I've had this rattling around in my mind since IM3, but only now has it come together. (Why, I don't really know. But whatever.) I couldn't help but feel robbed by the last scene with our dear couple, when he gives her the necklace. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.
I mean, c'mon! There wasn't even an HONEST TO GOODNESS kiss for them in this movie, you guys! Sure, there was the whole last battle scene, and hugging. Lots of hugging. But seriously! The only kiss was between Tony and Maya! (Think about THIS! The last Pepperony kiss we got was in the Avengers! In 2012! That's JUST WRONG!)
Sorry. Off on a rant. ANYWAY- they needed to be engaged in this scene. At the very least. It just needed to happen.
So I thought- okay, what if we kick this up a notch, all in the name of fluffy Pepperony goodness, as it is in such short supply these days? What if...
Well. I'll let you see for yourself.
Happy reading! And I'd love to know what you think! :D
"Okay, Potts. Time to take a little inventory," Tony told the woman in his arms, as they stood on a rooftop high above Shanghai, a light breeze blowing tiny strands of her hair as he gazed into her eyes, his own glittering with blissful adoration. "We've got something old, correct?"
Pepper smiled softly, and held up her left hand, which bore a large solitaire diamond ring, and playfully wiggled her fingers. "Your mother's engagement ring. Check," she replied, proudly.
Tony smiled back, and grasped her hand, bringing it to his lips and tenderly kissing the back of the finger wearing the ring. Pepper giggled happily at the gesture.
He brought her hand to his chest, keeping it clasped in his as he went on. "And...something new?"
"Well, it is New Year's Eve," Pepper teased, with a knowing smirk.
Tony feigned suddenly recalling this fact. "Oh, right, right, right. Yeah, it is, isn't it? Really? Did we do that on purpose?" he joked.
Pepper chuckled, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at his corny reaction. "Goofball," she muttered.
Tony just beamed at her, unable to recall a New Year's Eve where he'd been as happy, and sober, as he was right at this moment. "A new year with you. A new lease on life. A new wife. I'd say we've got that category covered in spades. Wouldn't you agree?" he asked intently.
Pepper smiled tenderly at him, gazing into his eyes, her own glittering with anticipation and love. "Certainly," she murmured in response.
"Now the next category- something borrowed- is a surprise," he told her. And Pepper looked at him with a curious smile. "So let's save that one for last, huh?"
Pepper eyed him suspiciously. "Just what are you up to, Tony Stark?" she mused.
Tony smirked back. "Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now would it?" he replied. He cleared his throat, trying to pretend he didn't notice Pepper's eyes staring holes into him. "So, let's move on. How about the something blue?" he quickly asked. He looked down at his chest, and then back up at her. "Until recently, I had that one taken care of," he joked, tapping on the spot in his chest where the blue glow of the arc once resided.
Pepper let the mystery he'd suddenly created be set aside in her mind as she watched him do this, and chuckled. "Well, I thought maybe my dress would suffice?" she said hopefully.
Tony pursed his lips, and furrowed his brow in thought. "Yeah, it's really more of a lavender, if you ask me," he informed her.
"Well, I didn't ask you, by the way. And lavender? It's clearly a shade of periwinkle," she argued, trying to keep an amused smile off of her face. "That's more in the blue family than lavender."
Tony teeter-tottered his head from side to side. "That's debatable, Potts. And really? That's what you'd call this color?" he challenged, cocking a skeptical eyebrow and smirking at her playfully.
"Yes. Periwinkle," Pepper asserted, huffing with mock exasperation.
Tony grinned, and they both chuckled. He nodded. "Fine. I'll concede. For all intents and purposes, it'll have to serve as our something blue," he teased.
"Thank you," Pepper said pointedly, flipping her hair over her shoulder with an air of cocky victory. They she grinned and brought her gaze back to his.
"Yeah, well, you're welcome," he joked, faking reluctance. Pepper laughed at him playing up his defeat. Then he grinned at her once more, and looked lovingly into her eyes again. "And might I say you look..." he paused, his expression suddenly going from a playful grin to one of humble reverence for the moment they now found themselves in. "Absolutely breathtaking," he said softly, his voice a hoarse murmur.
A lump instantly formed in Pepper's throat at the expression on his face, and the slight warble she detected in his voice. Her chin began to quiver with emotion, and she moved to wrap her arms around his neck. Tony wrapped her in his, pulling her close to him. They rested their foreheads on one another's and soaked in the moment between them, in silence, as the distant noise of the busy streets below them filled the air. "I'm glad you think so," Pepper murmured.
Tony smiled softly, and bent to delicately kiss her lips, She kissed him back, cupping his cheek in her hand, deepening the kiss in return. After a moment, when the kiss slowly broke, he went in for one more soft peck before pulling back, the both of them gazing at each other, their expressions soaked with love.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked quietly. "Are you ever...dumbstruck by how much things have changed? How far we've come since..."
"I barged into your office out of the blue one day?" Pepper interjected, with a playful smirk. Then she frowned. "No. Not at all. Why do you ask?" she dead-panned.
Tony chuckled. "Seriously, though? It's gotta just..." he paused, to search for the right word. "Astound you, right? Like it does me? That we've made it all the way to here? Now? About to commit..." He paused, swallowing hard as he once again realized the magnitude of what they were about to do. "Our lives to each other?" he finished.
"All the time," Pepper admitted softly.
Tony smiled briefly in reply, and then gave her a curious look. "So...no regrets?" he asked, his tone cautious.
Pepper just smiled lovingly, and shook her head. "No regrets," she assured.
He grinned, a small hint of relief in his eyes, even though she'd agreed to marry him as soon as he could muster the strength to ask her after he'd had the arc removed. And been able to air express the ring he'd kept locked in the back of his safe for decades from Malibu to Shanghai, thanks to a little help from their mutual, long-time, faithful-to-a-fault secretary, Ms. Bambi Arbogast, who couldn't stop blubbering with over-joyed tears at the news as Tony gave her the combination over the phone.
He nodded. "Good," he remarked. "Because all that's left, before we make that pledge, is to discuss the last remaining part of the tradition."
Pepper gave him a curious look, and then her eyes brightened with realization, and she smiled. "Ah. The surprise," she cooed.
"Yes. At long last," Tony quipped, with a dramatic eye roll and a smirk. Pepper chuckled softly, but remained silent as she watched him pull what appeared to be either a bracelet or a necklace from his suit jacket pocket.
As he unraveled the object from his grasp, she gasped, suddenly knowing exactly what it was. "Oh, Tony," she whispered, her eyes becoming glassy with oncoming tears.
Once he'd straightened the chain, made from the shards of shrapnel removed from his chest only weeks before, and the pendant, a heart-shaped ruby, at its base, he glanced back up into her eyes, and smiled softly. "I figured it would do as our something borrowed," he said softly. "But really? I'm giving it to you on more of a permanent loan basis, as a reminder that you'll always have my heart," he explained. "As long as we both shall live."
Pepper gasped again at the loving sentiment behind his words, bringing a hand abruptly to her chest to calm a sob that escaped her throat. She gave him a sheepish smile, and he smiled warmly back. Then, he motioned for her to turn around, and she obliged, simultaneously lifting her hair out of the way for him. She felt him reach around her to place the necklace around her neck, his feather-light touch sending a thrill down her spine, causing immediate goosebumps to erupt over the bare skin on her shoulders and arms as he worked to clasp it together. He noticed this, and ran his hands slowly down her upper arms when he'd finished, in a caring effort to warm her up. She let her hair back down and steadily turned around to face him once more. She then rested her forehead on his, and delicately brushed the tips of their noses together. They each closed their eyes, overcome with the tender emotion of the moment between them.
Eventually, they opened their eyes to look at each other once more, both smiling blissfully. "I take it you like it?" Tony asked hopefully. "I mean, I'm getting better at this gift giving thing, right?"
Pepper giggled, and nodded. "Yes. Most definitely. I love it," she replied, delicately touching the pendant with her finger tips. "And I love you."
"Good. And good," Tony joked, smiling. Pepper chuckled. "So what do you say, Potts? Ready to make this official?" he asked, his eyes glittering once again with anticipation as he looked intently into her own.
"Can't wait," she responded, beaming.
He grinned, shaking his head. "Neither can I," he replied, just before he cupped her face in his hands and earnestly kissed her lips one more time. Pepper melted into it, savoring the last kiss between them as single people, it serving to help calm the nervous butterflies in her stomach. They gave each other giddy smiles when it broke, and Tony stepped to her side, delicately placing her hand in the crook of his elbow. He laid his own over the top of hers, and gave her a playful wink and a smile before they headed inside, to where the officiating magistrate, and Rhodey, there as witness, were waiting patiently, ready to take part in the secret matrimonial ceremony that would forever bind them together as husband and wife.