The Binding of Zack and Kimi
Summary: The story about Zack and Kimi's announcement to the gang about their engagement to get married, and the story of their wedding. Takes place prior to the events of The Reunion of Tommy and Silvia, but after Say Goodbye and Graduate.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Rugrats/All Grown Up, they're the property of their original creaters. I only own any OC's you don't recognize, while Peter is owned by TCKing12, and Jesse is owned by Jesse Barrow.
Chapter 1, The Marriage Announcement
It was August 11, 2032. The gang was all in Sara Sota, Florida, visiting Dil, Phil, Jesse, and Lil for the summer vacation in between college semesters, and celebrating Tommy's twenty-first birthday. Zack and Kimi had been so busy with school at M.I.T. and Boston College, that during the fall and spring semesters of college, anybody getting together was one percent to none, unless they all happened to live in the same town.
By the time it came around to Tommy's twenty-first birthday, Zack and Kimi had been engaged to get married for nearly six months. They proposed to one another on Valentine's Day of 2032, after they got out of a Yoga class they were taking together, and Zack and Kimi stayed after class, while Kimi helped Zack fine tune some Yoga poses he was having trouble mastering, in particular, the threading the needle pose, one that can be difficult to do if you do not position your hands and feet just right in the right positions. Before they left the Yoga studio, Zack knelt down on his yoga mat, took Kimi's face in his hands, gazed into her eyes, and to Kimi's surprise, he asked her that question to either begin, or end, an engagement.
"Will you marry me?" Zack asked Kimi, as he gazed into her eyes.
Kimi gazed into his eyes for several minutes, having flashbacks to all they had been through together. How they shared their first kiss on the day of Tommy's barmitsfa. How Zack came all the way to Yucaipa, California, just to see her graduate from middle school, and following that graduation ceremony, how she went out to Wheeling, West Virginia the following summer, just to be with him, even if everybody back home thought otherwise. How in the tenth grade, post Zack's return to Yucaipa, California, Kimi had that difficult decision to make. She had been in a love triangle for so long with Tommy, and Zack, and this only happened because when everybody was in the seventh grade, a bomb threat had been issued at their middle school, right before the Winter Carnival Dance. Originally, Kimi had plans to take Z to the dance, but when she found out Z was the one who issued the bomb threat, she broke it off right then and there, not to mention, Z was expelled for two years, having to finish his middle school education in alternative school, returning in high school, more or less, cleaned up from his dreadful past, doing quite well throughout high school as an actor in the school plays, excelling in his school work. Sadly though, Kimi had recently heard that once Z went off to college, his excellence in high school was only a phase, as the boy was heard to be attending U Mass Lowell, engaging in doing Heroin, and it would only be a matter of time, before he nearly destroyed himself.
Nonetheless, back to the whole saga that went down in seventh grade, one year after Rachel broke Tommy's heart, and now, a bomb threat, nearly destroyed the winter carnival dance forever, that is, until movie director Tommy Pickles, detective Peter Albany of the Confederacy, and news reporter Kimi Finster, all managed to corner Z, and his two gang members, Ivan and Alex, better known as the Z.I.A. into a corner, and held them against their will, until they confessed to Vice Principal Pangborn, that they were the ones who issued the bomb threat, just to get out of taking their science midterm with Mister Beeker. While this resulted in Z, Ivan and Alex, being expelled, no longer allowed on the middle school's property, unless accompanied by one of the people responsible for their well being, as it was clearly put by Pangborn on that cold, winter day in February of 2024, Kimi, had another thing coming to her.
Tommy asked her out to the Winter Carnival Dance. This shocked Kimi for two reasons. For one, she had known him since they were in diapers and they met in Paris, she thought they were a bit too close friendship wise, to even be bothered by such a relationship, and two, she remembered how the previous Halloween, Tommy admitted that it was wrong to date their best friend's sister. Well obviously things had changed at this point, as not only was Tommy finally over Rachel, and ready to start another relationship, but Kimi also was dealing with her older brother at the time, who had just gotten his first zit, and was about ready to cancel his first date ever with Nicole, who was finally over Chuckie's Chongo incident that had taken place the previous year, and was ready, to finally, move on to the next level. Nonetheless, in the end, after a bit of convincing and thinking went through everybody's minds, Chuckie, Nicole, Tommy and Kimi, all attended the Winter Carnival Dance, and all of them, experienced their first kisses with one another that night.
But between the seventh grade and the tenth grade, as Kimi went back and force between Tommy and Zack, she couldn't help but notice that while Tommy was very often, preoccupied with one thing or another, whether it was one of his films, getting ready for his barmitsfa in the eighth grade, and then, once he became President of the Yucaipa High Film Club their Freshman year of high school, making him have to be at more or less, every play practice and performance, not to mention, Kimi had picked up on acting, performing in several plays throughout her high school career, she noticed that even when Zack still lived in Wheeling, he seemed a lot more committed to a relationship. They would talk nearly everyday, and even if it was only on Face Time, there were plenty of times during their Freshman year of high school, and the first half of their Sofamore year, that Zack was there for Kimi, when Tommy could care less. Tommy had changed so much once he hit teenage hood, from being the leader of the group, to being more or less, an outcast, as everybody matured, and started going off in their own directions, only keeping up with one another, mainly because their families knew one another for practically forever, which meant they all had a special bond that was unlike most other groups that formed throughout the middle school and high school. But then, when Zack had moved back to Yucaipa, California in the winter of 2027, followed by that accident that Tommy was in, causing him to suffer from several fractures, and going blind, Tommy was a very angry, depressed man for a while, and now that Zack was back in town, the secret love triangle, couldn't exactly, be secret anymore. And so, at that confession circle that had taken place, hosted by another friend who had left the picture for a while, and who had recently returned, Jesse, Kimi knew this was her moment, to finally admit who she really wanted to be with. She admitted to Tommy, who they had on the phone at this point, and who was still in the hospital, recovering from his serious injuries, that she no longer wished to see him anymore, and that she preferred to be with Zack.
While this resulted in everybody receiving the cold shoulder from Tommy for one reason or another throughout the remaining two and a half years of their high school career, there was one thing that continued to go well for Kimi, and that, was her relationship with Zack. They continued to date throughout the rest of high school, and even though Zack had taken Tommy's place as President of the Yucaipa High Film Club post Tommy's accident, and Zack continued to perform in plays, and get involved in other activities, including being in the concert band and jazz band, he was also very intelligent, taking AP courses, and knew how to juggle all aspects of life, better than Tommy ever did in Kimi's opinion. Post graduating, they both made sure to attend colleges in Boston, so they could continue to be together, and see one another everyday, as while they knew they could make a long distance relationship work again, neither one of them was up for that, if at all possible. So they got an apartment together, continuing to go to the colleges they had chosen, which, they were glad they chose separate schools, as this gave them some time apart from one another, to focus on their studies, and then, at Valentine's Day of 2032, it finally happened.
Kimi's flashback finally ended, as she returned to reality, gazing into Zack's eyes, who had just asked that question. The question that would make, or break, an everlasting relationship.
"Did you hear me?" Zack asked again, gazing into Kimi's eyes.
"What was the question again?" Kimi asked.
"Will you marry me?" Zack asked again.
"Yes, yes, I will!" Kimi said excitedly, pulling Zack in for a tight embrace, and a kiss.
A few minutes later, Zack pulled out a beautiful engagement ring, complete with Kimi's birth stone on it, and placed it on to Kimi's finger. Kimi was the happiest girl alive at that very moment, and she couldn't wait to tell all of her friends, but Zack decided it might be best, to give the official announcement, once they had a date picked out for the wedding, and when all of their friends could be together in person, and at this time, he knew for sure, that it wouldn't happen for at least another six months, until everybody was on summer vacation.
Well, summer vacation was finally here, and everybody had been invited to Tommy's twenty-first birthday. Since it was the big one, as it was the birthday when according to Angelica, a person is suppose to end their day, well, to put it gently, tipsy, and unable to orient themselves, as a result of having too much to drink, as it's a day of celebration, despite being busy with getting ready to take the Bar Exam, Angelica saw into making arrangements with Phil, now the manager of Munchies, to give her cousin, the best party ever. After all, he helped make her thirteenth birthday a memorable one a while back, by getting Savanna to move the date of her party, so the least she could do, was make it up to him at one of the major birthdays in the future, and since Tommy was away at Film Camp for his thirteenth's birthday, Peter already had his sweet sixteen planned out with that trip to Neverland, and at Tommy's eighteenth birthday, Angelica was too busy with law school to care, twenty-one was the next best one to do it at.
So a huge birthday party was held in Tommy's honor at Munchies on August 11, 2032. Everyone was there. Jesse, Lil, Phil, Dil, Brody, Angelica, Shaun, Susie, Chuckie, Nicole, Peter, Violet, Tommy, who sadly, was still single at this point, but he didn't care. He was having too much fun at his birthday to even be thinking about girls at this point, and of course, Zack and Kimi took a lovely trip down to Florida just for the occasion. If Tommy was in love with anything that night, it was screwdrivers, and not the kind he use to pick the lock on his playpen as an infant with either. Rather, it was the kind made with orange juice and vodka, that once you have too many of them, let's just say, people are sure to notice, as you stumble around, awaken in your clothes basket, and have no memories of the night before.
It was Chuckie who introduced Tommy to his first screwdriver, as he was twenty-two, so had one year on Tommy alcohol experience wise, and, he also gave everybody the news, that he was starting to grow lonely at Penbrook University in Pensylvania, and the following September, for the fall of 2032 semester, he was transferring to MCLA, where he would finish getting his degree in Psychology, but not only that, he and Tommy, were going to be roommates! This too excited Tommy, as for the past four years or so at school, he had more or less, been in a town house apartment all by himself, and he was starting to grow lonely, not having someone to share with, and hang out with when nobody else was available. Of course, by the time Chuckie had made his announcement, Tommy had already had a few drinks by this point, so anything he said at this point, came out a bit slirred, unrecognizable to the rest of the gang in the room. Nonetheless, before Kimi and Zack totally intoxicated themselves, they decided, they'd better get their marriage announcement over with.
"Everybody, Kimi and I have an announcement!" Zack shouted over the loud music that was blaring from the jukebox, as everyone continued to dine on fried chicken, pig out on alcohol, and have a blast. But Zack's announcement got everyone to quiet down.
Once he had everybody's attention, he continued.
"Everyone, I am excited to announce, that Kimi and I are engaged to be married, and we've decided, to get married on New Years Eve!" Said Zack excitedly.
"I know that maybe it was wrong for us to bring this up at Tommy's birthday celebration, but with our busy lives, this was the best time of any, for us to make this announcement." Added Kimi.
"And we hope, all of you, can join us for the holidays, and be there, for the wedding." Said Zack.
Everybody cheered, and everyone, both the sober and the entoxicated ones, staggered through the room to where Zack and Kimi were, and embraced them, in a group hug, very happy for them. Of course, everybody had a good laugh, as Jesse, now entoxicated, made his way through the crowd, bumping into several tables, covering himself in punch and other food that had spilled as a result. To put it simply, putting too much alcohol into a guy who suffers from ADHD, and you're sure to get a laugh out of the whacky things they're liable to do. Nonetheless, Zack and Kimi were so happy that their friends were so happy for them at that very moment, that they couldn't wait to get all of the wedding plans finalized.
They planned to get married in Boston, at Saint Paul's Church, and because they chose to get married during the holidays, they invited everybody down for Christmas and New Years that year. Also, since Zack and Kimi each only had one more semester of college post getting married, they figured, being married during their final semester of school, would make for a happy ending to their college career, before moving on to the next chapter of their lives, a job.
Between August and December of 2032, other than being busy with the fall semester of college, Zack and Kimi were quite busy, finalizing everything for their wedding. They had most things together, mainly at this point, they were deciding on who should be in their wedding, in terms of brides maids, groom's men, the maid of honor, and the best man. They finally had all of this worked out by Thanksgiving of 2032, at which time, everybody got their clothes they would be wearing in the wedding together, and before they knew it, it would soon, be time, to get hitched!
So how does the wedding go? We'll find out, in chapter 2.