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Danny soared over the Pacific Ocean, Steve on his back. The dipped and soared, Danny catching the eddies and gliding along before diving down to almost touch the waves, then pulling up and climbing high again. After Danny had had enough (not Steve—Steve never got enough of flying), they'd go back to the house and Danny would send him flying in an entirely different way. They did this almost every night, but Steve didn't get tired of it, would never get tired of it.

Steve was contemplative as Danny flew back and landed on the beach behind Steve's house. "Whatcha thinking, babe?" Danny asked through their telepathic link.

"What, you can't tell?" Steve teased.

Danny snorted. "So many thoughts rolling around in that big head of yours I can't even begin to sort them out, even if I wanted to, and believe me, I'm better off not knowing half the things that go on up there—I speak from intimate experience."

Steve unfastened his harness and slid off Danny's back, kneeling the sand in front of him. He focused all his thoughts on one, single, clear one, giving voice to it as well. "Danny, will you marry me?"

"What?!" The dragon disappeared and Danny appeared in front of Steve, waving his arms expressively. "Are you nuts?! I'm a dragon, you're a human, you can't possibly know what you're getting yourself into!"

Steve gently probed Danny's mind. He couldn't read it in human form, but he could get a sense of his emotions. They were all jumbled, but Steve didn't sense anything truly negative, just confused. "Yes, I'm away of the species difference, and yeah, I kind of think I do know what I'm getting into. We are soulmates, after all."

Danny continued on, unphased. "We're cops! What'll people think?!"

"They think we're married already," Steve pointed out. "They might as well be right."

"But, my parents, your sister, Grace, Chin and Kono, Rachel. . ." Danny rambled on, but he was mostly stringing words together, not making much sense.

Steve grabbed Danny's hands and held them tight, stopping the gesticulating. He sent a burst of love and affection and sincerity at Danny so he could feel just how serious he was. "I don't care about any of that. Just marry me."

The force of Steve's emotions hit Danny like a physical blow, and he stepped back. That seemed to restore his equilibrium, and Steve felt his emotions calm, then felt the love reflected back at him. "Yes. Yes, okay, I'll marry you."

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Steve was practically floating on air the next day, and Danny seemed more chipper than usual as well.

"What's up with you?" Kono asked.

Steve beamed. "Danny and I are getting married!"

"Congrats, brah," Chin said. "When's the big day?"

"Um, well, we, uh, we haven't gotten that far," Steve admitted.

"He only asked me last night," Danny chimed in. "I think we still have a few details to work out yet."

"So I'm guessing you don't have rings yet," Kono said.

"Actually. . ." Danny disappeared into his office and returned a moment later with a box in his hand. "I was going to do this later, when we were alone, but since Kono brought it up. . . " He opened the box to reveal a ring.

Steve picked it up. It was a heavy, yellow gold band with a blue topaz in the center and a dragon on either side. He slid it onto his left ring finger. It was a perfect fit. "Wow, it's amazing, babe. Where did you ever find it?"

Danny shrugged. "Picked it up a few years ago. It's too big for me, but it caught my eye, and you know how it is." Steve did. It seemed like anything sparkly caught Danny's eye, and Grace was just as bad if not worse. Going shopping with them was quite the experience. "Now I guess I know why."

Steve admired it a minute more. "But I don't have one for you."

"That's okay, babe, you'll find one."

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It was several days later when Steve found The Ring. He'd gone out with Danny, but Danny hadn't seen anything he liked. "I don't need a ring," he'd protested. "I've got plenty." Sure enough, when they got home, Danny showed Steve a box with a dozen rings of assorted shapes and sizes. Steve wasn't satisfied, though. He was determined to get Danny a ring of his own.

Next he tried taking Grace. She thought everything was pretty. Their trip was punctuated by "How about that one, Uncle Steve? No, that one!" That's what he got for taking a pre-teen, female, half dragon shopping.

Kono and Chin flat out refused when he asked them. "Oh, no, Boss, you're on your own," Kono said.

So Steve found himself, alone, wandering through what seemed like all the jewelery stores in Honolulu, not even entirely sure what he was looking for. Suddenly, he found himself passing a store with a display of Celtic jewelery. "The Dragon's Treasure," the sign said.

Steve took it as a sign and went in. "May I help you?" The proprietor asked.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a ring for my fiance."

"What style does she like?"

"He," Steve corrected. "He's a dragon," he blurted out.

He had no idea why he blurted that out, but the shopkeeper didn't look surprised. "But you're not," he stated.

"No, but we're soulmates." Steve had no clue why he was pouring out these intimate details to a store keeper, but he'd always trusted his instincts.

The shopkeeper looked thoughtful. "I see. Well, we have several traditional designs you might like." He removed several trays from the display cases. "Here we have your Cladda bands, which is a traditional Celtic promise ring." Steve looked at them and shook his head. "Then we have several different types of Celtic knotwork—the border pattern, the Durrow band. . ."

Steve pointed at a simple woven band. "What's that one?"

"Ah, the Antrim band, a classic, based on illustrations in the Book of Kels." The proprietor held one of the rings out to Steve. It was simple, yet elegant, rather like Danny himself, but Steve thought it was almost too plain.

"Do you have any with stones?"

The proprietor pulled out a ring in the same design with a diamond in the center. "We can also do ruby, amethyst, or sapphire."

"No," Steve said. "That's perfect." It was even Danny's size.

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The next big issues was what to wear. Steve said he'd wear his dress uniform, which Danny was more than okay with. Who didn't love a man in uniform? It was what Danny would wear that proved the stumbling block. Steve vetoed a black tux, a white, tux, a gray tux, and every suit and tie combination in Danny's closet. "What do you want me to wear, then?" Danny demanded. "Nothing?"

Steve had to admit that had some appeal, but he had something else in mind. "Scales."

"Excuse me?" Danny gave Steve a look that said he was out of his mind. "You want me to wear whatI?"

"Scales, Danny. I want to marry you in dragon form."

"Why?"

"Because I like you in dragon form." Steve struggled to find the words to explain what he meant. "You're a beautiful man, but in dragon form. . .I don't know how to describe it. You take my breath away, and when I remember our wedding day, that's how I want to remember it, you, at the alter, in dragon form, taking my breath away."

Danny was awed. "You took my breath away."

"Then you'll do it?"

"Yes. I'll do it."

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Steve invited Mary to the island to tell her in person. Not about getting married—he could have done that over the phone—and not about it being Danny—he figured she'd probably figured that much out already. No, it was telling her Danny was a dragon. That he figured she'd have to see to believe.

"So what's this all about?" She asked as Steve carried her bags into the house.

"I have an announcement."

"So I gathered. What's so big you couldn't tell me over the phone?"

"It's about Danny. And me. Me and Danny."

Mary wasn't following him. "You and Danny what?"

"We're getting married."

Mary grinned and wrapped him in a hug. "That's fabulous! But you didn't have to bring me here to tell me that."

"No, but there's more." He led her out onto the lanai.

"What?"

"That." Steve pointed to a shape on the beach.

"Is that. . ." Mary rubbed her eyes. "Is that a dragonI?"

"Yeah. That's Danny."

"Danny's a dragon?"

"Yeah. That's what I wanted to tell you in person."

Mary walked up to him cautiously. "Wow, he's amazing."

Steve had to agree. Danny said he was small for a dragon, but Steve didn't care. He was 30 feet long and 10 feet tall, covered with gleaming gold scales. His own unmistakable blue eyes peered out above an elegant, slender snout. Powerful gold wings were furled across his back, and his long, golden tail curled around him. Steve never got tired of looking at him, in human or dragon form.

"Can I touch him?"

Steve looked at Danny, who nodded. "Go ahead."

She reached out a hand a timidly set it on Danny's shoulder. Danny nudged her hand with his head. "He likes his eyelids scratched," Steve explained.

Mary obliged. "Can I ride him?"

Steve was about to say "Sure," when Danny's voice sounded emphatically in his head. "No!"

"Why not? You let me ride you."

"Yeah, that's just it. I let you. That's something special, just between us. I don't want to share it with anybody else."

Danny had a point, and Steve had to admit it'd feel weird having Danny share something that was almost intimate between them with someone else. "Sorry, Danny doesn't like people riding him."

Mary smirked. "'Cept you, I bet."

Steve wondered for a second if she'd heard them, but then realized she was just being her usual crude self. He smacked her. "Get your mind out of the gutter and come on inside. Danny made lasagna for dinner."

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Danny's parents were coming to the wedding. His mother wanted to know what to wear.

"Scales." Steve said.

"Not a good idea, babe."

"Why not? If you think it'd make them uncomfortable. . ."

"It's not that," Danny said. "It's just impractical."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm 30 feet long, and I'm small. Mom's at least that big. Dad's bigger."

"So?"

"So, just where do you think you're going to put three full-grown dragons? Your beach isn't that big."

"Oh. Good point. Human form it is then."

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Finally, the big day arrived. Steve stood on the lanai in his dress uniform, staring down at the beach where Danny waited for him at the water's edge. The setting sun glinted off his scales. He was magnificent. It was everything Steve had told Danny he wanted on his wedding day, but better. It was a small wedding by necessity—only those who knew Danny was a dragon had been invited—the team, Max, Danny's parents. Kamekona was officiating, having cut them a "special wedding deal, brah" including catering. Steve wasn't sure where the big man had gotten licensed to perform weddings, but he wasn't complaining. Mary stood by him, ready to walk him down the aisle. Grace, in dragon form in a ruffly pink dress, was ahead of them. Steve had tried to convince her the dress wasn't necessary, but because she was only half-dragon, she was still humanoid in shape, and still modest. Plus, she was obsessed with clothes. Steve wasn't sure if it was because she was a girl or because she was a dragon, or both.

Kamekona motioned to them, and the three of them made their way past the small group of guests to where Danny waited. Steve's heart fluttered as he came to a stop next to Danny. Or maybe it was Danny's heart. In this close proximity, it was hard to tell. Danny reached out and nuzzled Steve's neck with his head, and all barriers between them vanished. Kamekona started speaking, but Steve barely heard him. He was lost in Danny's eyes, caught up in the love that Danny was feeling, the emotions mixing with the love pouring off Steve until the two were enveloped.

Grace nudged Steve. "Say 'I do', Uncle Steve."

Steve grinned. "I do. Do you, Danno?"

The dragon's head nodded. "I do."

Steve took the Antrim band from Grace. He'd strung it on a leather cord, and now slipped it around Danny's neck. Steve then took his own ring from Grace and slipped it on his hand, since Danny couldn't do it with his claws.

"I now pronounce you married," Kamekona intoned. "You may now kiss."

Steve laid a gentle kiss on Danny's snout as the audience cheered. "I'm getting a proper kiss from you later, you know," Danny thought.

"I'm counting on it."

Danny's mother waved a camera at them. "Say cheese!"

Steve stepped close to Danny and pulled Grace in front of him. As the shutter clicked, Steve knew, when he looked back, this was how he'd always remember his wedding day, on the beach, at sunset, with his two beautiful dragons, forever.