Taking the Plunge
by
RobertCop3
So, I'm currently working on another fairly big Fatal Fury/KoF project (this one might be at least two chapters). While working on it, I came up with this scene that takes place a few years after the end of "Vengeful Spirits," at Andy and Mai's wedding reception. Hope you enjoy. And as always, feedback is welcome.
All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games, or the anime.
It had been a beautiful wedding service. Short and sweet, just the way Mary Ryan liked things. She had never been to a wedding before, so had been slightly overwhelmed at first when Mai Shiranui (now Bogard) had asked her almost two years ago to be the maid of honor. But things had gone smoothly and quickly: the wedding party entered, Jubei Yamada had managed to give the bride away without any inappropriate touching (he had agreed to serve this function since none of Mai's uncles had RSVP'd); the priest said a few inspirational things about love being patient and kind (Mary's mind had wandered a little during that part); Andy and Mai burned some incense in honor of Jeff Bogard, Hanzo Shiranui, Tung Fue Rue, and all other departed family and friends who could only be there in spirit; then vows and rings were exchanged. Mary heard a rumor that some of the guests had a betting pool going on how far into her vows Mai would get before she started crying. It wouldn't have surprised her if Joe Higashi, the best man, had organized this pool. It seemed like his M.O.
If that's true, hopefully someone brought a stopwatch, because she only lasted a few seconds. Still, Mary was happy for her friend. She might not be as romantic as Mai, but Mary knew all too well how special it was to find someone you loved more than life itself. Speaking of which, where did he run off to? Mary's bright green eyes surveyed the reception hall for a sign of her boyfriend. She was seated at the end of the long table reserved for the wedding party, taking a breather after a little dancing.
As she looked over the guests present, she noticed that the turnout was smaller than what she originally thought it might be, but that was to be expected after Mary had learned that Mai's clan did not approve of her getting married to an American (hence the reason most of them had not shown up). Still, it was a good turnout: several of Mai's old classmates were here with their dates or spouses, as well as people from the town of Mino who had known Mai since she was a baby, not to mention friends that Andy, Mai, Terry and Joe had gotten to know through the King of Fighters tournaments, as well as their travels around the world.
She saw Jubei Yamada over by the DJ's booth with a cup of warm sake in hand, looking unsteady on his feet, loudly asking the DJ to play some old Japanese military marching song that Mary was sure probably didn't exist on CD. A midst the crowd on the dance floor, she saw an old colleague of hers, Hon Fu, who Mary had worked a case with shortly after becoming a private investigator, dancing with his girlfriend. Not far from him was Kyo Kusanagi, the winner of the most recent King of Fighters tournament, which had taken place last year, also dancing with his girlfriend.
Joe Higashi was by the buffet table, working on his sixth plate (if Mary had counted correctly, and she trusted her eye for details) of steak and sashimi, while another groomsman, Kim Kaphwan, was talking with his family. The music was too loud for Mary to hear their conversation, but judging by the way Kim kissed both his boys on the forehead, his wife was probably taking them back to their hotel room for a nap.
Mary spotted the bride and groom making their way around the tables, saying hello to everyone (though Mai did most of the talking). Currently, they were engaged in conversation with several of their old classmates from high school. Again, Mary couldn't hear what the guests were saying, but their expressions and body language suggested that they were stating their disbelief that a man like Andy had bagged the most popular girl in their school. Over by the doorway to the veranda, Mary spotted the other two bridesmaids, Yuri Sakazaki and King, having a lively conversation. Mai had met King and Yuri at the last KoF tournament, and the three of them had hit it off easily, and became fast friends before that tournament had even finished.
For a moment, Mary recalled how it was a mixed blessing. The wedding was originally supposed to take place last autumn, but after the events of the tournament, everyone (including Andy) had needed to convince Mai that the date should be moved into the future, to give people a chance to recover from their injuries. Mary herself had suffered a broken arm and ankle while helping Kyo and the others try to stop the Orochi demon from being revived, but she knew she had been luckier than some others (although it was sad what happened to the Sports Team, Mary still couldn't help but wonder what they were even doing in a martial arts tournament, anyway). Mai had finally relented, and waiting for the new date had given her a chance to get to know King and Yuri better, eventually resulting in Mai asking them to be her bridesmaids.
Mary looked back at Andy and Mai, who were currently between tables. Mai gazed lovingly at her new husband as she tried to fix Andy's bow-tie. The clothing choices for the wedding had been an interesting blend of east and west: Andy, Joe, Terry and Kim all wore tuxedos, while Mary, King and Yuri had worn white and pink ceremonial kimonos with dark red obi tied about their waists. Mai's wedding dress was a classy combination of elements from a traditional Japanese bridal kimono, and elements from more modern wedding gowns.
The dress was strapless (it was Mai after all, so there had to be some show of cleavage), while the floor-length skirt was pleated in the style of a kimono, and she also wore a silk crimson obi around her waist, with the crest of the Shiranui clan embroidered into the fabric with black and white thread. Her long auburn hair was done up traditionally, and decorated with both her treasured ornamental hairpin as well as several kanzashi. She had just enough makeup to accent her natural beauty, but not too much, since Mai had never needed a lot of makeup.
Mary had made the decision that if she and Terry ever tied the knot someday, she didn't want a lot of glitz or glamour. She would be perfectly happy exchanging vows with him at City Hall in front of a judge, with family members and a few close friends to witness it, and she would be fine if they both wore jeans. But still, she had to admit that Mai looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress.
"This seat taken, beautiful?" Mary heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned, and saw Terry Bogard standing behind her with a glass of champagne in each hand.
Mary gave him a smirk. "As a matter of fact, it is. I'm saving it for my boyfriend, and he's the jealous type."
"Am not!" Terry laughed as he sat down next to her, offered her one of the glasses he was holding. "Because I know that if any guy ever tries to hit on you, you're strong enough to throw them across the room."
Mary laughed along with him as she accepted the drink. "The service was nice," Terry said as they clinked their glasses together.
"I'll admit it," said Mary. "It really was. Andy and Mai really do seem happy together."
They turned their gazes over to Andy and Mai for a moment, chatting with another table, and out of the corner of her eye, Mary saw one of the guests getting ready to strike their glass repeatedly with their spoon (a signal that the bride and groom should kiss). Mary locked eyes with the man, shot him a murderous look, and the guest dropped his spoon.
"You really hate that tradition, don't you?" Terry asked his girlfriend.
"Just doing my job," Mary said with a shrug. "Mai trusted me to help her today, and I can't think of a better way to help than to stop guests from making her put on a show."
"Honestly, I think that Mai would love to have an excuse to kiss Andy."
"She doesn't need a glass and spoon for that," Mary countered, nodding her head at Terry's new sister-in-law, who was on tiptoes now with her arms around Andy, her lips pressed firmly to his.
"True enough," Terry conceded. "Oh, by the way: I haven't gotten the chance to say anything until now, but that was a nice toast that you gave."
Mary shrugged, and gave Terry a smile. God, he loved it when she smiled. "I have you to thank for that. You were right, the original one was too long. So I took your advice, and made it a bit more simple. And simply put: Your brother and Mai make each other happy."
"Well, it was still good," said Terry. "You got a tear out of Mai."
Mary chuckled a little. "I think anything could get a tear out of Mai right now."
Terry tilted his glass in her direction, and took a sip. "Touche. And while we're talking about toasts, how about Joe's?"
Mary nodded. "Before he started, I thought there was a 50/50 chance that Mai would have to get up and belt him at some point. But, no: he actually spoke from the heart. Are we sure that's really Joe and not an impostor?"
Terry laughed again, took another sip of champagne. "Mary, being here with you has got me thinking. How long have we been together?"
"Almost three years," Mary answered. "Why?"
Terry set his glass down on the table, turned his chair so he was looking directly into her green eyes. "You've helped me so much in that time. After everything I had been through, I never thought I'd be able to love anyone again. I never thought I'd want to. Then you came into my life and showed me I was wrong, that fighting didn't need to be my only reason to live."
Inwardly, Mary wondered what he was getting at, but she kept her trademark poker face and allowed him to continue.
Terry reached out, then, took her hand in his. "I love you, Mary, and I really like being with you. I want to be with you as much as I can from this point on. So I was wondering... maybe... you and I might want to..."
Mary couldn't keep silent any more. "Are you really proposing to me at your brother's wedding?" She asked him. "After I asked you not to get any corny ideas like that?"
Terry blinked rapidly for a moment, then found his voice again. "No," he said quickly. "I would never embarrass us both like that. I was just going to ask... maybe, when we get back to South Town, we could... um... move in together?"
Almost instantly, Mary's expression softened, and she burst out laughing. Terry, not sure if that was a good sign or a bad, reached for his drink and took another sip. After a few moments, Mary wiped her eyes and said to him: "That's it? And here I thought you were going for the old movie cliché. Oh, Terry..." She shook her head. "My only concern is that... are you sure I won't drive you crazy after a week? I mean, I work some very odd hours as a PI. Plus, you know that I let Anton sleep on the bed."
Terry, much more relieved now than he was a few seconds ago, let himself laugh along with her. "That doesn't bother me. You know I love that dog. I'm more worried that I might drive you crazy after a week. You know what a slob I can be sometimes. Plus, I can't cook for shit."
Mary reached over, gently rubbed her lover's cheek. "Hey, you know I find those things endearing. Butch wasn't very neat either, you know. As long as you don't leave any dishes in the sink or accidentally burn the place down, then... yes, Terry, I would love for us to move in together."
Terry gently wrapped his own hand around Mary's fingers, leaned in close to her. "I love you, Mary," he whispered.
"I love you," Mary whispered back, before their lips pressed together in a tender kiss.
"Oooooooh," they then heard a familiar voice shout. "You two are SOOOOOOOO CUTE!"
Both Terry and Mary pulled away from each other, and turned to see Mai standing nearby, watching them. The palms of her hands were pressed together, and her deep brown eyes positively radiated happiness. "So, you're moving in together?" The buxom bride asked them excitedly. "That is so sweet! You have to mail us pictures of your place!"
"Do you need something?" Mary asked her, trying and failing to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
"Watch your tone, Mary," Mai said with a smirk. "It may be my wedding, but that doesn't mean I'm not packing a fan."
"Yeah, it's in your bouquet," Mary said with a nod. "I saw it earlier, when I held it for you during the service."
"You saw that one," Mai said. "I have others."
"Uh huh," Mary nodded again, and sipped her champagne. "You have one between your boobs, as usual, and I'm guessing the other is tucked in your garter."
The kunoichi seemed momentarily taken aback. "How did...?"
"I'm a detective, remember?" Mary said smugly.
Terry decided to ease the tension by getting up from his chair and asking: "All kidding aside, Mai: do you need something?"
"Oh, yeah," Mai said. "I really hated to interrupt you, but I wanted to say that we're gonna go outside to take some pictures now."
Terry downed the rest of his drink and set the glass on the table. "Okay, then," he said, gesturing to the veranda doors. "Lead the way, Mrs. Bogard."
Mai started to giggle as she turned and started to make her way outside. "Oh, that's right, I am now, aren't I? Oh, this is so exciting! Mrs. Bogard... I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that. Mrs. Mai Bogard!" As she walked, she held out her hand, as if introducing herself to some invisible person. "How do you do? My name is Mai Bogard... Tee hee hee!"
As Terry and Mary followed her, Mary leaned in close to Terry and whispered: "I think sometimes you try to find ways to get Mai to start running her mouth."
"Guilty!" Terry said with a smirk. "So, you sure you still want to move in with me?"
Mary smirked back at him. "Now I'm not so sure. You might have to persuade me when we get back to our hotel room tonight."
"Oh, darn!" Terry muttered sarcastically, putting an arm around Mary as they walked. They would work out the details when they got back to America, but for now, Terry was looking forward to taking their relationship to a new level...
The End?