I do not own Trigun / Vash or Rem: they belong to Mr. Yasuhiro Nightow.
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Celebration
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Year 0932 month 4 day 23
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the preacher said. "You may now kiss the bride."
He did, with enthusiasm.
As he pulled back, just enough to look at her face, he discovered that she was blushing.
Ah, dear, sweet, bashful girl! His arms tightened around his bride as he heard the many witnesses to their wedding give an enthusiastic cheer.
He glanced out over the crowd in the apple orchard and realized that Rem must have notified the whole of Seeds village. It appeared, simply from the size of the crowd, as if everyone must be there in the orchard with them.
He didn't mind, though. Now that he and Shyla were married, he was perfectly willing to share his joy with everyone.
Not to mention that a crowd this large could continue celebrating long after he and Shyla slipped away to tend to the more private part of being married.
A gust of wind brought a shower of apple blossom petals down, and he returned his attention to his bride. White ribbons and fabric flowers had already adorned her golden hair. Now, to that was added the apple blossom petals.
The petals fell around her head, shoulders, and body, catching anywhere that had even the slightest slope that wasn't too vertical for them to land upon. One caught on her cheek.
He gently brushed it away, using his natural hand.
She smiled.
Dance music began, and there were people tugging on his arm. Thankfully, they were not attempting to separate him from Shyla. They merely wanted them to begin the dancing.
That, he was most willing to do.
He recognized the tune: "Nil Se'n La," one of Shyla's favorite dance songs.
He danced more calmly than sometimes, because his stomach and chest were still sore in places from his recent brush with death.
Shyla smiled, and danced as gracefully as she ever had. She twirled around him, smiling widely, her eyes sparkling with delight.
He'd never have imagined it could be possible that she would be as happy about becoming married to him as he was about marrying her. Yet, by some miracle, that seemed to be the case.
He was dimly aware of people clapping as that song ended and another began.
There was a cake along with other refreshments on a table off to one side. He'd noticed it out of the corner of his eye a few times, without really paying attention. If the breeze hadn't blown the smell of cake and … was that doughnuts?!
His head turned just long enough to verify that the refreshments table did indeed contain doughnuts, before his gaze returned to his bride's smiling face.
Today, even doughnuts were inconsequential.
Today, he married the girl of his dreams.
His life would never be the same again. It would be better.