I still can't believe how long it took Sun and I to start dating.

I mean, it's not like we have nothing in common. Outgoing personalities, quick wits, love of puns, it goes on. Not to mention: He's ripped, I'm stacked. But I suppose my major draw to him was that beneath his confident, one might even say smug, exterior… Sun's really a sweet guy.

I guess the trouble, at least initially, was that we didn't start seeing each other in… you know, "that way…" until around the end of the Vytal Festival. Which- surprise!- was also right around the time he and the other visitors from Haven were starting to leave. Let me tell you, it is not easy starting a long-distance relationship that quickly.

But we started to get into a groove after a while. We'd call or vid-chat each other almost every night, and text even more often. He'd visit on weekends (Dad was always a bit hesitant about me going to Mistral), and I tried my best to make Beacon feel like a second home to him.

This went on for a few years. And nothing really changed.

Until one day, when- surprise- it did.

It was like something out of a romance novel.

There we were, on a grassy bluff overlooking the ocean, the two of us on a red-and-white checkered picnic blanket, just sitting back, sipping red wine and watching the sunset. Him in his usual attire, save a few differences (finally buttoning up his shirt and swapping jeans for a nice pair of slacks), and myself in a wheat yellow dress Weiss had tailored for me. Being friends with an heiress had its perks sometimes.

"I have to admit, Sun… this is so unlike you," I mused, swirling the wine in my glass as I looked at it, acting like I knew what it was I was supposed to be looking for.

"What do you mean?" he asked, taking a sip while holding the glass in his tail.

"You're not really one for grand romantic gestures like picnics."

"Well…" he said, hesitantly, "I just thought that, seeing as how this was our third anniversary as a couple… it would be a nice thing for you. And I wanted to do that. Give you something nice. 'Cause I love you." He extended his glass, offering a toast. "And… stuff."

I accepted, but as the "clink" resounded, three things started to occur to me.

One: I had kind of forgotten it was our anniversary. Not one to enforce stereotypes, myself being a kick-ass female lead, but… wasn't he supposed to be the one to forget dates? Ah, forget it.

Two: Moments like this were kind of why I liked dating Sun. The moments when his cool-as-ice facade gave way to an absolutely adorable stammerer.

Three: I didn't buy that answer. Not one bit.

"Alright, Wukong," I said, firmly, as I set aside my wine glass. "Just what the hell is really going on here?"

Sun sat up, setting his glass aside as well. "Okay, fine. I may have had… ulterior motives… in bringing us out here, at sunset."

"And finally buttoning up your shirt," I snickered.

He laughed. "Well, Yang, my dear… that's because I didn't want you to be distracted by my washboard abs when… I asked you kind of an important question."

I laughed again. "Sun, you know practically everything about me already. What else could you possibly have to ask me?"

He put his hand to the back of his head. "Well, it's not really that kind of question."

Now I was curious. I sat up. "Then… what kind of question is it?"

Sun stood up. "Well, I'll put it this way. It's a question with-" He looked down at me. "Uh, could you, maybe… stand up too?"

I did.

"As I was saying, it's a question with many forms. A lotta ways to say it." He started to take a knee… "'Honest man,' 'happiest person alive,' 'death do us part,' et cetera." He fumbled around in his pocket for what I assumed was- "But I think the best way is probably the most simple. Four words… Five syllables…" He took out a little imitation velvet clamshell box. "Fourteen letters." He opened the box to reveal… a ring. Silver, with a yellow diamond right there in the middle.

"Will you marry me?"

I couldn't speak. It felt like, simultaneously, my face was ablaze, my heart was exploding, and my eyes were being drowned. "Sun… I…"

"Yep, surprise! I know, I know. We're both too young for something like this. I mean, you're only 20, same as me."

"Sun…"

"But I'm gonna be honest with you." He started to stand up. "I cannot see myself with anyone else but you. I really think you might be my soulmate."

"Sun…"

"And I also know that a lot of people my age say that all the time and never mean it. But I'm sure that I do."

"Sun-"

"Now, we don't have to tie the knot just yet. I've never pictured myself being married before becoming a Huntsman."

"Sun-"

"I'm saying this is just a general- I mean, at some point in the future, if I said, 'Hey, wanna get married?' which I kind of am, but my point here is-"

"Sun, could you just stop talking for like ten seconds?!"

I could feel my eyes welling up with tears as I embraced him.

I sniffled a little. "…Of course I'll marry you…"

I felt him hugging me back, the ring box still in his hand.

"I mean…" I choked through happy tears. "This isn't like I've been waiting for you to ask me. God knows I share your sentiments about the timing of marriage. But… it's about the best surprise I've had in my life. And I think you're my soulmate too. So yes. I will." I finally pulled away. "I will marry you."

He reached up a calloused hand to wipe my eye. "That… makes me so happy," he whispered.

"I mean, why the hell not? 'Mrs. Yang Wukong' does have a nice ring to it."

He laughed.

I offered him my left hand, and he slipped on the ring.

It fit perfectly.

"Okay, you must have measured the circumference of my ring finger or something, because this fits like a damn glove. I mean… wow."

Sun laughed. "I just kinda bought it as is."

I smiled. "It just might mean something…"

He took my hand. "That… this is meant to be."

My other hand cupped his cheek. "We were made for each other."

He smiled. "Beauty and the beast."

I slowly kissed him as the sun descended on the horizon. He pulled away, and looked fondly into my eyes.

"Of course, if anyone else calls you beast, I may have to go apeshit."

I couldn't help but laugh at my new fiance. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

It was, I thought as I kissed him again. It really was the nicest surprise ever.