Sorry this took so long to get out, guys!
This is the end of the Remembrance Trilogy, Yami and Yuugi's wedding.
My inspiration to this story comes from a dear friend Kafae-Latte of deviantart, and if you like this fic, then you should go and look at her puzzleshipping pictures, she's an amazing artist! Plus, I have a link to some of her original work on my profile, Kill Me Shining, which features canon homosexual pairings AND anthro characters. You guys should go and check it out!
Without further ado, I do not own YuGiOh!.
Now And Forever
One-shot finale to the Remembrance trilogy.
Yuugi's POV
I stared at the thing golden band wrapping around my finger, lifting my other hand to slowly twist it around, biting my lip anxiously as I thought of what was to come.
This weekend, I was set to be married.
When Yami had proposed, I had been absolutely thrilled; overjoyed beyond belief. I was certain, (and am still certain) that no matter what happens in life, I'll always want to be there with him for it and have him by my side. I love him, that much is clear to anyone who would even glance at us when we were looking at each other. He was my other half; my aibou, my world.
However, what I did not sign up for is Tea deciding to plan our wedding.
She had insisted on it right away after she heard we were engaged, and it's been a wee bit stressful ever since that day. She'd insisted on having our wedding in Tennessee, where Yami and I got back together after his original... Well, let's just say how he got here is a little complicated. The point is, I was happy with this. My problem after that was that she was trying to convince me to wear a dress.
"Well, somebody has to do it, and it's not going to be Yami." Tea insisted. Yami looked at Tea like she was absolutely insane, (and she was) and he slowly began to shake his head.
"Tea, we're two grown men, neither one of us is going to wear the dress." He said flatly, his mouth pressed in a thin line to keep from smiling.
'As much as I think you'd look sexy in a dress, she's being a little pushy, isn't she?' Yami sent over our mind link. I blushed madly, shoving him a little bit in the small car, sending him into Joey. Joey playfully shoved him back at me, and I shrieked as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, clinging to me in revenge for the initial push. I knew what was coming before it happened, and I let out a long shriek as I felt his hand playfully run up my side.
"No! Stop it, I'm ticklish!" I squirmed, trying to get away from his probing hands. He didn't relent in the least bit, in fact, his hold only strengthened under my protests. I had been squirming for a good thirty seconds before Tea finally leaned forward and pulled Yami off of me, setting us a couple of inches apart, as far as we would go in the crowded car. We had gotten a van with three rows of seats as soon as our flight touched down, knowing that that was the only way we could all fit in a car. Even then, we were fairly cramped with Joey, Trystan, Kaiba, Tea, Yami, grandpa and I.
"Oh I don't know if Yuugi should be the one wearing a dress, Yami seemed pretty comfortable in a skirt when he was Pharaoh." Kaiba said, dripping with sarcasm. Honestly, if he wasn't Joey's date to the wedding I probably would have just left him behind. Okay, well, not really, but he could be a bit of a douche sometimes. Good thing Yami had learned to take it fairly well.
"Oh, so that means you'll be the one at the dress at your wedding with Joey?" Yami immediately snapped back, turning around to look at Kaiba in the back seat and smirking. Joey's face turned bright as a tomato and he shook his head no vigorously, tensing up.
"Who said anything about Kaiba and I getting married? I don't want to be married to some rich jerk!" Joey spat, crossing his arms and slinking down low in his seat. I resisted the urge to laugh; Joey still wasn't over defending that he didn't like Kaiba, despite the fact that they'd been going out for six months now, as long as Yami and I had been engaged.
"That's not what you said when you told me you loved me last night." Kaiba said flippantly, leaning back with a dangerous smirk. Joey sputtered, his face turning even redder than before.
"Well at least I didn't hear a love confession and not say anything back!" He said, slinking down in his seat with a pout. My eyes widened.
"Kaiba, that's not very nice." I scolded. Mokuba leaned forward and agreed with me.
"I don't have to be nice, he knows how I feel and I don't want to move our relationship too quickly." Kaiba stated, matter-of-factly. Joey gave a deep sigh and put his hand over his face as if he were exasperated, shaking his head as if to say, 'Why do I put up with this?'
"Okay guys, we're getting off topic!" Tea announced, running her hands through her hair. We all quieted down and turned back towards her, waiting eagerly for what she had to say. "So, since Yuugi refuses to wear a dress, we're going to the tux place for both him and Yami. Not to mention Joey, since he's Yuugi's best man. Kaiba already has a tux, so Yami's procession is all sorted out." Tea said, at this point just thinking out loud to herself.
Yami and Kaiba had grown close in the last few months. I wasn't bothered by the fact- rather, I was overjoyed that Yami had made peace with his once enemy. Sure, Kaiba had unintentionally caused some ripples in our relationship a little while back, but all of that was settled when Yami admitted he and Kaiba had been cousins in the past life.
Okay, so it had been a little more complex then that, but the point was that I was happy for my groom-to-be.
Yami's hand subtly brushed mine on the seat, and I felt my face heat up just the slightest bit. No matter how many times we touched, kissed, snuggled up together on the couch watching some dumb movie, his touch gave me shivers I could barely control. It zinged through my body like electricity and didn't stop until it reached my toes. It was like my very soul was attuned to his presence- in fact, it could very well be. I felt complete when he was around.
Don't get me wrong, I could live without him. I just found myself not wanting to.
"So, Yami and Yuugi are going to be split up tomorrow. Joey and Yuugi are coming with me, while Yami and Seto are going off alone and we'll all get the tuxes. Yuugi, you and I are going to check out the chapel after that, put some flowers around and hope they don't freeze overnight. What made you two want to get married on Christmas eve anyways?" Tea finished her rant, her mind finally slowing once she was certain everything was in order. Everyone stared at her blankly for a moment before we all collectively laughed, knowing that Tea's mind was almost always overactive. She blushed and sunk down in her seat, looking at the ground and waiting out our merriment.
"We wanted to be married on a day where there was snow. Yami's never seen it before." I informed her. Yami was reminded of the fact and subtly leaned to peer out the window, eyes scanning the ground hopefully for the white flakes.
"Oh, okay. Well, since this is Tennessee, there won't be any snow down here. There may be at the chapel you're getting hitched at, though." Tea said, smiling. Yami slumped, a little disappointed.
"There might be on the mountain, aibou. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get to see it later." I promised, smiling. Yami nodded his head and perked up a little, smiling in my direction.
Thirty minutes later, the limo pulled up outside the cabin, and the group all climbed out of the car, inhaling the fresh mountain air. I glanced over at Yami and smiled, remembering our first kiss, him slipping into my room when he had a nightmare, making me breakfast when I didn't want to eat at all. How I did, because it was him, and nobody else. I felt a wave a fresh affection and grabbed his hand, pulling him forward and into the house, out suitcases rolling on the concrete behind us.
The house was warm and smelled like air freshener. I ignored the smell, pulling him straight out the door and onto the porch, looking up at the stars twinkling happily from above. I heard a small chuckle from my partner as he registered my mixture of emotions; nostalgia, love, an overwhelming amount of happiness like nothing I'd felt from anything but him. The stars from here seemed to tell a story to me; our story. One that, in just a couple of days, would be made permanent.
He leaned down around me, his body pushing close. My stomach was lightly touching the bench we sat on for our first kiss, and I closed my eyes. When his lips pressed on mine, soft and moist and warm, it felt like the first time all over again. It always did, and still always does. The kind of emotions rising up in me were both familiar and new, because this time, soon, we'd be tied to each other. We already were, of course; but now, it would be in every way possible. Earth, soul, everything.
Of course, the next morning, Tea immediately separated us.
My eyes opened slowly and groggily, and Yami stirred from beside me. She stood tall above us, intimidatingly fearsome in the lack of light. Her hands were poised on her hips and her hair was up in a bun instead of its usual free form. I knew immediately what she wanted.
"You'll need to be upstairs in ten minutes. The tux shop has yours ready." She announced, flipping her hair. I gave a groan and shook my head in agreement, snuggling back under the covers for a moment, hoping to fight off the cold. She turned without another word and left me alone, and I considered just going back to sleep. Of course, Tea's wrath was not something I wanted to come down upon me, so I decided against it.
I threw off the covers and turned, giving Yami a quick peck on the cheek before I grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom, proceeding to change my clothes as quickly as my stumbling feet would allow me.
Unfortunately, since we were having the wedding up here, none of the tux shops carried a tux in my size. Well, unless I wanted to go with a children's tux, which I refused to even think about. I wasn't going to have a bright blue floral flower that had been hot glued to the pocket, and any of the other ones were flimsy material or just not the right attire for a wedding. So, we had to have a tux ordered in my sizes. Luckily, it hadn't been too expensive, and sending them from Japan would have been both difficult and may have ended up getting them lost.
As soon as I was up the stairs, Tea shoved a package of poptarts into my hands. She proceeded to fuss with my hair and practically push me out the door to the car, my grandpa waving goodbye as she did. I barely had time to register what was going on before we were already seated, Jou sitting in the back and pouting like a child who'd been scolded.
"I don't understand why you get to drive!" He announced loudly, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly. Tea rolled her eyes and put the keys in the ignition, the car starting with a loud purr as she determinedly leaned back, her eyes looking into Joey's through the rear view mirror.
"Because mountains are dangerous and you suck at driving." She said casually. Joey opened his mouth as if to say something else before promptly forgetting what it was and shutting it again. As a result, he just sat there, a small pout on his face. I shook my head and gave a small smile, thankful again that I had been blessed with such great friends.
Soon enough, the mountain was behind us, fading away into the distance. Joey and I both clutched tight to our seats, looking back and forth between ourselves and Tea in an agreement to never let her drive again.
The strip was full of people walking in between shops and taking pictures of people, cars, food. I saw an advertisement for the zoo and smiled, remembering my day there with Kaiba and Yami. The lights to the different attractions were off, but it didn't do anything to dampen just how brilliantly colourful the place was. I felt like Yami and I couldn't have chosen a better place to fall in love again; It had the perfect mixture of nature and city.
"Are we there yet?" Joey complained from the backseat, blowing a little portion of bang from his face. Tea rolled her eyes but to my surprise, she shook her head yes. As she did, she turned the steering wheel, pulling into one of the small clusters of stores that lined the main stretch of road. She put the car in park and looked over to us, raising her eyebrows as if to ask, "you coming?" before she got out herself.
Joey and I shared a glance.
"I'm psychic." Joey declared, smiling. I rolled my eyes and chuckled, shaking my head as I climbed out of the car. My feet hit the ground with a small thud and I walked around the car to see Tea already walking into one of the shops, her hair bouncing a bit as she walked with a pep in her step. I followed eagerly behind.
As we entered, she walked immediately to the front desk, a large smile plastered onto her face.
"We have an order to pick up for Yuugi Mutou, please." She announced. The man behind the counter looked up from the book he was reading, looking at her blankly for a moment before he gave a huff and got up, walking into the back of the store without a word. He didn't give any indication of whether or not we should follow him, so we all stayed where we stood, waiting awkwardly for him to return.
The door let in a burst of cool air as Joey walked through, smiling as he approached the counter. Just then, the store attendant reappeared from wherever he had gone, a plastic bag wrapped tight around some unseen piece of clothing grasped in his hand. He shoved it to me wordlessly, and I grabbed it.
"I'm sorry, but there's been a bit of a mix up." He apologized. I tilted my head to the side, trying not to be too concerned by the ominous words. "Please see if this will do instead." He asked, "We'll refund you fully, I assure you, but the suit would not be here until next week." He announced.
My stomach dropped to my feet. "We had it ordered three months in advance. What do you mean, it won't be here until next week?" I asked. The man shrugged. "We need it by tomorrow!"
"I'm sorry, sir," He said, in a voice that didn't make it sound like he was very sorry at all, "But I've offered you an alternative." He said. "Other than that, there is nothing I can do. The situation is out of my hands." He said, sitting back down in his chair. I saw Joey's face turn red out of the corner of my eye, and I knew that he'd want to start something if the man kept acting so blasé about it. To diffuse the situation, I nodded my head, giving a deep sigh.
"Alright, where are the changing rooms?" I asked.
Ten minutes later, Tea was pounding on the door.
"Come on out, Yuugi, I'm sure you look fine." She said. Even though I knew that she couldn't see me, I adamantly shook my head no.
"I'm never coming out of this room again!" I shouted in protest.
"Come on, it won't be that bad!" Joey announced, probably having been elbowed by Tea to be persuaded to say it. I shook my head again,l this time for a different reason; Even though I looked ridiculous, there was no way they would let me out of there until I came out in the tux, something I was absolutely dreading. Fighting much longer didn't sound fun, either, though. I could only hold up in here for so long.
"You have to promise you won't laugh." I said, giving a sigh.
"Of course Yuugi; I could never laugh at you." Tea said. There was a muffled sound of pain from Joey.
"Of course, we're your friends, we wouldn't do that." Joey quickly added afterwards, this time definitely elbowed by Tea to encourage saying something. I shook my head and put my hand on the door knob, not wanting to go out, but fully knowing that it would be better to get it over with now than to wait until one of them picked the lock.
I opened the door wide and flinched, knowing what they saw.
"You- You look..." Joey said, open-mouthed, "Like a sheep!" He busted out in laughter.
The suit that they had for backup was a white thing, made just like a regular suit except for the layer of thick wool that covered the whole thing and clung to my body. Joey had a point, it looked like the bottom half of a sheep costume, except missing the tail. As his laughter reached my ears I blushed, lifting my hands up to cover my face as he enjoyed the view. Tea looked like she was muffling laughter of her own for a second, but then quickly recovered, smacking Joey on the back of the head for going against his promise.
"You look," She paused, putting on a fake smile and trying to think of something, "Different. Not in a bad way." She said, grimacing at the lie. I shook my head back and forth.
"Can I go and change back now?" I asked, giving a sigh. She nodded her head yes.
It was only a few more minutes before I came back through the doors in my regular clothes, and she lunged forward to grab the sheep tux off of the ground, shoving it back into the plastic bag. She quickly approached the counter again, looking conflicted.
"Listen, you know kid's tuxes fall apart. This is his wedding, it's important. Do you have anything else?" She asked in a low voice. The man behind the counter didn't even look up from his book, shaking his head no. She gave a frown, turning back. I knew I wasn't going to like what she was going to say.
"Listen, Yuugi," She said, "This is the only thing we have. I know you don't exactly like the look, but it's not like we can reschedule the wedding now." She said, looking around. I gave a deep sigh, knowing what was coming next. "I think we're going to have to make deal with it for now." She said. I flinched.
"Okay." I said gently. "But, maybe the other one will come in tomorrow morning?" I suggested hopefully. She nodded her head encouragingly before she put the tux over her arm, standing up straight and smiling broadly as if she had just won an argument. It wasn't like I had a choice; without a tux, there wouldn't be a wedding. I was dreading going out like that, but at least our group was small and wouldn't give me too much trouble over the issue. Besides, it's a wedding, it's about more than how you look.
"Maybe." She said as she walked out the door, head held high.
Later that night, it came time for us to go and check on the chapel.
Yami and I had already picked out a cake, (we'd just gotten something small from a bakery on the west side of town, something we wouldn't have to worry about being too expensive or extravagant) and picked out cracker barrel for the reception, deciding that dinner would be better before we went our separate ways. The rest of the gang had decided to go ahead and go home after the wedding, and their plane was scheduled for nine o'clock that night. Yami and I were waiting a week to leave after that, since we decided that it would be nice to have our honeymoon here, too.
Tea had shoved me into the car for the second time that day, while I was trying to make an excuse to stay with Yami. She'd literally had to grab our hands and separate us before I would go with her willingly.
'I love you.' I sent through the mind link.
'Don't worry, you'll be back soon. I love you too.' Yami assured. I smiled as I caught my last glimpse of him before the door was slammed shut, and I turned to follow Tea. I wasn't looking forward to letting her drive me anywhere again, but I knew that I was probably too short to reach the gas petal myself in the monster of a car Kaiba always rents. Who knew they would have the same make and model in both Japan and America that was made for ridiculously tall people?
After struggling to get in okay, I finally scrambled into my seat, buckling up and staring bored out the window. I tugged on one of my bangs, waiting for her to start the car.
Once we were finally to the church, I leaned out the window, eager to see the place. It was pristinely white and about the size of the Game shop, with an overgrowth of flowers around it. The windows were a faded rainbow-coloured stained glass, with the small amount of sunlight left for the day reflecting beautifully off of them. I smiled as I saw it, thinking that it looked just as good as it had in the pictures. As soon as the car rolled to a stop, I hopped out.
There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, and it brought a smile to my face. Yami would have loved to come with us; Tea had insisted that it would be quicker for just us to go, though. I reached out with the mind link to send a small bit of affection towards him, happy when it was quickly returned. I could feel his smile radiating as though I were right there with him.
We walked up the steps and I threw open the doors, ready to get this over with.
Of course, I wasn't expecting there to be an alpaca waiting for me.
I walked into the room fast, my eyes scanning the swirling chaos that was called a church. There were a couple of donkeys and a sheep and a camel, along with an abundance of hay all around the floor and a stable set up to the left of the altar. My mouth fell open in shock as I surveyed the scene.
"Oh, are you here to see the nativity scene?" A woman asked, whom before I hadnt noticed. She was standing beside the pews a couple of steps away from where I stood, still trying to comprehend it all while Tea stepped up beside me. I heard her gasp.
"No," I said slowly, trying not to panic, "My wedding is supposed to be here tomorrow." I said. She dropped what she was holding, turning abruptly.
"I'll go get the pastor." She said nervously.
A couple of minutes later we were standing in the pastor's office, him looking up at us from his glasses, which were sitting low on the bridge of his nose.
"I'm so sorry." He apologized again, "We didn't write you into the schedule and the animal trainer said that they wouldn't be able to get up here later tomorrow because she wanted to spend time with her family. It was either no nativity scene or take them a day early. Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience." He said. I shook my head.
"What am I supposed to do about my wedding, though?" I asked, trying not to get frustrated. "And why is there an alpaca there? That's not even part of the nativity scene." I added as an afterthought. The pastor paused.
"It was cheaper to feed than a horse. And I'm not sure, there's not much I can do unless you want to get married here either way. You have my permission to work around the animals, but there's nothing else that I can do." He said. I gave a sigh again, trying not to let myself get discouraged.
"Fine, I understand." I said. "Unfortunately, we probably have no choice but to work around the animals. We live out of country." I said. He nodded.
"I noticed your accent. Is English not your first language?" He questioned. I shook my head. "Well, I hope you have a good day at your wedding tomorrow, despite the inconveniences." He said. I nodded my head numbly and reached out with the mind link, showing Yami my emotions instead of immediately telling him the story.
'Aibou, what's wrong?' Came into my head urgently as Tea was walking back out to the car with me. I really didn't feel like talking about it; it felt like everything was going wrong. We had arranged the flowers, but the donkeys had both been giving them lustful looks as we left, so it was clear nothing but the bouquet would survive. At least we'd still have that.
'I'll tell you when I get there.' I said. I could sense his reluctance to wait for the explanation, but he didn't argue with it anymore.
Once we had arrived, I immediately went to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He held me close and tight, not questioning the affection. I closed my eyes and breathed in a shaky breath, inhaling his scent. I would need the strength for what I was going to say.
Finally, I pulled away, and his eyes gazed questioningly into mine.
"I think Yuugi and I need to go have a word. Please don't disturb us." He announced, looking around the room to the other inhabitants. When nobody said anything against it, he took my hand (which had been resting on his chest) in his own and pulled me to the stairs, sitting me down on my bed. There were a couple of moments where nothing happened, both of us uncertain what to do or say.
Finally, I scooted over, patting the bed for him to climb up next to me. He did so eagerly, pressing his warm body up against my own, my head fitting perfectly between his chin and his chest. I felt safe and warm and protected, and at first, choked on my prepared words. His hand was sitting against my lower back, pulling us closer, keeping me sane and feeling grounded. I knew that no matter what I said, he'd be okay with it. He might not like it, but he would certainly not judge me.
"I don't think we should get married." I whispered into his chest. I felt him freeze, and then a hand come down to pull me away, so that he could look into my eyes. The sadness swimming in his own hurt worse than anything I'd ever felt. "I mean, doesn't this all feel like a little bit of a sign?" I questioned dumbly. His eyes still held the same question. "Maybe the gods are trying to tell us something?"
"Do you honestly think that a couple of mistakes means we shouldn't be together?" He asked, looking shattered. I flinched at his broken tone. "If you don't want to get married I understand, aibou. But I don't think the Gods are trying to tell us anything." He rationalized.
"You don't?" I asked hopefully. He nodded his head.
"You're everything to me. I think that the Gods would want us together. Sometimes, things happen just because they happen. What you're, what we're feeling right now," For emphasis, he grabbed my hand in his and placed it gently over his heart, "Do you think that could be a mistake?"
"You're right." I agreed, feeling the hope and love and happiness radiate between us. I'd never felt so strongly for anyone, and I knew that I never would. Yami meant everything to me, and I could feel through the link that we shared that he felt the exact same way. We, our very souls, were already so thoroughly intertwined that marriage wouldn't even be all that big of a deal. I was stupid to worry about it, and I was happy he had talked me out of my stupid insecurities.
"I love you." I sighed. A deep chuckle was given.
"I love you, too."
The next day, things were hectic. I felt like I was walking on air the entire time, happiness and anticipation all balled up inside of me, not even stopping when Yami and I were pulled away to get dressed. I was shoved into the slightly itchy lamb suit, (Joey declaring that at least he wasn't the only one who looked like a furry, for which Tea hit him for the seventh time that week) and given a bouquet of flowers. My smile couldn't get any bigger if I tried.
Finally, I was shoved into the hall, waiting for the music to start playing. The melody caressed my ears like it was calling out to my very heart, and I forced my legs to move forward. I walked in time with the music, my eyes on the ground, Mokuba throwing flowers in front of me. The doors were opened and I heard a collective shuffle of people turning to look. I forced my eyes to stay on the ground, knowing that I would become overwhelmed with emotion if I looked at my groom. I could feel the affection about to burst through the mind link, and I knew he had his eyes trained on me the entire way.
Finally, the music stopped as I did, and I allowed my eyes to travel upwards, and meet his. I felt paralyzed by the sheer reality of what was happening, something that couldn't even be broken up by the piles of hay I was standing on or the goat behind me letting out gentle noises. Yami was smiling broadly, his eyes damp, though not enough to actually cry.
"You look good." He said. I playfully hit his arm, and he laughed a little. "No, I mean it." He said sincerely. Coming from anyone else, I would have never believed it. "Maybe I should have dressed up like a Sheppard."
"Oh, stop." I hushed. The priest was talking now, but I didn't listen to him in the least bit. I saw Joey flash me a thumbs up from where he stood as the best man, and I knew Yami was seeing Tea on my side. Of course, Joey was a friend to both of us, and Tea too, but we'd decided that Tea would stand on my side early on.
"It's time for the exchanging of personal vows." The priest said, gesturing towards Yami. We'd decided to keep it short and sweet, so that it was.
"Yuugi, I've loved you ever since I laid eyes on you." Yami said. A small ghost of a tear worked its way out of his eye. "I feel closer to you than I have to anyone else. You took me from a place where I was dark and unwanted to a place where I felt light and useful. We've changed so much since we met, both of us have. We both know it. Yuugi, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Yami said, reaching into the pocket of his suit to pull out a ring. Ring bearers weren't important to the ceremony, so we'd cut them out.
He slipped the ring onto my finger, and it felt heavy. Not bad, but grounding. Like an invisible bond was somehow tying us together. It was simple and steel, but it meant something so much more precious than silver or gold. I realized then that it was my turn to talk, but I could barely choke out the first syllable through the lump that had formed in my throat.
"Yami, I have felt a connection with you that I've never felt with anyone else." I started, the lump finally allowing me speech. "You've been my aibou for what feels like forever, and I'm happy to make it true that you will be mine for the rest of our days, no matter what happens. Even with the challenges that lay before us, I know we can make it. I love you, I always will." I whispered the last few sentences, but they were loud and clear in the small, echo-y church. A lamb "baaaa"-ed right afterwards, as if in agreeance, and I let out a small laugh. My hands shook as I slipped the ring onto Yami's finger, my soul dancing in the knowledge that this was permanent now.
"You may kiss the groom." The pastor said.
Immediately, my hands were around Yami's neck, his lips on mine, our bodies pushed together. It registered at the back of my mind that the others in the room were cheering in happiness, but the sound seemed far away. We didn't try to deepen the kiss, simply stayed pushed up against each other as our lips slowly and reluctantly parted, knowing that a wedding kiss wasn't the place for any longer than four seconds. Despite how short it was, it was probably the best kiss of my life.
He swept me up into his arms and carried me down the aisle, both of us laughing and joyful as our friends threw a couple hand fulls of rice.
"I love you." I laughed again, once he had set me down. He smiled.
"I love you, too." He said, leaning down to kiss me. He mumbled against my lips, "Now, and forever."
