I don't think I've been dry-eyed throughout the entire process of writing this chapter. Holy crap.

Thank you, one final time, to Sayori1412, Cat, Averi-nova, Xielle Sky, nevergonnasleep, Saki, Daffodil, Ciara8765, SoccerSarah01, Siera-Knightwalker, Inola, TaziyaKoya, lemontarto, Choopi, milkywayheartcupcake, jily shiper, KrystalCookies5, ktbelle1313, luvielle, somberset, Guest, Zoreux, TwylaSparks, ice devil cat demon, ElliElver, MeganeAlpaca, TheWindPassesBy, Monxu Aki, Shane Denise, kuroonavirus, JuliaSora, picket. fences. 07, boopityboops, YuYuHakushoObsesser, SnowmobilingSeal, geniusgrrl, 1800pH4tb00ty, nmullen0135, narutolover10110, SleepyReaderIsMe, c039, bluemermaidpitch, and Gemilang23 for your support. 820 followers; I will never be able to thank you all enough.

I will not be responding to reviews this time around, but please know I read and loved every single one of them. You guys are all too kind to me.

Also, to whoever raved about this story on tumblr- you're amazing and you made me tear up. Thank you so much to TwylaSparks for letting me know! :)

Ten months after the match.

Their wedding ceremony was small, which was exactly how they wanted it. They kept it to immediate family and close friends, and they both made sure to extend the invitation to their high school teams. No more than seventy people there, a small ceremony and then a slightly bigger dinner with plenty of extra invitations sent to anyone who wanted to join for food and dance. Mikaela and Tsukishima hadn't had too many problems picking things out: food, location, wedding party, all of the technicalities. They both had the same goals in mind: simple and cheap. In fact, the only reason they had opened up food and dance to others for later was because Mikaela's mother had offered to cover the price of the catering.

Mikaela's bridesmaids had been an easy choice: Hiba, Somi, Taki, and her maid of honor, Yachi. She'd been lucky to stay close with them throughout her university years, and it was really paying off. The girls were organized and thrilled about the whole thing. She'd wanted Kiyoko, but her senpai had told her she had an important work trip in the morning and could only make it for the dinner.

Choosing the groomsmen had been a bit more difficult, but they came to a good conclusion in the end. They wanted to keep it small: four people. Akiteru was an obvious choice, and although Mikaela wanted Iwaizumi up there, she couldn't pick him without picking Oikawa, and Tsukishima wasn't as close to them as she was. Even though Tsukishima grumbled about it, they asked Hinata and Kuroo to be groomsmen. Mikaela knew that Tsukishima liked Hinata more than he let on, and Kuroo had been a close friend to the both of them for the past few years.

Yamaguchi was their best man- obviously.

And Kageyama? Mikaela asked him to walk her down the aisle.

At least, on the day of, the girls were great at calming Mikaela's ever-growing anxiety. They had been by her every step of the way, and now, ten minutes before she was supposed to walk down the aisle, they were still here, touching up her hair and making sure she didn't fuss with her make-up.

"You look gorgeous," Taki cooed, adjusting her necklace. "Tsukishima's going to blown away."

"If he doesn't tear up, I'll kick him," Somi volunteered, picking her veil up carefully.

Mikaela snorted, raising her hands to fidget with her hair. "He won't tear up," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I bet that dumbass won't even crack a smile."

"He's about to be your husband, and you still call him a dumbass?" Hiba muttered, pulling Mikaela's hands away from the careful mess of curls that the hair stylist had pinned to the back of head. Mikaela had hated every second of it, but she would grudgingly admit she loved the end result.

"He'll smile," Yachi promised softly, taking her hands. Mikaela smiled weakly. "I know it."

Taki patted her shoulders. "Stand up! Twirl for us!"

Mikaela sighed and pushed herself up from the seat she was in, carefully balancing herself in the tall heels she was wearing. Her dress was a simple, sleeveless, v-cut gown that tightened around her waist and flowed out, trailing behind her but not too far. The girls all squealed, and Mikaela sighed, spinning in a circle and nearly toppling over.

"You're gorgeous," Yachi said brightly, taking her hand to steady her.

"You look perfect," Taki agreed, grinning.

Mikaela exhaled shakily, forcing herself to grin. "Thank you guys," she said, standing up straight. "I'm terrified out of my mind right now, but... you're all amazing. Thank you so much."

"It's our pleasure," Hiba murmured, and the others hummed in agreement. "You ready? You're up in five minutes."

God, five minutes. "Sure," Mikaela managed.

Someone at the back of the room caught her eye. Mikaela straightened up, surprised, and the girls all turned around to see what she was looking at. Kageyama was standing in the doorway, wearing a sharp black tux with a royal blue collared shirt and black tie. They both stared at each other, wide-eyed, and Mikaela started to feel embarrassed. She rarely ever dressed up, and to this extent? What if she really did look awful?

"Wow," Kageyama blurted out. "You- You look grood- great."

Mikaela's shoulders relaxed almost immediately, and she laughed. "Thanks," she said, smiling sheepishly. "You think so?"

He nodded, stepping into the room. Yachi and Hiba stepped out of the way so that Kageyama could step by and take her hands. He smirked- maybe he was trying to smile. "You do," he murmured, squeezing her hands. "He's going to love you."

"You think?"

"I know so. And if he doesn't, I'll punch him."

"That's what I said," Somi added, grinning.

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Thank you both."

"You ready?"

"No, not at all," she said with a weak laugh. "I'm scared out of my mind. I'm going to- oh, God, I'm going to mess up the words," she stammered, the nerves all crashing down on her at once. "I'm going to trip! I'm going to trip and fall in front of everyone. I've never been this nervous before, not even for volleyball games! This is just..."

"You don't have many lines," Yachi reminded her, squeezing her arm. "You'll be fine! Just relax!"

Kageyama frowned. "What shoes are you wearing?" Mikaela kicked her foot out from under the dress, revealing her prosthetic jammed into a pretty white heel that made her three inches taller. "Well, why don't you just not wear them?"

Mikaela blinked, surprised. She hadn't even considered that.

"She's got to wear her shoes," Taki protested. "She'll be close to Tsukishima-kun's height! And- and the shoes complete the dress! And-"

Without an ounce of hesitation, Mikaela kicked off one heel, and then the other. Yachi laughed, grabbing her heels from the ground and setting them on one of the side tables. Taki looked dismayed, but Hiba just laughed and patted the middle blocker on the arm. "Much better," Mikaela said happily, flexing her toes on her left foot. The carpet felt warm beneath her foot. "I should've done that a long time ago."

"Kaisha?"

Mikaela, the bridesmaids, and Kageyama all turned towards the doorway, and Mikaela smiled when she saw it was her mother. The past five years hadn't been easy on them, with her mother working so often, but their relationship was much better than it had been when Mikaela was in high school. "Mom," she said softly.

"You look wonderful," Monomi said, smiling. "Are you ready to go?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Yeah."

"Perfect. I'll let the minister know." She smiled at the other girls. "You ladies look lovely," she added, referring to their royal blue dresses, all of which were the same colour but different designs. The girls murmured their thanks, and Monomi nodded to her one last time. "The boys are all outside, if you want to go pair up."

Yachi squeezed her arm one last time, and the girls took off towards the main foyer, leaving just Mikaela and Kageyama in the room. "You feeling okay?" Kageyama asked, holding out his arm.

Mikaela linked her arm through his and grinned. "I feel like I might vomit," she joked with a laugh. "You ready to give me away?"

"Sure," he said with a reluctant shrug. "Why it had to be this asshole, I'll never know."

"Oh, come on, Tobio. He's about to be your brother in law."

"Cousin in law," Kageyama corrected with a scowl on his face. "Don't associate him closer to me than you have to." Mikaela laughed and squeezed his arm, and he sighed. "Good to go?"

She nodded. "I think so."

And so they went. Kageyama walked her down the aisle as soft music played around them, and all the eyes on her made her want to shrink up and disappear, but seeing Tsukishima at the front of the room, smiling and looking kind of dazed, was enough to get her down the aisle. Yamaguchi was right by his side, grinning like a maniac, and Hinata looked like he might start jumping. Akiteru looked close to tears, which almost made her laugh. She caught her mother's eyes and grinned, and nearly laughed when Oikawa flashed her a thumbs up (Iwaizumi smacked his hand down a moment later).

They got to the front, and Kageyama's grip tightened on her slightly. He pulled her in for a hug, and Mikaela hugged him as tightly as she could, missing her father more today than she had in a long time. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear, closing her eyes. He pulled back with a small smile and turned to Tsukishima, then nodded. Tsukishima held out his hand and Mikaela took it, climbing up the last few steps to the altar as Kageyama took a seat.

Everyone started to sit, but she couldn't stop staring at him, smiling like an idiot. Tsukishima looked at her, eyes soft, but his lips slowly curled up into a smirk. "You're not wearing your shoes, are you?"

She laughed.

Everything seemed to go by in a blur, but Mikaela couldn't remember the last moment she wasn't smiling.

More of their friends had shown up- a lot of their university friends, a few of her mother's work friends that Mikaela didn't know, a few of the girls from her volleyball teams. Hujita even popped by briefly, congratulating her ("Marrying another volleyball player? Good choice."), and a few of Tsukishima's friends from his program came by. When the dancing and the partying started picking up, Mikaela was thrilled to see that Atsumu and Osamu had chosen to stop in. Motoya showed up a few minutes later, and a few more of the former Nekoma players showed up: Kenma, Yamamoto, Yaku, Lev. Kuroo invited Bokuto, and the loud Jackals player showed up with Akaashi in tow. Matsukawa and Hanamaki also showed up late, but Mikaela was thrilled to see them.

As more of their relatives and university friends filtered out, more of their old high school friends showed up. It started gravitating from an official wedding to a high school reunion where everyone was just dressed up really well.

She didn't mind one bit. Judging by the smirk on Tsukishima's face, he didn't mind either.

"Hey hey hey!" Bokuto howled, holding up a bottle of... was that tequila? "Drink up!"

"Bokuto-san, you've had enough," Akaashi scolded, gently prying the bottle away.

"C'mon, let a man drink!" Atsumu called, holding up his own bottle of champagne. "You ain't really drinking unless you're drinking to black out!"

"We never should've had an open bar," Tsukishima grumbled.

Mikaela couldn't stop laughing. Hinata and Kageyama were squabbling about something like old times, and Yachi was catching up with Kiyoko. Some of the Karasuno alumni, like Daichi and Sugawara, were catching up with a few of the Nekoma alumni, like Kuroo and Yaku. Everyone was drinking and having a generally good time, and Mikaela didn't know how this night could get more perfect.

At least, until a drunk Oikawa stumbled to the podium and snatched the microphone. "I want to make a toast!" he said loudly, bringing everyone's attention up to him.

"I'm so sorry," Iwaizumi said to her as he passed by, heading to drag the microphone away from Oikawa.

"No! Mine!" Oikawa whined, dodging Iwaizumi. "I flew halfway across the country to be here today!" he continued, and Iwaizumi sighed and let Oikawa be. "And, Mika-chan, I'm so happy for you and even if Robot-kun sucks, he's not half as bad as half the other assholes out there!"

"Jesus," Tsukishima said with a sigh. Mikaela rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand.

The brunet pointed a finger at the audience, aiming for no one in particular. "I, Oikawa Tōru," he announced drunkenly, causing Iwaizumi to face-palm, "am on the Argentina Olympic team and I'm going to kick your ass in 2020!" This was met with a lot of boos, but Oikawa wasn't deterred. He pointed at Ushijima, who Mikaela was surprised even showed up in the first place. "Ushiwaka!" he called. "When I whoop your ass, I'm gonna say you should've come to Argentina!"

"Yeah, that's enough," Iwaizumi said with a sigh, taking the microphone from Oikawa.

Tsukishima leaned towards her. "What the hell was that about?" he muttered.

Mikaela laughed. "He's got a grudge."

"You don't mind them horsing around like this?" Hiba asked, nudging her shoulder. They both watched as Bokuto attempted to jump on one of the tables, with Hinata trying to follow his example. "At your wedding?"

"Not really," she admitted. "This is more refreshing than anything."

They watched as Somi held up two champagne glasses, whooping. Hiba sighed. "Yeah, I'll go deal with that," Hiba said with a sigh, stepping around the head table and taking off to where Taki was trying to snatch one of Somi's glasses. "Enjoy yourself, Kaisha. This is your wedding, after all."

Mikaela thanked her quietly and turned back to Tsukishima as Hiba took off to go manage her old teammates. "You okay with this?" she asked quietly.

He raised his eyebrows at her, lacing his fingers through hers under the table. "It's a bit too late to be asking, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but this is your wedding too," she argued softly, tracing her thumb along the back of his hand. "If you don't want them here, I'll make them leave." Mikaela squeezed his palm, glancing up at him. "Just say the word."

"No chance," Tsukishima replied, smiling. "They're making this much more entertaining than I expected it to be."

"You thought our wedding would be boring?" she asked, smirking.

He shook his head. "No, dumbass. Nothing with you is boring. I just expected it to be a lot more talking and a lot less of this." He waved his hand at the crowd of people ambiguously, and she laughed.

"I guess you're right." Mikaela looked up across the dance floor, smiling softly when she saw her friends laughing and dancing. "This is perfect," she said with a happy sigh.

"You're perfect."

She flushed, turning towards him and scowling. "No one's perfect, idiot."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Perfect for me," he amended, looking at her like she was the only person in the world. "If that's alright with you, your Highness."

Mikaela grinned. "I'll take it." She softened. "You're perfect for me too."

"I know." He leaned in and kissed her, and Mikaela felt butterflies in her stomach. They were literally married, and she still felt like melting into her seat every time they kissed. "You ready to be stuck with me the rest of your life?" Tsukishima teased as he pulled away.

"I think it's the other way around," she joked.

"Hey! Lovebirds!"

They both looked up to the dance floor. Yamaguchi had approached the head table they were both seated behind and had his hand extended, and the majority of the crowd behind him had paused to observe. "Come dance!" Yamaguchi said brightly, holding his hand out to Mikaela.

Tsukishima snorted. "You expect her to vault over the table?" He glanced at her. "Yeah, she's going to vault."

Mikaela grinned and took Yamaguchi's hand, holding tight to both his hand and Tsukishima's. "Come on!" she said with a laugh, standing up from her seat and putting a foot up on her chair. Tsukishima grinned and stepped up onto his seat as she jumped on the table, then off the table onto the dance floor, pulling Tsukishima with her. "Atta girl!" Yamaguchi called, spinning her around, which forced her to drop her husband's hand. Mikaela laughed as the people around her cheered and the music started back up.

She locked eyes with Tsukishima and beamed.

She'd never been happier.

Three months later.

Kuroo Tetsuro (17:50): It's out on Webflix. Let me know what you think.

"Kei!" Mikaela called from the kitchen, setting her phone down. "Kuroo texted me! He says the documentary's out!"

Tsukishima popped into the kitchen, grabbing the two bowls she had set out with their food. "You want to watch it with dinner?" he asked. "Assuming it's not totally awful and we'll be prompted to vomit within the first five minutes."

She laughed. "Sounds like a plan. Want to set it up while I clean up in here?"

"Fine. Did you feed Orion?"

"No, not yet," she replied, thinking of their pet bearded dragon. They'd adopted him right after they'd gotten married. Tsukishima had picked out the lizard (the closest thing to a dinosaur they could get) and Mikaela had named him after the constellation she'd been touching when he'd proposed. "Food's at the end of the counter."

Tsukishima set their bowls down on the table in front of the couch and headed back to the kitchen, grabbing the container of shredded veggies and crickets. "You're not feeding him enough," he said as he turned towards Orion's cage.

She rolled her eyes. "You spoil him."

"He's a growing lizard, he needs to eat." Mikaela grinned at him, watching his back as he headed towards the couch. She turned back to the sink, scrubbing out some of the dishes she had used to prepare dinner. "Mik," Tsukishima called from the couch. He had the remote in his hand and had it pointed at the television. "How am I supposed to find it if I don't know what it's called?"

"I'll ask." She set down her sponge and went back to her phone.

Mikaela Kaisha (17:52): What's it called?

The text returned a few seconds later.

Kuroo Tetsuro (17:52): You'll know it when you see it ;)

"He says we'll know it when we see it," Mikaela called, relaying the information to her husband.

"How vague of him," he grumbled, leaning back into the couch. She rolled her eyes and rinsed her dishes out, setting them on the empty drying rack. She heard a chuckle from Tsukishima and looked up. "Found it," he called, smirking. "Not bad, Kuroo-san. Not bad."

"What's it called?"

"Come see."

Mikaela put down the last of her dishes and stepped around the counter, heading towards the couch. Tsukishima had pulled it up on the screen, and Mikaela grinned when she saw the cover photo. A full photo of her, with her back to the camera and the white number one bright against the dark blue of the Karasuno jersey. She had a hand pumped up to the sky, and her black hair was pulled up in a ponytail. Her teammates could be seen in the background, but they were fuzzed out to make her the attention-grabbing part of the image. It was from their bronze finish at nationals, back when they were in high school. To her delight, the thing that stood out the most was the black crow drawn on the back of her prosthetic.

"How to fly with clipped wings," Mikaela read.

"Fitting," Tsukishima added.

She smirked and curled up next to him on the couch, taking her food from him with a grateful smile. "Yeah," she murmured, leaning into Tsukishima's shoulder. "I guess it is."

He grinned and pressed play.

The Olympics were everything Mikaela had ever dreamed of.

It wasn't just being on the women's team; it was knowing almost every member of the men's team from high school. The support was unreal, the community was incredible, practices were hard but entertaining, and there was never a dull moment when they hung out. Not to mention having Iwaizumi on the team as their athletic trainer, and seeing Oikawa on the Argentina team. The roar of the stadium was more than she'd ever experienced, and being able to play volleyball with and against the best of the best was what she'd dreamed of since she was a kid.

The men's team and women's team were close, but no one was as close to the guys as Mikaela was. She and Kageyama were closer than ever, and Hinata was an added bonus to their friendship. She and Motoya had reconnected, and it didn't take them long to become good friends. Iwaizumi was the athletic trainer for the male team, but he spent as much time helping her as he did helping them. He was learning more and more about her prosthetic with every passing day, like he was making it his mission to know her difficulties inside and out. Honestly? He'd been more helpful than she could've ever expected.

The best part, though? She and Atsumu gradually went back to being best friends. She'd forgotten how easy it was to talk to him; she even forced Tsukishima to talk to him, and the two seemed like they were starting to get along- even if it was mostly insults and snarky comments.

And being the ace of Japan's Olympic team? Well, that was just the icing on the cake.

"Today I'm here with Mikaela Kaisha, number nine on Japan's team and the ace," the reporter said calmly (even after getting married, Mikaela had chosen to keep her family name, and Tsukishima hadn't had a problem with it). "After a fantastic game against Serbia, Japan is headed to the next round. How are you feeling, Mikaela-san?"

"Never better," she replied, grinning ear to ear.

He went through a few more questions, and Mikaela answered all of them easily. Somewhere in the middle of the interview, she glanced up and spotted Kageyama and Hinata in front of a camera. Kageyama met her eyes and smirked, and she grinned, turning her head back to the camera. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Atsumu. He stuck his tongue out at her and she forced herself to look back to the reporter again, trying her best not to smile.

It was even harder to pay attention when her eyes finally landed on Tsukishima, who was waiting in the front row of the stands. When she caught his eye, he smirked, and she couldn't help but smile before the reporter called her name and she brought her attention back to the interview.

"Who or what would you say has been your biggest challenge of all time?" the reporter asked. Mikaela frowned, and he continued on. "To clarify, the toughest player you've ever faced? Or toughest team? Or maybe just a general challenge you've faced in your journey with volleyball?"

She thought for a second, then laughed. "You want me to say the leg?"

"That was what I anticipated," the reporter confirmed.

"No, actually." Mikaela grinned, years worth of memories washing through her head in the blink of an eye. She couldn't pinpoint one and say that was the hardest game she'd ever played, not when she'd played hundreds. She couldn't pick one of her life struggles and say yes, that was the hardest thing she'd ever gone through. There was no way to quantify it. "No idea," she said with another laugh. "But I was always convinced the world was out to get me."

"Sorry?"

"The world," she settled on, grinning. "My never-ending challenge." Mikaela pointed at the camera. "Just me against the world," she announced, backing up to get out of frame. Kageyama was waving to her, beckoning her over. "Me against the world!" she called out again as she backed away, turning to jog towards her cousin.

Me against the world.

And Mikaela Kaisha would come out on top every time.

I can't even summarize what I'm feeling.

I came up with Mikaela ages ago, back when season three of the anime was wrapping up, and I wrote a few test chapters but I sat on the idea forever because I wasn't prepared to dive head first into another story. I ended up releasing it because I wasn't sure where Furudate was going with Sakusa and I was partially convinced that the author was going to make him ambidextrous, and I didn't want it to look like I was stealing the idea. I had also just come off of a Hunter X Hunter OC story and thought there was no way I'd ever be able to write another OC so well and give her just as much love.

Now, here I am, at the end of this story, proving myself wrong.

You have all been nothing but supportive, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this story being as well received as it is. Whether you just pressed the follow button or you've reviewed every single chapter (looking at you, Sarah), please know I appreciate you and that I couldn't have done this without you. I went from mediocre 2k chapters to a "10k or bust" mentality, and this is the most reviewed story in the fandom. What the heck? I'm still in shock.

So, one last time, thank you for growing with Mikaela and for loving her as much as I do. Keep an eye out for future works from me- I'm not sure what's next in my writing journey, but I know I'm done with OC stories. I've peaked with Mikaela, I know it.

You guys have actually convinced me, though. I think I might try and write a book. We'll see how well that goes. If I ever do, I'll update y'all here.

I love you all. Thank you for the endless support and your kindness.

It's been a good ride.

-N :)