~You May Kiss The Bride~ ~1~
Bruce stands fitted in a white Italian suit with gray vest turning to the entrance of the tiny stone church. He sees his friends all stand and whisper as the sound of Richard Wagner's Bridal Chorus softly plays off the old piano.
She walks in slowly, the sunbeaming behind her making her appear angelic with a halo contrary to her veil that makes her seem phantomly mysterious, ethereal, and menacingly powerful as she glides effortlessly with tiny steps forward in the soft sea wind.
A slight smile appears on his strong jawline as he thinks of his bride. How she is just that..she is a mystery. She is a combination of goodness, and yes badness, she is at times innocent, at times cruel, she is child-like than at times more adult than he dared imagine. She is his muse. She is his Selina.
He stares at her dress white with tiny beads of pearls from the sea. It is lined with delicate lace. In her hands is a bouquet of purple Calla lillies. To her side is her father smiling past his tears. Bruce recalls how they first met. The pull that urged him past his never-ending duty to become for once...side tracked...to seek her out, only to let her go, then to pursue her again and again.
It was on one such night that they gave in to their facade they had both built so well. She was one of the few who really knew him, knew who he once was, and what he is now.
She was the only one who could break down the walls of silence he had re-enforced by ages of un-wavering duty. She allowed him to share what he was and gave him the space he needed to be. He is the protector he had sworn long ago to be. She had awed him with her ferocity, her fight to have what she wished, and the small child-like ways that re-surfaced allowing him glimpses on what was so stolen from her.
Yes. They both had lost much but found each other for comfort, for understanding, for the love that they found they did indeed very much deserve in a world that few really ever find.
He lifts her veil as the the words Puoi baciare la sposa are said. He finally stares down into those cat-like green eyes of hers. The ones that peer into his very soul. His chest feels as if he has battled his most fierce foes as he struggles to re-gain composure. Only she can make him feel this way. He lunges fast and tilts her back as she closes her eyes allowing him to hold her, to kiss her and slowly returns this soft purest kiss.