Wish I could say the wait was worth it D:

Chapter 10: Wedding

"Silver, it's okay. Relax," Blue chuckled softly.

Everything was paid for. The red lilies and snapdragons looked beautiful decorating the aisle. Everyone had made it to the ceremony with no problems. The white candles looked magnificent, and the soft lighting was perfect. The rings were fine, and so were our necklaces. Everything was perfect.

Except the bride. I was freaking out, thank you very much. I really hated all these feelings. I also hated all the people. There were too many of them. Who were half of them?!

I felt Crystal give my shoulders a gentle squeeze, though the touch did not calm me. Touching me right now was not a good idea. Yellow offered me a tender smile. They were my bride's maids. Blue was my matron of honor. They all had on pale red and white dresses to compliment the main color of the wedding: red. All of it was Blue's designing, of course.

"Everything is fine, right?" I asked nervously.

Blue nodded and sighed, stroking my cheek. She'd put me through hell this morning, doing my hair, my makeup, and dressing me up. I had never worn makeup before. I kept wanting to mess with my eyes, but Blue had been raging about if I dared mess up the eyeliner… She was one of the few people I'd cower to.

"Lance is waiting for you up there, Silver. You look absolutely stunning for him. Relax and smile, this is supposed to be the best day of your life, at least, one of them."

I nodded weakly and Blue and I hugged each other tight. "I love you, Silver."

"I love you, too, Blue. Thank you for helping me."

She grinned. "It was fun."

The music started. My heart was beating faster and faster. The aisle lit up, the light coming from the orbs of dragonair lining the aisle. They clashed a bit with all the red, but whatever. That was something for Blue to fuss about. Not me. I swallowed thickly, my mouth bone dry. Crystal and Yellow smiled and started up the aisle together. Blue smiled as well and went off to grab Gold. They headed up the aisle together. The ring bearer and flower girl went up—children from the clan. They belonged to good friends of Lance.

I took a shaky breath, clutched my bouquet in a death grip, and stepped out. My father looked up, and he gasped. I felt embarrassment tug at me and I was about to turn back, feeling so stupid, except my father told me I looked stunning. He touched my cheek so much like Master had, and offered me his arm. I bit my lip, probably messing up Blue's lipstick, and allowed my father to escort me to my soon to be husband.

As I passed, each dragonair bowed their head, their orb light going out as I passed out of it. Gasps were coming out from the crowd. Every pair of eyes were on me, and I thought I was going to be sick. I liked to be on the sidelines, in the shadows, not front and center like Gold.

I kept my head held high, though. As the others got into position in front of my father and me, I saw Lance. He looked absolutely amazing. We pretty much gawked at each other through the whole getting into position thing; Blue took my bouquet and gave me a little shove to help me along.

Master smiled tenderly at us both and began to read. "We are gathered here today in the face of this company, to join together Lance and Silver in matrimony; which is an honorable and solemn estate and therefore is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly. Into this estate these two persons present come now to be joined. If anyone can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." Oh God. I held my breath. No one yelled out, but Gold looked about ready to pass out as he gawked… at my chest. Dick.

"Now, who shall give this woman to this man in matrimony?" he asked, gazing at me.

My father took a deep breath and reached out, touching my cheek. He gripping my hand tightly and looked up at Master. "I will." He pulled me close to Lance, gently placing our hands together. Lance tightly gripped mine. My father looked Lance dead in the eyes. "I only ask that you treat her with such love that she has deserved all her life but has found only sparsely."

"I will," Lance uttered softly, gazing at me with such love. My ill feelings and nervousness were gone. Lance was with me now.

Master gently laid his hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Lance, do you take Silver for your lawful wedded wife, to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honor, comfort, and cherish her from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

Lance smiled tenderly at me. "I do," he uttered sincerely.

Master's other hand fell on my shoulder.

"Silver, do you take Lance for your lawful wedded husband, to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honor, comfort, and cherish him from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto him for as long as you both shall live?

I guess. It sounded good. "I do."

Master smiled and looked back down at his book.

"Lance, please repeat after me: Silver, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife. Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all of your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life."

Lance repeated the words flawlessly, his hands holding mine tight. Oh no, my turn.

"Silver, please repeat after me: Lance, I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband. Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all of your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life."

I took a small breath and repeated the words, finding they came so easy—thankfully. Ring time.

Master gave us a moment to gaze at each other. Then he looked back down and began to read, "Traditionally, the marking of the passage to the status of husband and wife is marked by the exchange of rings. May these rings which you give and receive this day be a symbol of true faith in each other, and always remind each of you of the love you share on this day."

Gold managed to come out of his stupor and handed Lance the ring, but not before gawking at it for a moment. Lance pulled me close, gently slipping the most amazing wedding ring I'd ever seen on my finger. I couldn't help gasping. How could anyone make a simple band look so beautiful? "With this ring I wed thee. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment," he said softly, giving my hand a tiny squeeze.

Blue gently handed me Lance's wedding band. She gawked at my ring, too. Suddenly I was embarrassed giving Lance his. I'd thought it a great idea and very beautiful, but it was nothing compared to my ring. I gently grabbed his hand, slipping the ring on his finger. It was a perfect fit. That was a relief. "With this ring, I wed thee. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment." He gave me a nod.

The photographers were getting excited. Kiss time. Oh, uh, right—not now.

"As we stand here in the Dragon Den there will be the exchanging of one more item. Silver and Lance wanted to participate in a traditional, but forgotten, ceremony of making each other a union necklace. These, if the tradition is even observed, are usually just purchased. However, both Lance and Silver went out across the world on dragon back as is traditional to gather the parts to the necklaces. Each part of the necklace means something, and the parts are gathered from the remains of great beasts in the hope that these dragon's spirits will watch over them. You may have heard of the tragedy befalling Silver during her journey, and yet their bound was made all the stronger."

This time, I presented my gift first to Lance. He kneeled down and Blue gave me his necklace. I held it before him so he could see and he gasped softly, gazing in amazement, taking in all the parts, knowing what they meant. He bowed his head and I secured it around his neck. "Rise, my lord," I whispered.

He rose and I bowed this time to him, I couldn't really kneel in my dress, and I wasn't tall enough to have to. Gold handed him my necklace and Lance held it before me. I wasn't sure what the parts meant, but it was beautiful. I lowered my head and he fastened the necklace around me. "Rise, my lady," he commanded, offering me his hand.

Master spoke once more. "May this couple be prepared to continue to give, and be able to forgive and experience more and more joy with each passing day, with each passing year. Lance and Silver are now beginning their married life together. We hope that they may have loving assistance from their family, the constant support of friends, and a long life with good health and everlasting love. In so much as Lance and Silver have consented to live forever together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before this company, having given and pledged their troth, each to the other, and having declared same by the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce that they are husband and wife." Wow.

He grinned at us. "You may seal these promises and commitments you have made each other today with a kiss."

Lance pulled me close. He gazed at me, so deep it reached my soul. Then he gently dipped his head, his arms snaking around my waist. My arms circled his neck as our lips met. Cameras went off everywhere, much to my embarrassment, but I was more focused on Lance's lips than the world around me.

"I now pronounce to you our newly wedded couple, Lance and Silver."

Then something happened that no one planned. The dragons rose up from the water in the den, and roared for Lance and me. At first, people were confused and a little frightened, but then they realized they were roars of encouragement and approval as the trained dragons joined in. Everybody clapped and whistled, and I heard Gold joking about if we'd ever stop kissing.

"You surprised me with that dress. You look absolutely stunning. I never knew anyone could be this beautiful," Lance whispered softly, kissing me gently, once more.

"You clean up pretty good, too," I stated softly, hugging him tight.

Then came the oh-so-important event of the first dance. We wanted the dancing to take place first so everyone could get rid of their energy. "I hope I don't kill myself in these shoes," I whispered as we left the den. The reception would take place in a large building used for events in Blackthorn. Lance and I would take Dragonite (who was even decorated with red and white ribbons courtesy of Yellow and Blue) across the lake to the building, and the guests would take dragonairs and boats.

"Want to change your shoes?" he asked curiously.

I shook my head. "I'll be fine."

We posed for the photographers, Lance helping me onto Dragonite. "Slowly," Lance chuckled to his pokemon. Dragonite cried out happily and we crossed the lake and got ready to thank people for coming as they entered the building or as they left for home. "Well," Lance groaned softly, "time to shake 200 people's hands." It surprised me how many people had come, in fact, almost everyone invited had come. I'd expected a ton to not show up because they didn't like two guys getting married.

I smiled slightly at him. "Hey, Lance, will you explain your necklace to me later?"

"Of course. Maybe I can do it tonight or during the reception if we get a moment alone."

I nodded and leaned up toward him. He smiled and kissed me passionately, pulling me tight against him. "I loved how you tricked me into thinking you'd just wear a tux. So, your secret it out, Silver, with a bang might I add."

I smiled and kissed him again. "Yeah, though I'm sure some people were gasping because they thought I was wearing fake boobs."

Lance burst out laughing and we shared a few playful kisses. Then Blue cleared her throat. "Guests," she stated, "oh, and the photographers have been having a ball with taking pictures of you two kissing."

Lance and I grinned and got ready to shake endless hands. Yellow, Blue, Crystal, Gold, Green, Red, and Master went inside to greet the people who were staying. Lance and I thanked, like I stated, endless people, and shook endless hands. A few people came gawking up to me, asking if I was a girl. I suppressed my temper to call them idiots and just nodded sweetly (well, it probably was quite icily, but I tried) though it killed me inside.

Once everyone was seated, Lance and I had to have the first dance. Which, actually wasn't that bad. Blue and I had practiced so much for all the weddings, and Lance and I had danced before. We got plenty of "awwwws" and various sounds of that nature. Though it was a challenge not to trip over my feet in the confounded shoes Blue had stuffed me in. Lance gently clasped my hand, and wrapped his other hand around my middle. I placed my free hand on his shoulder, and we fell into the elegant and traditional steps of ball room dances. Then Blue and Green joined, then Red and Yellow, and then Crystal and, much to my surprise, Gold.

Soon everyone was joining in, and Lance I retreated to the head table to chat to guests that wanted to chat. I had to dance with a few different people, including my father, Gold, and playfully Blue.

My father apologized to me for all the wrong things he'd done to me. But I comforted him in the fact that things would be fine from here on out. I was so happy he'd stayed until the reception.

Gold shyly asked Lance if he could dance with me, and Lance allowed him. "Silver," he uttered softly as pulled me against him, sounding upset, "was I supposed to know you were a girl…?"

I shook my head. "Only a very few people knew. Crystal found out the day you hit me."

Gold cringed; touching my face like so many people had done to me today, except in regret, not wonder. "I… If I'd known… I never would have done that. Silver, I wish I'd known. I've said so many stupid, stupid things you never say to a girl." He groaned.

"I don't want that," I snapped angrily. "I'm Silver, the same best friend you've known me as all these years! Don't treat me different!"

Gold smirked at me. "Alright," he sighed, "but I won't punch you again. Even if you are an asshole sometimes. I can't believe I socked you so hard." I laughed at that. "But… I just… It makes me feel so weird to know that if I'd not done that, maybe I'd be the one marrying you today. I just… wow."

For a moment I thought Gold might kiss me, which I wouldn't stand for, but instead he just held me close and we danced. I couldn't help biting the inside of my cheek. If he hadn't, he probably would have been the one I picked. Whether we would have lasted or not was another story.

Blue was also another story. We threw off our shoes and went at it, twirling each other and laughing. Because, today was a day to celebrate, and I'd do the stupidest things only for Blue. "So, you get to meet the dragon up close and personal tonight," she teased. "You get to wear a pretty dress for a day, and he gets a lifetime of sex!"

"Don't remind me," I hissed, throwing a look back at Lance, who wasn't at the table anymore much to my surprise. He had to dance with some people as well, namely Clair, and a few beautiful women from the clan. I wasn't jealous. Nope. Not the slightest. At least, I had to tell myself that over and over.

"Are you still scared?" Blue asked curiously.

"A little. I really don't want to, but, I really want to the same time. I know he won't hurt me, or try to hurt me at least, but still… we're… not going to use any protection..."

Blue grinned at me; her stomach was round with her child. "Our children have to be best friends, okay?"

I nodded. "Lance and I are thinking of moving to Viridian."

"Green told you about the lab he's opening there? You two would work great together, and we would be close to each other."

"It's also Lance's and my hometown. Only… First Crystal, Gold, and I were Elm's aids. Then Crystal left, now Gold only comes in once in a blue moon, and Elm is getting older. I feel sort of bad just leaving him. Though, his son is starting to help out when he's not off being a traveling trainer…"

Blue waved her hand casually. "Worry about details later. For now, it looks like Lance wants you," Blue giggled, shoving me towards my advancing husband.

He caught me to stop me from falling over—damn did Blue shove hard—and smiled down at me. "This is the woman I want to dance with," he sighed happily, pulling me close.

Haha you bitches! You hear that? He wants me, the chick that dresses in drag! Not you!

Ahem. "I love you, Lance," I sighed softly. The words came so easy now. It was so easy to just surrender myself to him.

"I'd hope so," he chuckled softly as if he had read my thoughts about him wanting to dance with me. He kissed me softly on the forehead. "The meal is about to begin soon. It'll be time for all those lovely toasts," he sighed with so much enthusiasm. Then he gazed down at me like he'd remembered something.

"Yeah?" I asked nervously, his gaze boring holes into me.

"Blue said she left me some fun things under your dress," he stated firmly.

"Oh Go—BLUE! I HATE YOU!"

"She did then?" Lance said with a smirk.

I bit my bottom lip. "A-A little. She said I had to wear a stupid garter—"

Lance raised his eyebrows. I glared holes in him.

"—but, it wasn't required I discovered. Still, I didn't find that until a few moments ago…"

Lance chuckled and suddenly scooped me into his arms and carried me to the head table where Blue, Green, Gold, Crystal, Red, Yellow, my father, Master, and a few guests of Lance's like Clair were seated. Blue was next to me, Green next to her, Red next to him, and so on. The guests hooted and clapped like football fans as Lance effortlessly carried me across the room like some sort of trophy.

"About time you two," Clair snapped at us and Lance just rolled his eyes as we sat.

Master cleared his throat and called everyone to attention, telling them the meal would be soon. Appetizers and drinks had already been offered around and Green and Red had helped people find their seats when they'd entered. Yellow and Crystal had taken gifts. The pile of gifts behind me was making me anxious; it felt odd receiving so many things for just getting married.

Master waited until everyone was seated and then he began introducing the people who'd taken part in the wedding, Lance and me being last. Then he passed it off to my father, who gave a great speech thanking everyone for coming and welcoming them to the reception. Then Master announced that lunch would now be served as guys with huge silver dome covered plates emerged from the back kitchen.

The food was great. There was nice tender turkey, which I liked. There were some other meats, but I was more interested in just turkey. Lance poked at me a little and told me to actually eat more food. I still had butterfree though, anxious about tonight.

Then Gold got up to make his toast to Lance and me. Everyone quieted down and people who knew him just sort of groaned. Lance sent me a pitiful look and I punched him. Gold snickered at us and stood tall.

"Now, before I start, the master has asked me to request that, for reasons of health and safety, none of you get up on top of the chairs and tables during my standing ovation! Now, I'd be shocked if not all of you know me, but I'll introduce myself just a little. My name is Gold, and I'm really only the best man because I'm Silver's best friend, who today I just learned was a girl, some best friend… ahem, anyway, I want to thank you for coming. I have to admit, some of you clean up pretty nice. Some of you I didn't even recognize, like Crystal here."

Yeah, she glared holes in him. There was lots of glaring on this happy day. Good natured glaring and death threats, though. I loved my friends.

"I'm supposed to thank you guys for all the loot. I've got dibs on the new blender from Professor Elm. I can assure you that we'll have Lance and Silver up for nights writing all those thank you cards. Now, the jokes aside, it's rather easy to tell why Lance and Silver ended up together. I know neither of them had an easy life, both are considered to have had evil intentions somewhere along the lines, both of them have had to oddest families looking after them, but they complement each other so perfectly. They've changed each other for the better, which is for the better because now we have two less extremely powerful, redheaded, crazy trainers, bent on killing us running around, right? Right…"

Gold's speech wasn't too long, but he teased and honored us in such humorous ways I think we could have listened to him blab on for hours. Of course he had to bring up the fact that Lance and I were being traditional and that I was still "very much a virgin" (as he teasingly put it) and how a few nights ago when he still thought I was a guy he'd given me a crash course in the wrong type of sex. The whole room burst out laughing and even Lance cracked up.

"So that's why you came back so horrified and wouldn't talk about it," he chuckled softly.

I was too busy glaring at Gold to respond.

Once Gold was finally done, a few other people gave toasts to us as well and it seemed like everyone had some sort of embarrassing story to share.

Finally, it was cake cutting time. We'd done things a bit different, getting the dancing out of the way first thing so people would hopefully be less anxious to move around during the meal. It seemed to have worked.

It was a massive cake. I hadn't really worried too much about the cake, but wow had Blue gone to town ordering it. Money hadn't been too much of a big deal, Lance had massive savings and I had a decent amount squirreled away as well. Then my father had come in and covered most of the costs and the clan wanted to cover parts as well—like the building rent cost.

Lance gently wrapped his arm around me and placed his hand over mine. It was embarrassing having everyone gawking at us and having the photographers snap tons of pictures. It was a little difficult to cut through the icing, but Lance helped me out. It took forever though because the photographers kept asking us to pause so they could run around and snap lots of pictures.

Then came the most embarrassing part. Lance smiled sweetly at my blush and feed me a small bite of cake. It was so embarrassing feeding each other all sappy like! We cut a few pieces for our honored guests, and then let the catering people at it to serve the guests after the throwing of the items.

"You're adorable," Lance chuckled softly.

"Mm. Shut up," I muttered.

He kissed me softly on the cheek and we went down to the dance floor, all the single guys and single girls with hopes of getting married one day gathered up eagerly in separate groups. Blue brought me my bouquet and I tossed it out, the lucky girl being Crystal much to my surprise. I hadn't even known she'd been in the group.

Then Lance happily sat me down and snaked a hand under my dress up to my knee. Well that was obviously picture worthy judging from all the flashes that went off. I shivered a little at his touch but it wasn't too big of a deal. He happily tossed the garter, which the lucky guy caught. That lucky guy happened to be Gold. I sent Lance a surprised look. "Did you plan that?" I asked curiously.

He shook his head. "Just tossed it."

Crystal and Gold had to share another dance, which made me smile as Lance and I returned to the table while the guests were served cake and coffee. Plenty of black coffee was served for our guests who got a little tipsy. I myself wasn't fond of drinking, I was only 22 anyway. Lance wasn't big on it either, though he'd taken a glass of champagne.

"You look like your getting tired," he said softly, stroking the back on my hand with his thumb.

"A little," I admitted. It was turning into evening. The lunch had been a semi late meal at about 1:30. It was about five now.

"We'll be heading off, soon," he offered. Then he leaned close and whispered, "We can take a bath in the hot springs."

I blushed but couldn't help admitting that that sounded really nice. I looked down at my ring, a beautiful silver ring that went perfectly with my engagement ring, it was a normal wedding band style with a few modest diamonds for decoration. It was my wedding ring. I was still in awe. Lance kissed me softly. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," I admitted.

Lance's wedding band was also silver looking, but it was really white gold. Our names were engraved inside and a long dragon was engraved faintly on the ring, because he was my dragon. The dragon's eye was a diamond. "The band you got me is beautiful as well, Silver. I should have gotten our names engraved on yours."

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. Mine's smaller."

We took our leave and bid our farewells at six. Even Lance was getting tired. We took off on Dragonite with all his ribbons, headed to the Whirl Islands. The closer we got, the more and more the butterfree started to flutter within me.

"Relax," Lance soothed me gently. As we landed inside Lance's cavern inside the Whirl Islands. I had a feeling Dragonite knew what Lance and I were about to do. He looked amused, or as amused as a dragonite can look.

I let out a shallow breath, and reached out, stroking the pokemon's nose. He grumbled happily.

"We can wait."

I glanced back on confusion, and found Lance looking a little worried over me. "Why?" I asked in confusion. We'd waited. So long. Especially Lance.

"Because. Having you as my wife is enough for tonight. You're tired and scared. I want this to be a truly amazing night for you. So… let's just… take a bath and get some rest. Besides. A cave isn't exactly romantic."

I huffed. "No!" No way in hell. Lance looked at me surprised. "I have myself all psyched up for this! I definitely wouldn't mind a bath, but we have to tonight. I love this cave, too. This is… this is where we kissed for the first time. I told you I liked you—or at least I tried to—right here." I sighed quietly, looking away.

Lance smiled faintly at me and drew me into a gentle embrace. "Alright. Let me know if you change your mind, though. Go ahead and head back to the spring, you can use a towel to cover up, if you'd like. Need any help with that dress?"

His last question sounded almost hopeful. I lowered my gaze. He was my husband. It was fine. I glanced up at him. "Yes, please," I whispered softly, averting my eyes away. He was sure to be pleased with the other surprises Blue had left under my dress.

Go ahead and string me up by my toes. After I posted chapter 9, I started to really dislike this chapter. So I rewrote it, and then went back to the original, and I just messed with it in general. It was really difficult with the ending scene. I actually typed up a fairly amazing lemon at one point, but the way it was written ended, well, see above. I don't like it. I wanted to throw in Silver's lacy black undergarments, but that was definitely rated M. So a hint at the end is all you get!

I love you all. Thank you for sticking out this insane story!