Author's Note: This started as a oneshot. After I posted the final chapter of my SN fic "Soul Searching", several people mentioned they'd have liked to see this...story point expanded. Plus, I'd played with this idea in my other fics, but I hadn't clearly thought about how it actually happened. And after writing this first chapter, I got the idea for two other episodes. So now I have a three shot.

Each chapter is a separate story, though the three stories are interrelated. You don't have to have read "Soul Searching" to understand this story.

Disclaimer: Soul Nomad and the World Eaters is the property of Nippon Ichi Software. As are any shout-outs to the game itself, natch. Rating is for offensive language, suggestive themes and strong violence.

AN: I'm adding a special note to my SN stories to apologize for the use of some slurs in Gig's dialogue (possibly elsewhere in the stories, but that's where I remember them occurring). I'm going to let the text stand for the record, but I should've avoided them when I originally wrote the stories, and I'm very sorry for using them.

To Hold

1

Most mornings, particularly mornings after she'd spent the first half of the night on guard duty, Revya liked to sleep in. If she couldn't sleep, she liked to lie in bed and just lazily think. But today, she was restless, long before she needed to be. She got up, grabbed some clothes, found the bird-stenciled screen Marlene had made for her last birthday and headed out of her room, jogging through the complex of houses and apartments carved right into the cave, out into the open air, down to the hot springs. She set up her screen, stripped and slipped in for a good long soak - but found herself washing her hair in less than a minute. Within five minutes, she was drying herself off, and inside of a quarter hour she was walking through the mess hall, a plate of buttery toast and eggs in one hand, an orange in the other.

She found Gig and Danette seated on either side of one of the long tables, glaring at each other. They'd just come off of guard shift together, and Revya could assume they'd spent most of it bickering, if they weren't talking about the two major things they had in common: hotpods and running Revya's life. Or they could've been bickering about both. She hesitated as she approached them, wondering whom she should sit next to. Sometimes it didn't matter, but other times it seemed like a silent war waged between them. She made a quick decision and sat next to Danette, relieved Gig didn't flash her an irritable twitch. "Good morning."

Danette yawned into her coffee. "You ready to head out?"

"Yup." Revya dug her nail into the orange rind. "What about you, Gig?"

Gig glanced up from his own coffee mug (there were two empty ones shoved to the side) and rolled his eyes.

"Whew, we gotta long morning ahead of us." Danette bit her hard-boiled egg in two. "I need to make sure Janey gets those sandwiches made, plus I gotta clean out the visiting room. Are you sure you two can make it back by one-thirty?"

"If we hustle, but I don't see why there should be any problems." Revya bit into an orange slice. "Not unless Father Valerio needs to deal with something in Astec before we go. You eaten yet, Gig?"

Gig blinked at her. "I don't need to eat. I just need to sleep for a week and destroy the world when I wake up."

Revya passed him a piece of toast. He stared at it dully.

"Well, I think the sooner we get going, the better," Revya said.

"You're really antsy this morning," Danette observed.

Gig took a bite of toast. "Must be nice."

"Cheer up," Danette told Gig. "We haven't seen Father Valerio in like forever and this is his first time coming to the Village. We need to be happy and make him feel welcome here."

"Oh," said Gig, ripping the rest of his toast into confetti, "I'm happy."

"Here," said Revya, passing him two orange slices. He sighed and chewed, then got up to snag another coffee.

"Now, remember," Danette said again when Gig and Revya were standing at the Village's front gate. "Be here by one-thirty. I really - really-" the Sepp clenched her teeth nervously "-want this visit to go well."

"Danette, it's Father Valerio," Revya said. "He'll forgive us if we accidentally mess up."

"Yeah, but I don't want him to have to forgive us!" She stamped her hoof. "We're not stupid kids anymore. So, okay? Just get going! Hurry!"

"Oh yeah," Gig said, slowly turning towards the road. "See us hurrying? Hey, kid, look: flowers! Let's go pick them."

"I'm going to kill you!" Danette shouted after him. "I'm going to snap your neck and use your head as a doorstop!"

Once they were on the road, steadily moving, Revya's nerves began to loosen. Even Gig seemed cheered by the sunny, slightly cold morning. "Feeling better?" Revya asked.

He shrugged.

"What a horrible way to come back from a trip," Revya commented. Gig had returned from a hotpod run in Orviska just the day before, right when Gadius needed to cop out of guard duty to stay up with his sick daughter. Gig, back in the village for all of a half hour, had been strongarmed into picking up the slack.

"So anyway," Revya said, her nerves trickling back. She hadn't planned on saying anything, but she suddenly couldn't think of any good reason not to bring it up; well, except for if it went badly, she'd feel wretchedly stupid; she should get it over with; yes. "While you were away, I got to thinking."

Gig spun his scythe in his hand, stopping it by letting it slap against his palm. "I knew I shouldn't have left you unsupervised."

"I was just thinking," Revya said, "do you want to get married?"

Gig didn't stop altogether, but his steps certainly slowed as he turned to look at her.

Revya stared back. Now that she'd spoken, she no longer felt the sharp prickle of nerves, just a suspended anticipation. "What? Don't tell me you've never thought about it."

"Where the hell did that come from?" He was laughing slightly. "Were you waiting for me to come back, thinking, 'Oh, where's my Gig, I miss him so much, I need someone to hold me when it's cold'?"

"If you'd rather I get someone else to hold me when it's cold..."

"No back-sass from you." He turned away, his face betraying little, but she could tell he was working it over in his mind. "Marriage? Come on, wasn't Yuga Mountain bad enough?"

"Yuga Mountain was years ago." She angled her steps a bit closer to him. "And years are a long time to wait for anything. Besides, Nei told Gadius who told Grunzford who told Van who told Marlene who told Virtuous who told Danette who told me that you said you like me."

"As I recall," Gig said with killing patience, "I told you I like you."

"Seriously," Revya said, brushing a few wayward strands of hair out of her face, "we should think about it." Her voice came a shade more quietly. "I'd like to marry you."

He watched her out of the corners of his eyes. "We don't have enough money to get married."

"We'll probably never have enough," Revya countered. "Besides, we've never needed money. We're town guards. The Village pays us by giving us food and rooms." She watched him a moment. "Hey," she said, "I'll just ask one more time, and then if you want, we'll drop it." She stepped closer to him, also looking at him sidelong. "Will you marry me?"

Gig didn't answer.

Revya let that pass for half a minute, but no more. "Are you going to blush?"

"Bitch," Gig tossed out.

Revya pressed her lips together, fighting back a surge of disappointment. After a moment, she collected herself and even managed to shrug. "Okay then. So, when we get to Astec, do you want to see if that new shop has-"

"Or we could," Gig said quickly, probably more quickly than he'd intended.

Revya stepped closer to him. "Do you mean that?"

He looked down at her, distantly, then smiled. "Yeah, why not? I love you, you love me, we're one batshit family. We get along." He thought a moment. "Usually."

Revya laughed. "Okay then." They walked in silence for a while, not talking, but both smiling.

After they'd reached the halfway mark to Astec, Gig said, "So, what are we going to do? Go back home, stand in the town square and shout that we're getting spliced?"

"Well...I was hoping we could get it over with in Astec."

Gig spun around to face her. "Whoa, right now? You really can't hold yourself back, huh?" He shook his head. "It's my fatal charm."

She rolled her eyes. "Look, if we go back and announce it, what's going to happen? Everyone will run up to us with advice and plans and...ideas about the ceremony and guests and..." She grimaced. "Someone will insist I wear a dress, and - well-" She looked at him. "Do you care about any of that stuff?"

He spun the scythe again. "Nope."

"So this'll just be easier. I mean..." She grinned. "We are on our way to meet a priest."

They wended their way through Astec's busy streets, dodging quickly away from Vitali's restaurant (and the bouncer who knew them all too well), then sprinting away from Christophe's carriage when they saw it rolling down the avenue, not pausing until they came to the inn that Valerio had said he'd be staying at - the Dinky Phynx.

The innkeeper told them which was the priest's room, and they went up the stairs still debating how they should break their news to him. They found Valerio sitting on the edge of his bed, reading a letter.

"Ah, so good to see you again," the mild Sepp said, climbing to his hooves. "It's been a long journey, but no journey is truly long when there are friends at the end of it."

"Mm, yeah," said Gig.

"How did the trip go?" Revya asked, returning the priest's hand-clasp. "Was the company good?" Valerio had found a group of soldiers who were traveling to the Village to protect him.

"They are good souls, all of them," Valerio replied. He thought a moment. "Most of the time." He reached for his traveling satchel. "Shall we be on our way, then? I would hate to keep Danette waiting."

Revya glanced at Gig. "Well, we were...hoping you could do us a favor."

"Of course."

Gig took Revya's hand. "Okay, tie the knot."

Valerio dropped his satchel. "Good heavens!"

"What?" Revya asked, a tad defensively.

"I beg your pardon," Valerio said, fumbling to pick up the satchel. "I just - it's a bit sudden. And I didn't even know you belonged to the Church of Apis."

"Apis?" Gig glanced at the ceiling. "Let me tell you a thing or two about gods."

"We'd be honored if you married us," Revya said quickly. "You've always been such a good friend to us."

"Well..." Valerio regarded his satchel, forehead rumpled. "I don't think this is the sort of thing that should be hurried. I'd feel better if I was sure you two knew each other well, knew each other's hearts and...opinions and...habits..."

Unbeknownst to each other, they gave him identical deadpan looks.

"Quite true," Valerio said. "I'm afraid I was forgetting myself. Very well then, we can do it here."

"Told you," Revya said to Gig. "They carry little priest kits."

"What sort of ceremony do you want?" Valerio asked, unpacking his kit: a basin, a small knife and a packet of herbs. "We can do the full ceremony if you have rings, some sort of music and turtledoves."

"Skip the birds, bells and bling," said Gig.

"Very well, then, we'll be minimalists." He withdrew a parchment and a stylus, leaning them against the wall. "First, the certificate. Names?" They gave their names. "Ages?"

"Twenty three," said Revya.

"Five," said Gig.

Valerio's hand paused before writing the number. Gig coughed, and it sounded oddly like "statutory rape".

"Parents?" Valerio asked.

"Unknown."

"None."

"Hometown?"

"The Hidden Village," in unison.

Valerio grimaced (and perhaps hoped no one in a position of authority ever asked to see this document). "Now, sign this. It's your word that you are both free to marry. Very good. Er...what's that after your name, Gig?"

"It's a skull," Gig replied. "With hotpod leaves."

Valerio sighed, signing his own name. "Now for the ceremony. Please join hands. Do you each freely consent to this union?" They said they did. Valerio led them to his bedside table, positioning their hands over the basin. He took each of their right hands in turn, cut their palms open, then reclasped their hands, wounds together. "As your blood now mingles, so do your lives. Will you promise fidelity and respect for each other? Will you promise to nurture any children you might have together? Will you promise, not to the gods but to each other, to protect each other's bodies and souls? If you will, seal your vows with a kiss."

Gig flicked Valerio a "turn around, dumbass" sort of look. Valerio let them kiss for about five seconds (it was his usual average) before benignly clearing his throat. He parted their wounded hands, then extracted various herbs and plants, sprinkling shavings of each on the cuts.

"Ivy for enduring love, chamomile for longevity, rosemary for fertility, violet for fidelity and calendula for joy."

Gig and Revya stared at the piles of crud in their hands and made no comment.

Undeterred by their reaction, Valerio wound lengths of cloth around each of their hands. "Your bond is good in the eyes of our creators. May you find joy and peace in each other." Then he stepped back. "Congratulations."

"Wow," Revya said, examining her bandage. "That was nice. It was very-"

"-fast," Gig supplied.

"People do seem to like it," Valerio acknowledged, pouring water in the basin, then some herbs, then cleaning off the knife. "If I remember correctly, the Thurist ceremony took six hours and involved painting a live iguana. Now then, shall we...hmm..."

"What?" Revya asked. "Get going? Sure."

"Well-" Valerio broke in, glancing from one to the other. "I do hate to make you rush out again right after being married. It's something you should celebrate."

"Oh, don't worry about us," Revya said, though she stepped closer to Gig and brushed her shoulder against his arm. "We've known each other so long, we're totally sick of each other."

"Vitali," said Gig.

Revya blinked and looked up. She'd been expecting a casual aside. Maybe he'd said "I love you" and it had just sounded like "Vitali" because he'd said it fast... No, no, there was no point deluding herself, he'd said "Vitali."

"I'm Revya," Revya said after a moment, staring up at him. "Vitali wears a hat and looks nothing like me."

"No, I mean what better way to celebrate than to descend on Tranquillity Grotto and scare the hell out of Shitali?"

"We have lifelong bans," Revya reminded him.

"It's our freakin' wedding day," Gig shot back.

Revya looked carefully up at him. "You didn't marry me just so we could get a free lunch out of Vitali?"

"Of course not," Gig said, winding his arm around her waist, "but what's a wedding cake without icing on top?"

"Well..." She couldn't deny that a lunch - a free lunch off Vitali - would be pretty sweet. "Okay. Father Valerio can come too, of course." She turned to the priest.

"Why, thank you," Valerio said, ignoring Gig's annoyed look. "I would be most pleased to - No, wait." He clasped his hands. "I'm afraid young Danette is still waiting for us."

Gig and Revya blinked, then turned back to each other. They didn't say anything, but each knew the other was systematically running through all the ways Danette would react to their news.

"I...definitely think we should linger at Vitali's," Gig said.

"I'm afraid I couldn't disappoint her," Valerio said.

"She has been working hard," Revya admitted. "But..."

"Those soldiers you came up with still here?" Gig asked the priest, who nodded. "Okay, let's see how much cash we have."

"Oh, no - no, really-" Father Valerio protested, but of course they ignored him. As Gig went downstairs to hire the soldiers to escort Valerio all the way to the Village, Revya dashed off a quick note to Danette.

"Just have to apologize, you know," Revya explained. "She's probably been planning our wedding for years. Anyway, I'm sure lunch won't disappoint you. She's getting these great sandwiches and lots of hotpods-"

"Which she'd better not eat all of," Gig said, coming back inside.

"Gig, I'm sure she-"

"Put it in the letter," Gig insisted. "'Do not eat my hotpods on pain of lingering, gruesome death.'"

Revya added a postscript, then handed the letter to Valerio. "We really appreciate it."

"It was my pleasure," the priest replied, smiling. "May the gods of Apis bless you both."

"We're going to need blessings," Revya said, once Valerio was gone, "convincing Vitali."

It was still too early for lunch, so Revya suggested they shop for an...appeasement gift for Danette.

"Say what?" was Gig's reaction. "People are supposed to be giving presents to us."

"She's going to be upset that we went and did this without telling her-"

"Tough shit."

"-and that we didn't even invite her."

So Gig spent the first hour of married life very appropriately - being dragged around shops by his bride. They went to the armor supplier first and argued which type of whetstone would be better for Danette's sickles - couldn't agree and so left empty-handed. They went to a streetside vendor who specialized in exotic hotpods and picked out some bright blue starpods, which neither had ever seen before...but broke down exactly three minutes later and ate themselves.

A bit before noon, Revya stopped in front of a booth that sold shell jewelry and, almost at random, picked out a thick white bracelet and paid for it.

"Is your guilt soothed?" Gig asked. He'd gone back for another starpod and was finishing it. "Now, are we ready to descend on Vitali like a swarm of locusts?"

Vitali's bouncer was named Enrique, and when he saw them coming, he punched his fist into his palm and glared at them in a businesslike way.

Neither of them stepped within striking range. "Guess what, Enrique?" Revya said, trying not to sound apprehensive. "We just got married."

Enrique pounded his palm again, but this time, it was more hesitant.

"Yeah," Gig went on, "and we're sure our buddy Vitali would love to congratulate us. So why don't you rustle him up for us?"

Enrique pursed his lips, looked up at the sky, down at his fists, furrowed his forehead, scrunched up his nose, then, casting a cautious glance at them, sidestepped into the grotto.

"Hope this goes well," Revya muttered. Gig put his arm around her shoulders and spun his scythe, as if warming up.

Vitali stepped out onto the street, his hands folded, skepticism on his face. "Enrique says you wish to see me?"

"Break out the rice and balloons," Gig said, "we just got hitched."

Vitali blinked. Once. Twice. Then, like a cloud passing over the sun, all the color washed from his face, leaving it the shade and consistency of tapioca pudding. It was so amazing it deserved three literary images in a row. "You - what-?"

"Meet the little woman," Gig said, pressing his cheek to the top of Revya's head (she took this patiently). "I got her on sale. Isn't she cute?"

"I don't believe this," Vitali muttered faintly. "None of my contacts - none of my spies told me-"

"You have spies watching us?" Revya interrupted.

"-Of course, my spies aren't well known for picking up on things like this, but still..." His eyes dilated as he stared at the two of them. "You two aren't planning on - reproducing?" He glanced towards the grotto. "My hotpods-!"

"All we wanted," Revya said, breaking into his soliloquy, "was your congratulations."

"Congratulations," Vitali said, clearing his throat, the color slowly returning to his cheeks.

"And lunch," Gig added.

Vitali turned quickly away.

Revya broke away from Gig and ran to Vitali's side. "Come on," she said, "after all we've been through, you're really going to turn us away on our wedding day?" Vitali tightened his jaw. "It's our special day, Vitali, and we wanted to spend it with you."

"You wanted," Vitali said, "to spend it with my food."

"Food cooked by the loving hands of Vitali," Revya argued. "Just a bit of lunch before we head back home. That's all."

Vitali crossed his arms and tapped his foot for a long moment, clearly weighing his options. Turning away old friends on their wedding day would be the height of rude, bans or no bans. Inviting them in but making them pay for their meal would be ruder still. He had nothing against Gig and Revya unless it involved feeding them. Then, he had everything against them. "Very well, come inside. I'll...whip up a special honeymoon menu just for you. Brytta!" he called to one of the waitresses. "Please put these two in booth 3 Q."

When Vitali was making his rounds of the grotto, seeing that everything was in order, Gig waved him over. "Hey, pansycakes, this booth is a bit snug." They were wedged into one corner of the main dining room, on a two and a half foot long bench with a small table in front of it. "Can we get some elbow-room?"

"You're newlyweds," Vitali replied smoothly and skimmed off.

"We could go to Christophe's," Revya offered, shifting slightly. Her right arm, jammed against Gig, had gone numb.

"No," Gig said. "No way. I've had more than enough of the smiley creepyass millionaire."

"Hello," Brytta, the waitress, trilled, trotting over. "Master Vitali's made up a special menu just for you two. Everything's free." She handed them a plain piece of parchment that someone had thoughtfully glued a doily to the back of. "May I start you off with some drinks?"

They glanced at the Drinks section.

Water

Water with Ice Cubes.

Gig looked at Revya. Revya looked at Gig. Gig said, "We're going to go wild and crazy and get two Waters with Ice Cubes." Brytta scribbled that down on her notepad and scurried off.

They studied the rest of the menu:

Appetizers:

Assorted Nuts

Entrees:

Ham Sandwich

Desserts:

A Wedding Cupcake

At the bottom:

Best Wishes From All of Us at Tranquillity Grotto!

"Decided on your order?" Brytta asked after returning with their Waters with Ice Cubes.

"Yeah," Gig said thoughtfully. "I'm thinking I'm going to have a ham sandwich. But could you swap the ham for, like, a steak?"

Brytta blinked. "Oh - okay, sure."

"Great, so that's a steak sandwich... Nice rare steak, thanks, with a tangy hotpod sauce. And...hey, while we're at it, can you swap the bread slices for some potatoes?"

"I guess so." She glanced at Revya.

Revya looked scrupulously at the menu, then down at her empty stomach. "I'll have a ham sandwich too, except could you replace the slices with pita bread, and instead of the ham, I'll have that great seafood salad Vitali makes. Um, thanks."

"Okay," Brytta rattled off. "That's two ham sandwiches with no ham, no bread, a streak, tangy hotpods, potatoes, pita bread and seafood salad."

They didn't see Vitali again until they were sharing their Wedding Cupcake. "I trust your meals were satisfactory?"

"More than you'd ever guess," Gig replied. Revya kept her head down.

"Look," Revya said on the way back to the Hidden Village. They'd spent the rest of the day bumming around Astec (buying hotpods off the vendors, eventually getting nabbed by Christophe and having to spend two hours at his manor), and now it was closing in on evening. "We're moving into my place."

"But all of my stuff is in my room," Gig argued. "Besides, your place is a mess."

Revya rolled her eyes. "My rooms are bigger. And, most importantly, my nearest neighbor isn't a two-ton Redflank who snores."

Gig thought a moment. "Okay, your rooms it is. Besides, Virtubitch will probably be happy my place is empty again. I think it used to be a storage room. There are times," he said, "when I wake up in the middle of the night and smell cleaning fluid."

"And one more thing," Revya said, "you are not carrying me over the threshold."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not?"

"No," Revya said firmly. "We are just walking in like sane, normal people."

"Yeah, like the sane, normal people we happen to be."

"I'd just feel stupid if you carried me, okay?"

He put his hand to his heart. "God forbid I make you feel stupid."

Revya shook her head and glanced up the road. Her steps slowed slightly. "We're going to be there soon. Do you suppose Father Valerio's spilled the beans?"

"If he told the cow, then, yeah, I'm assuming the entire Village has heard about it at least twenty times already."

Revya fiddled with her earring. "You know - we should've run out west. Gone on, like, a month-long honeymoon. Done a proper elopement."

"We'd have to deal with them sooner or later," Gig argued. "Let's just get it over with."

Revya stopped walking. "I hope Danette doesn't hurt me too badly."

Gig stopped walking too and stepped up to her. "Kid, would you get a grip?"

"Sorry, it's just - Danette and I have always gone through everything together. I mean, we first arrived in the Village a month apart, and we were its two little amnesiac weirdos. She's always been there for me, and now I've gone and gotten married without her even knowing..."

"Just face the fact that when we get home, the cow's going to turn you inside out and slice you six ways," Gig advised. He slid his arm around her waist. "But she can't change anything. She'll get used to it. And if she doesn't, it'll be pretty damn funny."

"Not if I'm getting pulverized every day," Revya said glumly.

"Eh, you need to ramp up your training anyway. When was the last time you killed a god?" Her head was still bowed. "Hey, what?" She felt his arm tense. "You aren't regretting anything, are you?"

Revya glanced up into his face and could see - in his eyes or the tension of his eyelids - worry. His arm was still around her, and she could feel that he was poised to pull away. She shook her head and, despite her concerns about Danette, didn't have to work hard for a smile. "No. Actually - as stupid as it is - I'm really happy."

Some time passed.

However, while they were snogging, they both noticed the remarkable way in which the ground had begun to shake. Thinking that, maybe, this might be important, they broke apart, arms still around each other.

A dust cloud was hurtling towards them. A large, swift dust cloud. A dust cloud with something green at its center.

"Run!" Gig said, thrusting Revya behind him. He kicked his scythe up into his hands. "I'll hold her off."

Too late.

The dust cloud darted away from Gig, then surged smack into Revya, sending her flying a dozen feet. Revya knew, after much experience, that passivity was the safest way to go.

"-can't believe this - I have been egging you two on for years - thought we were best friends - most important day of your life and you don't even tell me - I had to hear that my best friend was married through Papa V - had to keep it a big SECRET didn't you - never get a chance to go to Vitali's anymore and you went without me - Ow, lemme go, you jerk!"

Gig, meanwhile, had come from behind and hoisted Danette off of Revya. She repaid him by hammering him vigorously with her elbows. "Just wait till I start on you - carrying off my friend without a word - you've always been like that, Mr I'm going to take over your friend's body and now you're Mr I'm going to marry your friend and not tell you squat until it's over!"

Revya climbed gingerly to her feet, walked over and hugged the still-restrained Sepp. "I'm happy you're so happy for me, Danette."

"He didn't get my permission to marry you!" Danette shouted, trying to twist around and glare at Gig with outrage.

"I don't need your permission, you brain dead milkbag! I'm her soulmate, in case you never noticed that whole fusion-save-the-world bit from six years ago."

"I'm her best friend! And I've been her best friend for much longer than you've been her soulmate - or her husband - or whatever!"

"Yeah, well - hey, kid, where're you going? Don't you want to see me grind the cow into dog food?"

"I'm heading back for the Village," she called from up the road.

"Oh no you don't!" Danette shouted. "You're staying right here and I am giving you a talking to!"

"No," Revya said. "I'm going. Because if we don't hurry back, it's going to Lady Virtuous running us down next."

Gig and Danette watched her go, then looked at each other. Then ran to catch up. "So," Gig said, "does Her Hagness know?"

"Um." Danette rolled a pebble under her hoof. "I was kinda afraid to tell her, but she's probably heard by now. You know, she's also been looking forward to you two marrying and..."

"This isn't going to be pretty," Revya said.

With dread in their hearts, they made their way home.