turns to pin the tail on the elephant and suddenly, Tiffany had the brilliant idea to shove her in and before she could protest, they were blindfolding her and spinning her around.

She stumbled forward, trying to figure out where the elephant was so she could pin it properly; Sehun was guffawing loudly while Tiffany cheered. Kai wasn't saying anything but she could imagine him smiling fondly at her antics, as he was wont to.

The day had been wonderful so far and though she had been busy, barely a moment passed when she didn't wish Luhan was by her side. Even now, she wondered how it would've been had he been here, cheering on her, laughing with her.

'Turn left!!!' Tiffany yelled after her as she stumbled again, trying to pin the tail and she straightened with a huff, turning left and stumbling in that direction. She was so focused on the task, even the sounds around her dulled and she concentrated on nothing but trying to find the elephant. The cute plushie which was the prize for getting it right looked quite huggable and maybe she could use it to keep her company until Luhan came back – which wouldn't be until tomorrow because they had the sponsors meeting tonight.

Briefly she wondered if Luhan was in the meeting now or if he had gotten free. Maybe she'd call and talk to him – it was couples' day after all and having fun like this was just making her realize how much she missed him. Nothing was the same without him.

Her hand hit something solid and she stilled – had she reached the elephant cardboard? Her fingers travelled over the hard surface, only to stop in surprise. Because it felt, more and more, that she was touching someone's torso.

A very familiar torso. Her fingers fanned out, trying to remember by touch and her heart jumped into as a suspicion rose its head. Quickly, she rose her hand to trace over the chest and shoulders, familiar and oh so welcome, before caressing up the neck – neck she had touched so many times – before finally tracing over the sharp jawline.

A gasp of disbelief escaped her lips and she let go of the stupid tail she was holding, yanking her blindfold away. It fluttered in the light wind, slowly sailing away as she stared at the bashfully grinning Legend in front of her eyes.

'Good evening, Mrs. Lu.'

………………………………….

'Good evening, Mrs. Lu.'

Luhan smiled bashfully, holding out the single rose in his hand as Mei stared at him in shock.

'Mei…' he began, wondering if she was too surprised.

'LUHAN!!!!' She screamed all of a sudden and before he knew it, she was in his arms, crashing into him with enough force to make him stumble. His foot caught in a wayward rope and he fell backwards, landing with Mei on his chest.

She was blubbering with joy, tears streaming down her face – joyous tears – as she tackled him again and started dotting his face with kisses.

'Ohmygod, I missed you so much,' she sobbed against him, holding him tightly and he laughed, feeling on top of the world. What better thing could he come back to than having his wife literally jump into his arms?

Over her shoulder, he caught sight of Kai ushering Sehun and Tiffany away before glancing back. Luhan nodded his thanks, giving him a thumbs up and his Shadow smirked, shrugging coolly and heading off.

'Luhan…' Mei sniffled, finally sitting up and staring at him in awe, 'I'm not dreaming, am I?'

He pretended to think about it before grinning mischievously, 'Why don't you kiss me and find out?'

She leaned forward and pecked his lips instantly, squealing a moment later and hugging him again. 'OMG It's you it's you it's you!!!!' she half-laughed, half-sobbed, collapsing against him and holding on tightly.

Truthfully, he thought, wrapping his arms around her securely, it had been way too long since he'd properly held her. Even though he knew it had been just two weeks – two weeks of football matches away from their home base – it felt a lot longer. Even a moment away from her was too long for him.

There was something to be said about marriage. He'd claimed her a long time ago so according to their, the Legends', rules, they were together. Reading a few vows, making a few promises, shouldn't have made so much of a difference… and yet, it did. It changed everything, from the way he saw Mei to the dynamics of their relationship to the way they loved to the way they missed each other when they were away. It was as if he'd fallen in love with her anew and he was still falling and falling with no end in sight, yet to hit the ground.

She'd been his mate before but she was his wife now. He'd made her his in both senses of the word, in the way of his ancestors and in the way of her people and now, nothing in the either worlds could separate them. They truly belonged together.

He didn't realize he'd been staring at her with a sappy smile on his face as she hugged and exclaimed in joy, crying and laughing at the same time before suddenly leaning forward and silencing her with a kiss.

She stilled for a moment before responding, fingers finding their familiar path into his hair as his arms tightened around her waist, pulling her close. They were already so close but it wasn't close enough, never close enough and they both struggled against each other, tugging and pulling until neither had breath left and they finally broke apart.

Luhan smiled down at her flushed, drenched face. He'd never seen anything more beautiful.

'I love you,' he whispered and leaned down to kiss her again.

………………………………

A/N

yay for Luhan's early arrival :D yeah, Mei was getting too antsy, so I had to do this. The upcoming chapters are primarily just Mei Lu fluff written to indulge my sister but they might the only fluff we might see in a while. JK but I do think the story is about to hit a major milestone. Which brings me to the next point: I said this story was partiallly pre-written, so we' will soon be reaching the end of the pre-written chapters. I'm gearing up to write down the next parts so there won't be a lag in the updates - regular updates keep me motivated to write, tbh - but you can never know. I will do my best, in any case... Alright then, I will see you guys later. Tootles