Me: It's time for the reception party. And this is the final chapter.
Amy: Aw. You're ending it so soon?
Me: I told you guys this one was gonna be a bit shorter.
Sonic: It's true. He did say that.
Shadow: When? I don't recall.
Tails: It was either at the start of this one or the end of Don't Stop Believin'. Either way, he said it.
Me: Thank you, Tails. I shall do the honors here. I only own the plot of this story and none of the characters. So enjoy the final chapter of Together Forever. And….this is for SilverDawn2010. The song selection for Shadow and Tikal's first dance was all her idea. So thanks a lot….oop! Almost called her something else there. Oh well.
Like I said. Enjoy everyone! And thank you all so much for making this mini-series so great!
Together Forever
Chapter 10: Let Forever Begin
A wedding was a time where everyone was supposed to be happy for the two people coming together in the matrimonial bonds. And it was supposed to be the best day of those two person's lives. And in this case…it was a huge success. Shadow and Tikal were finally married and everyone there, even the girls who had unfortunate dates with the hedgehog in the past were happy for him and his new wife.
In the reception room onboard the ARK, everyone had gathered there and taken a seat at the place Amy assigned to them in the seating arrangement. Yes. She had a seating arrangement. The groomsmen and bridesmaids were all sitting at one table. Tails, Cream, and Vanilla were there too. It was a big table. But there was one table there reserved for only two people. And they weren't there yet. Sonic leaned closer to Amy and took her hand. Something he hadn't done for quite some time now.
"I gotta admit, Amy. Even though things got a bit out of hand at times, this was a beautiful wedding."
Amy smiled at Sonic's compliment.
"Really?" she asked because she wanted to hear him say it again.
"Oh yes it was." Vanilla was the one who answered. "You have a real knack for this sort of thing, Amy."
"I'm sure Mr. Shadow and Ms. Tikal think the same." Cream added.
"Actually, Cream. It's MRS. Tikal now. She's married. And to Shadow of all people." Tails corrected the bunny.
"Still hard to believe." Knuckles commented. "Those two are hitched. And then tonight…."
"If Shadow can even wait that long." Rouge finished knowing Shadow the best out of everyone at that table.
"He's waited for a long time now. I'm sure he can wait a few more hours." Blaze said.
But then someone's voice was spoken into a microphone and it traveled into a set of speakers set up all around the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen, once again, please welcome Mr. AND Mrs. Shadow the Hedgehog."
Everyone clapped their hands as the hedgehog and echidna made their way into the room hand in hand with Tikal smiling bigger than Shadow was. But that was just common knowledge. Then the couple took a seat at their table and their friends walked up to them to say how happy they were.
"Congratulations, you two!" Amy hugged Tikal.
And Tikal hugged her back and thanked her. Rouge took a gander at Tikal's left wrist to see her wedding ring. Shadow's bracelet was now her wedding ring. That was clever on his part. Rouge had to admit that.
"So, you feel any different now that you're married?" Vector asked.
Shadow and Tikal looked at each other and smiled again before answering that question.
"A little bit." Shadow answered. "But I'm sure it'll kick in shortly."
And then a girl approached them. Shadow recognized her by her looks but he couldn't quite remember her name. She was a yellow mongoose with green eyes and long flowing purple hair. She was wearing a black dress.
"Hey there, Shadow. I'm Mina. Remember me?" she introduced herself.
Shadow nodded.
"Yes. You ran out on our date screaming in fear that I was going to kill you."
Sonic chuckled as he remembered that. But then Amy elbowed his side and he stopped.
"Yeah. Listen. I just wanted to say congratulations and I sincerely wish you guys live happily together." Mina sounded like she was truly sincere.
And she was. Shadow and Tikal both smiled at her.
"Well thank you, Mina." Tikal said.
Mina nodded at them and then walked off. And then a human person Tikal had never met before approached them and extended out his hand to Shadow.
"Congratulations, Agent Shadow." The old man said.
"Thank you Commander Tower." Then Shadow remembered Tikal hadn't met him. "Oh, Tikal. This is Abraham Tower. Commander of GUN."
"It's very nice to finally meet you in person." Commander Tower now extended his hand to Tikal. "Shadow always talks about you both on and off the field."
Tikal shook Tower's hand.
"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Tower." She said politely.
"I shall expect you and the rest of Team Dark to be in my office right after the honeymoon. Even though you're married, we need you Shadow." Tower said.
Shadow agreed to that. Without him, GUN was screwed. They were just lucky no one attacked in his time of absence. That's what Shadow thought anyway. And then the announcer's voice came back to the speakers.
"And now everyone, it's time for the best man to give his toast. Please welcome Silver the Hedgehog."
Everyone completely forgot all about that little tradition. Silver had to give a toast for the newlyweds. And luckily he had some stuff prepared. And it wasn't very classy to read from a piece of paper. So he came up with some stuff on his own.
He grabbed the mike from the announcer and cleared his throat as everyone quieted down to listen to him.
"Well….hello everyone. I'm Silver, as most of you know." He started out simple. "Well I'm just gonna say what I know we're all thinking. Who would have thought we would all end up here at a wedding with SHADOW as the groom?"
Everyone chuckled a bit at that. It was still hard to believe even what the ceremony was over. But that was expected.
"But I'm glad it happened. I'm glad we're all here." Then he directed his next lines towards Shadow. "I'm happy Shadow was able to find someone who made him whole."
Now Shadow was smiling. And so was Tikal.
"That's what love is. Love is finding that one person who makes you complete. A person you can't live without. And Tikal, for you, there isn't a better guy than Shadow. And it's vice versa for Shadow."
And then Silver got into it a bit more.
"You know, all this time during the preparations for this wedding, I've been trying to think of a perfect moment of the two of them to describe them. And I have to tell you. I think the best Shadow and Tikal moment, was a few months ago. When Tikal tried to leave."
Sonic and friends remembered that incident. And Silver went into detail. It was right after a fight with Eggman on Angel Island. And Tikal saw for the first time how destructive Shadow can be. And that scared her so much she considered going back into the Master Emerald and leaving this world forever. But Shadow was able to bring her to her senses and she stayed. That was the night they finally became what their friends have come to call, "Shadikal." Tikal thinks that name is cute. Shadow not so much.
"But despite her fear, she stayed. Because she accepted Shadow for who he was. Flaws and all. And that is just awesome."
But then Silver wrapped it up.
"Shadow, I may not be your best friend. But I'm honored you chose me to be your best man. What you two have, it's something I hope to have one day. I may have already met the perfect girl to make that happen."
Blaze smiled at that little line.
"But the best thing about that moment I described. It was that night that they began to spend every waking moment of every day together. And they haven't been apart since."
And that was when Silver raised his glass of sparkling cider.
"May they never be apart again. To Shadow and Tikal."
Everyone else raised up their own glasses and spoke the same two words.
"To Shadow and Tikal."
Everyone took a sip of what was in their glass and Silver handed the mike back to the announcer. When he sat back down, Blaze kissed him passionately.
"Who knows what the future holds?" she muttered.
As silver cracked a smile, the announcer person spoke again.
"And now ladies and gentlemen, it is time for Shadow and Tikal to share their first dance to a song they selected specially for the occasion."
Shadow and Tikal both stood up and walked hand in hand to the middle of the dance floor. The lights dimmed and a small spotlight shone down on the two of them. Shadow interlocked the fingers of his right hand with Tikal's left ones. Then the hedgehog put his left hand on her waist and Tikal put her right one on his left shoulder. Then the music started up. And the lyrics began. But all of the girls knew this song. And it was a bit uncanny how much it fit Shadow and Tikal perfectly.
(Cue, "Because You Loved Me; By Celine Dion)
For all those times you stood by me
For all the truth that you made me see
For all the joy you brought to my life
For all the wrong that you made right
After the first four words were heard, the two of them started moving. But they didn't do much yet. They just gently swayed with each other. They didn't want to get to fast and mess up early. Not that they were planning on messing up at all that is.
For every dream you made come true
For all the love I found in you
I'll be forever thankful, baby
Then they started to go a bit faster and step around the floor. And Tikal was very surprised by how much Shadow learned from Silver. But she hadn't seen anything yet. It was only the first two verses of the song.
You're the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You're the one who saw me through
Through it all
They may have been dancing at the time, but the two of them were both listening to the lyrics of this song. And they actually found the similarity and connection to their lives. They smiled at that as Shadow finally spun Tikal around quite gracefully.
You were my strength when I was weak Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
You gave me faith 'cause you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me, ooh, baby
The hedgehog then slowly dipped down Tikal and she bent over backwards. She could bend quite far because she was very flexible. She got back up, resumed her position, and they moved on.
You gave me wings and made me fly You stood by me and I stood tall
You touched my hand I could touch the sky
I lost my faith, you gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
I had your love, I had it all
I'm grateful for each day you gave me
Shadow placed both hands on Tikal's waist. And then he picked her up and began to slowly spin around with her. Ever since the beginning of this dance, Silver was smiling because he was proud Shadow's lessons paid off.
Maybe, I don't know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because
I was loved by you
As Shadow put Tikal back down on her feet, the audience gave a small applause for that little move and they continued on.
You were my strength when I was weak Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
You gave me faith 'cause you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
As they continued to move around, both the hedgehog and the echidna became lost in each other's gaze. Today began their long and happy lives together. Side by side no matter what happens. It was a truly remarkable feeling. And to think it was happening to Shadow. He thought he wasn't worthy to be loved. Well, some divine force out there was able to prove him wrong. His soul mate was right here. And her name was Tikal the Echidna. Actually now, it was Tikal Hedgehog. But she didn't care at all.
You were always there for me, the tender wind that carried me
The light in the dark shining your love into my life
You've been my inspiration through the lies you were the truth
My world is a better place because of you
All they cared about right now was getting through this wedding. And then it was straight off to the honeymoon where they would finally be able to show their love for one another in physical form. They had been waiting forever for that. And they were both still virgins. The final chorus repeated and they wrapped up their routine.
You were my strength when I was weak Lifted me up when I couldn't reach You were my strength when I was weak Lifted me up when I couldn't reach I'm everything I am
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
You gave me faith 'cause you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
You gave me faith 'cause you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me
Because you loved me
As the music faded away, Shadow and Tikal came to a stop and then they shared another long and hard kiss out on the dance floor. And once again, everyone gave their applause for the couple and then they all smiled. And finally, it came time for Shadow and Tikal to leave for the honeymoon. So Shadow brought out his green Chaos Emerald and performed the technique while holding his wife close.
"Chaos Control!"
In a flash of green light, Shadow teleported himself and Tikal off the ARK and headed for his honeymoon's destination. Everyone else who was up there was gonna stick around and party a bit more. And as for Sonic and his friends, they decided to only mingle for a bit and then leave.
"But Amy, I thought you were going to help clean it up." Cream said. "After all, you planned the wedding. Shouldn't you help clean up the mess?"
"Cream, I planned the wedding and that's all I do. My work is done. Cleaning it all up is not in the job description." Amy answered.
"Besides." Sonic grabbed her hand. "I was kinda hoping you and I could go get some dinner that we didn't get from a buffet line."
A date. Something Sonic and Amy hadn't done together in quite a while. They were way past overdue. And with a kiss on Sonic's lips, she gave her response.
"First you and I are dancing."
She literally dragged Sonic out to the dance floor and they began to slow dance with each other. Pretty soon, Knuckles and Rouge followed them along with Silver and Blaze. Vector had the guts to ask Vanilla if she wanted to dance and she said yes. And Tails was even brave enough to work up enough courage to ask Cream to dance. And she said yet. Everyone was now dancing in the middle of the room captivated by the love they just saw move around on it before they did.
It was night in Rome Italy. That was where Shadow and Tikal decided to go on their honeymoon. And it was a slow night at the Majestic Roma. A 5-Star hotel in Rome. The clerk at the desk was just minding his own business reading a magazine. But the a strange green glow appeared in the front desk and a black and red hedgehog appeared with an orange echidna. They were no longer wearing their wedding clothes. Shadow was just wearing his shoes and gloves like always and Tikal was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top with sandals. The clerk got freaked out a bit but he relaxed when he saw that the two of them had a bunch of luggage cases with them as they approached the desk. Shadow took over.
"Buona sera. Abbiamo una riserva in virtù del nome, Hedgehog."
And now it was time for Tikal to learn something new about her husband.
"I didn't know you spoke Italian." She said.
"GUN protocol. Sometimes, missions take us to other countries. We have to be fluent in all languages." Shadoe explained.
"Well...save that italian accent for tonight. Will ya?"
Oh Shadow's loins were starting to lose control. Here he was with the most beautiful thing in the world to him, and he was about to make her his.
What Shaodw said to the clerk was that he had a reservation under the name, "Hedgehog." The clerk looked in his computer and found out exactly who the reserveation was for. And he smirked at that.
"Oooohhhhh. Voi siete gli sposi. Congratulazioni."
The clerk said, "You are the newlyweds. Congratualtions."
Shadow nodded. "Si si. Siamo noi."
Yes yes. That's us. That's what Shadow's mouth said next. And after a few more typing strokes from the clerk, he handed Shadow a card key.
"Voi due siete in luna di miele la suite al piano superiore. Si prega di godere il vostro soggiorno qui e ancora una volta, complimenti."
The exact translation for that was, "You two are in the honeymoon suite on the top floor. Please enjoy your stay here and once again, congratulations."
Shadow took the key card and said thank you.
"Grazie."
The two newlyweds made their way to the elevator. But before they did, a bell boy came over with a luggage cart and helped the two out with their baggage. They made their way to the elevator and Shadow pressed the button for the top floor. When they reached it, they went to one of the only rooms that was on that floor. The card key opened it up and they walked inside the honeymoon suite. But right before they did, there was one thing to do. Shadow picked up Tikal bridal style and carried her across the threshold. Ten seconds of being carried, and Tikal was put back down to look at the room.
There were at least three full sized rooms in that suite. It was pretty much a villa only a bit bigger. The bed was kick sized and shaped like a white heart. Aftet the bell boy unloaed their luggage, Shadow tipped the guy and he left leaving the newlyweds alone.
"Would you look at this place!" Tikal was completely overwhelmed by how spectacular the place was.
Luckily, her wedding present from Sonic was a camera and she already knew how to use it. She began to take a few pictures of the room while Shadow took a look around for himself. He found himself in the bathroom of the place. It was also huge. And the tub had already been pre-filled for them with bubbles and rose pettals lying on top of the suds. And next to the tub was a bucket of ice and a bottle of chapagne courtesy of the hotel.
And then Tikal found a fruit basket in the kitchen also on the hotel. There was a small note on it but it was in Italian.
"Shadow! Could you come read this, baby?"
Shadow teleported over to her and took the note to read. It was in Italian, but Shadow gave a perfect translation.
"We at the Majestic Roma thank you for choosing our hotel to have your honeymoon in. And we also give our congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Shadow the Hedgehog."
"Oh how nice." Tikal sweetly said.
There was also a balcony and Tikal wanted to see it. Shadow grabbed an apple from the basket and joined his wife. He was never going to get tired of calling her that. And the view from the balcony was amazing. The lights of Roma at night were truly remarkable. Tikal just had to take another picture. And she did. She even saw the Collessium. She had no idea what it was and neither did Shadow. But they were going to find out.
"Just look at all this." Shadow said as he bit the apple. "We're gonna be here for two whole weeks. There's just gonna be so much to do here it's unbelieveable."
"Yeah there is." Tikal's voice got softer and then she turned around to face her man. "But there's one thing I wanna do first."
And it was right there Shadow dropped the apple when he realized it was finally time for it to become official. He picked up Tikal once more and he RAN to the bedroom. He then jumped on the bed with Tikal still in his arms and they just looked at each other.
Shadow ran his right hand down her left arm taking off the strap of her tank top. But then he stopped when he felt something. He felt her wedding ring. The bracelet that he used to wear. He gave it to her now and looked at it kind of ashamed.
"I hope you don't think I cheaped out not getting you a real set of wedding rings." He said.
Tikal sat up and looked at her bracelet.
"Of course I don't think that." She replied. "Shadow, this means more to me than any other ring ever could. I'm touched that you gave up some of your power to make me happy."
Shadow smiled at how awesome his girl was. She was happy with anything he did for her. But then he wasted no more time. The two of them began to make out. And in only one minute, it became hot and heavy. And soon enough, they found themselves wanting a whole lot more.
And tonight was the night they finally got to have more.
Tikal fell to her back with Shadow on top of her unhooking her bra. Soon her skirt came off and then both of their shoes and socks. All through the walls, their cried and declarations of love for each other were heard unti finally, the marriage was officially consimated.
That "consimation" as one would call it, took about forty five minutes. Not bad for a couple of first timers. Their fur was messy as they laid underneath the covers of the bed together gazing into each other's eyes.
"So that's what it's like." Tikal said.
"Yeah." Shadow muttered back. "So...what now?"
Tikal thought for a minute and then came to this.
"It's only 9:00 PM here. How about we order up some room service, get a quick bite to eat, and then meet back here in about an hour?"
Once again, this girl...was AWESOME.
"I love you so much, Tikal."
"And I love you even more, Shadow."
They gave each other a long kiss before they hopped out of bed and ordered that room service. And then began their honeymoon. And from that point on, their marriage.
XXX
Me: And there it is. This triology is ovah!
Shadow: The sex at the end. Was it hot?
Me: Why are you asking me?
Shadow: You wrote it. Who else should I ask?
Me: *SIGH* Whatever.
Sonic: So what are you gonna do now, AK?
Me: I have a few ideas in mind. Maybe a Silvaze onshot. I don't know. I'll peruze my head for a while and think.
But for now, thanks goes out once again to everyone who made this story so great. I honestly think this series is what made me so popular. Thanks a lot you guys. Oh and just one more thing.
And thank you, SilverDawn2010 once again for that loveley song selection. I owe you so much. If there's ever anything I can do, just let me know.
So with that, as always, peace bitches.