Strength of Virtue
"Do you, Dennis Roderick, you take this young woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"And do you, Momoko Asuka, take this young man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I... I do..."
Momoko was glad no one in the crowd could sense the hesitance in her voice, and she was certainly glad the man she was marrying couldn't hear it.
"If anyone objects to the union of this couple, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."
Regretfully to Momoko, there was silence for a good thirty seconds.
"Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and..."
"HOLD IT!!!!"
The doors to the chapel burst open, and there stood the boy Momoko had been thinking about for quite a while.
"Stop this sham!!! That man isn't who you think he is!!" the boy exclaimed.
"Nick!!" Momoko exclaimed, truthfully quite glad to see him.
"What the hell are you doing here, boy?" Dennis exclaimed. "I'm getting married!! It's already too late for you to make an objection to our union!!"
"Oh, yeah?" Nick shot back. "Would you like to tell your 'bride' about what you've been doing lately?"
Momoko wasn't really surprised by this. She'd always suspected it about her phony groom. Still, she tried to act the part by acting surprised.
"You... you did what?" Momoko exclaimed.
"Do you want me to start from the beginning, Dennis?" Nick taunted, trying to call Dennis' bluff. "I saw what you were doing with that cheerleader. You didn't think I was watching you from my seat in the classroom?""
Dennis actually looked surprised at this. "You... you saw me with her?"
"Ah-HA!!!" Nick exclaimed, Dennis having fallen for his trick. "I KNEW I'd get you to admit it!!"
"So... you've been cheating on me this whole time, Dennis?!" Momoko exclaimed, finally getting angry.
"So what? You know that boy doesn't deserve you, either," Dennis proclaimed.
"Do you want me to tell you about the OTHER things you've done?" Nick shot back. "Or would you rather I not break the heart of your precious 'bride' in front of everyone?"
Momoko was actually pretty surprised that Nick was doing all this just for her.
"You... you little son of a...!!" Dennis exclaimed, hopping down from the altar and charging at Nick.
Dennis tried to aim a punch at Nick, but the younger boy easily stopped the punch with only one fist.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Nick teased before turning deadly serious. "Now are you going to call off this bogus wedding so Momoko can be with the person she REALLY loves, or do I have to introduce more evidence against your case?"
This actually shocked Dennis. "You wouldn't. You wouldn't DARE!!!"
"It's your choice, Dennis. Either you call this sham off, or I humiliate you more. What's it gonna be?"
Suddenly, Dennis smirked. "She may not deserve me, but she doesn't deserve you, either. I know about the things YOU'VE done, too. Do you think she'll ever forgive you for that?"
Nick grinned. "I'll admit, I've done some things I'm not... particularly proud of, but I'll also admit that I did all those things for Momoko's sake. I love her, you bastard, and you obviously can't see that, can you?"
Nick drew his fist back. "And you'd be surprised at how much people can change when they're in love."
With that, Nick thrust his fist forward, slamming it into Dennis' stomach and instantly dazing him. Nick followed this up with a backhand across the face that sent Dennis crashing into the floor.
"Now why don't you just leave?" Nick growled.
Dennis huffed and beat a hasty retreat.
His mission accomplished, Nick walked up to the altar and looked at the girl he'd always loved.
"I'm sorry I took so long, Momoko," Nick stated.
"It's okay, Nick," Momoko responded. "I told you I'd wait for you."
"I guess the people need something here, so I may as well get this over with," Nick continued, pulling out a ring with a pearl gemstone in the shape of a heart.
"Momoko Asuka... will you marry me?"
The crowd held its collective breath at this question.
Momoko just smiled. "You don't even have to ask, Nick. Of course I will."
About ten minutes later...
All the chaos from the earlier fight had been cleared up, and the crowd was watching as the true ceremony started.
"Do you, Momoko Asuka, take this young man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do," Momoko stated. There was no hesitance this time.
"And do you, Nick Kelly, take this young woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"You bet I do," Nick responded.
"Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Completely surprising everyone, Nick swung Momoko around and gave her a passionate, Hollywood-style kiss.
Now Momoko was glad that she promised to wait for Nick.
As the crowd cheered, Momoko knew that her life had just turned in the right direction.
And she was glad Nick could come along for the ride.