A/N: Holy shit I just realized you can make horizontal lines on these documents for line breaks... that's amazing. Why didn't anybody tell me about this
Alyss and Will couldn't afford to spend one penny on an official wedding. Will tried to talk Alyss into it, but she wouldn't give up any of the money that was going to Will's treatment… It was okay, though, because neither of them needed an official, legal marriage to feel like they were husband and wife. Will had to admit, he was a little disappointed, but all of that disappointment left him as soon as they started setting up for the ceremony. Nobody else was coming to the wedding; the ceremony was for them.
Will told Alyss he was going to make Sable his best man, and Alyss laughed and argued that Sable was a girl, so she should be her maid of honor. The two discussed way too seriously, in way too much detail what role Sable could play in their wedding: a maid of honor, a best man, a flower girl (a flower dog), or a guest… and, finally, Sable became their unordained minister. They weren't getting legally married, so why did their minister have to be human?
"Never thought I'd be getting married by a dog," Will joked. He was helping Alyss role a few small logs out in front of the place where they decided they would exchange vows when they discussed it. There were no guests coming, but the venue felt empty without some seats there. "Thought I'd be getting married to my dog, if anything…" Alyss rolled her eyes and slapped his cheek- but it was so weak it just felt like she was briefly cupping his face with her hand. The place where her hand had touched him grew a fair shade of pink, but it was a blush. Will grinned.
Alyss suggested at one point, as part of a joke, that they invite the doctor who'd turned down Will's medication. "How awkward would that be?" Will replied.
"Not so much awkward… More like… a huge middle finger to him and his stupid medication," Alyss said. They laughed about it like a joke, but then realized they should stop talking about it quickly before they got serious and accidentally convinced themselves to invite him.
Will had never been so happy.
Because he was so weak, Alyss did most of the heavy duty work and Will tried not to complain about it too much. Finding a good place to hold it was one of the hardest parts… Alyss had to clear out all the big branches and make a clean place for them to stand. It would ruin the mood if she tripped over a rock in the middle of her walk down the aisle.
She chose the spot she did because two two trees had grown together in mid-air, making an arch. Their branches reached out to one another and wound together, twisting around each other in the middle to make a branch twice as thick. One tree even had some flowers still growing on its bark and up the branch that met with the other tree. Will insisted that was the "Alyss tree", while Alyss saw it as the other way around.
The duller parts without flowers, Will decorated with any he could find that hadn't fallen under the spell of the quickly approaching winter. He could already feel the chill in the air… the same chill he felt a year before as winter was just upon him.
Alyss seemed like she had the strength of Will back when Will wasn't sick. Everything that he had been able to do, she worked on until she could do just as easily. It was inspirational. Sometimes Will took a break from something, like clearing out the ground or making her a bouquet or writing his speech, and just watched her. She moved with such enthusiasm. She moved as if she were dancing and the forest was her stage; the trees were her audience. Will would love to draw that.
He smiled. Will was sitting down on one of the guests' logs, legs crossed so he could support his speech he was working on, when he saw it again. The way she danced, like the sunlight glittering on her blonde hair.
He looked back down at his paper, and pressed his pen to the surface lightly. If he pressed too hard it could cut through. Alyss glanced over at him, just when he looked away. She didn't plan on staring for too long, but Will felt her gaze quickly and looked back up; this time they were both paying attention, and their eyes met. They smiled, and went back to their activities without a word. Their smiles said "I love you" in a way where they both got the message.
It took her and Will a day and a half to set up the ceremony, and another half for Alyss to cook everything she wanted. There was a pie (a pecan pie), bread, salad, ham for the main course, and one or two other sides. Will told her several times that she was cooking too much for two people, especially with Will's appetite whittled down to the bare minimum. Alyss wouldn't listen. Will didn't think she would, but it was worth a try.
They fell asleep next to each other that night smiling. They had worked hard, but it was worth every moment of it… The wedding venue looked like something out of a fairy tale.
Will fell asleep early and woke up late every day, so Alyss always spent an hour or more with her head on his shoulder or his chest, with one arm around him, listening to his breathing. It was a beautiful song to hear.
'Our wedding…' Alyss thought, grinning. 'I'm getting married to Will tomorrow… That means I'll be Alyss Treaty.' She closed her eyes and giggled, softly, so she wouldn't wake Will. Not that she could wake him if she tried; he slept so deeply, not even an earthquake could wake him up. Sometimes he snored, but not so much lately. Not tonight. It was just a soft hum tonight.
'Alyss Treaty. That sounds better than not having a last name,' she thought. Cranes didn't have last names, and she never ended up making one when she and Will first met.
'Alyss and Will Treaty… Will and Alyss Treaty… both sound equally good.' Her mind sighed. 'I'm acting like a total idiot, aren't I?' But Alyss laughed, again; she didn't care. She was too giddy to be embarrassed at herself.
This was what heaven felt like… Every happy moment before that felt like absolutely nothing in comparison.
She fell asleep before she knew it. The line between dreaming and unconsciousness was thin that night, like it had been for a long time now.
The next day was the big one.
The biggest day of her life, and the best.
Alyss woke up early, like always, to weave. Will was so weak he couldn't have woken up before noon if he wanted to. Her body was busy saving her fiance, but her mind was on their wedding.
While she weaved, she began making her vows in her head… the day before was so busy that she could only think of the basic outline, and some points that she would hit. She had yet to write it down. Will had enough time to write his speech, and Alyss didn't because she never let herself stop working. There was always something to make better; always something to add. The work paid off, and now she could take care of the details.
Speeches were big details, but she didn't have to do much work involving her physical body. It was all about writing from the heart, not thinking and trying her best to go by the aesthetic she wanted the venue to have.
That's why it was so convenient that her fiance was an artist.
He worked perfectly with the aesthetic, and made the venue look better overall than Alyss ever could've using her head. She wasn't worried. It was perfect. Maybe she had fretted over it too much, but it was done now. If she overthought it, then the product hadn't suffered.
She and Will had decided to do something a little different for their vows: they would write each other's, and then exchange them at the theoretical altar and read them to each other. At first Alyss was nervous, because she had always imagined writing her vows to Will as herself, not Will… But, the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. There were some things she could say as Will that she couldn't as herself.
The door opened. This time, Alyss's heart only jumped a little. Will knew everything already, so he didn't have any abnormal reaction when he spotted a few feathers sprouting out of her skin. He just smiled. There looked like there were tears in his eyes, but she could've been imagining it.
The sunlight was hitting his face just perfectly… It made his eyes sparkle like they were hazel instead of their usual dark brown. There were small bags under his eyes, and he hadn't bothered to straighten his hair, but he looked so much better like that. Alyss could admire him forever.
She vaguely remembered thinking about how Will looked most like himself after he'd just woken up. 'If somebody lets you see what they're like when they've just woken up, it means they love you,' she thought. That was a long time ago, Alyss realized… It was the morning after Will cried, and Alyss held him in her arms and let him tell her that he was afraid to die. He looked beautiful the next morning, like none of that had happened. Months later, and he was twice as thin, twice as weak, three times as close to death, and a thousand times more beautiful...
Will left the spotlight and walked over to the opposite side of her. Her eyes followed him like they couldn't let go, like if they let go she might cry. Her fiance sat next to her on the bench, and put his thin arms around her. His nose was buried in the crook of her neck. She could feel his warm breath on her collar bone.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too," she whispered back. Her skin was glittering on the spot where his mouth had been.
Alyss was obsessed with making everything perfect. She was already a perfectionist to a fault, and this was her wedding. Deep down (or not so deep down) she knew it would be perfect no matter what if Will was there, but that didn't convince her either way.
Alyss took several hours to get ready. She had anticipated this, of course, and after teasing her for a little bit about it, Will accepted that he couldn't see her one second before she walked down the aisle and he'd have to stay away for an hour or two, at least. After her bath, she put on a plain, white dress because she couldn't afford to go out and spend tons of money on a beautiful wedding dress. Will would think she was beautiful no matter what, anyway, and he didn't care what she wore. He didn't care if she even wore clothes.
'The thought made her blush violently. At a time like this?' Alyss asked herself. 'Really?'
The dress was short sleeved, so Alyss hoped it wasn't too cold out there. That was only half- even less than half the problem with it being short sleeved. She still had cuts up and down her arms, in too many places for the dress to cover up. Only a long sleeved shirt and gloves could do that. On the other hand, if the bandages came off, she would look even worse.
That's when she reminded herself to also be careful when she was walking in the forest. Even the slightest cut from a sharp branch could draw blood now. She didn't have any appropriate shoes for the occasion, so she and Will agreed she would just go barefoot. It hadn't even occurred to her until now that her skin was too delicate for that.
Sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night in pain, after having moved just an inch one way and hitting a sensitive spot. Will kept his arms around her at all times to make sure she wouldn't move and that wouldn't happen. Both of them woke up at random times, now that she thought about it. Alyss because she was in pain, and Will to cough. Will still coughed, more than a concerning amount, as if the state of his body wasn't enough to remind them.
Besides that, Alyss had accidentally opened several wounds from all the stress on her body. There was one wound on her thigh she was sure was infected.
She did her hair up in a simple bun, with two stray strands of wavy hair coming down on either side of her face. Carefully, she worked a crown of flowers into the bun so it looked like her hair was blooming.
Alyss bled every other time she tore a feather out. It was so bad she started keeping a stack of bandages and clothes next to her on the loom, to wrap herself in when that happened… but Alyss wondered when that wouldn't be enough.
Before she put her makeup on, she picked up the piece of paper on her desk and read over it. It was the speech she had written for Will to read to her… Alyss had already done three rounds of final editing before that, but every time she found something else she wanted to say. That sheet of paper wasn't nearly enough.
Even when she tried to distract herself, her mind just wouldn't shut up.
She wondered which feather would be the last. Her work wasn't done yet; she hadn't weaved enough to make enough money for Will to heal, but she was close, so close she could taste it. Every morning she was met with the Earth-shattering thought… 'Will close be enough? How strong do I have to be to…'
Alyss hands dropped to her sides. "What am I doing?" she whispered to herself. She looked down at her lap.
I can't believe I'm ruining my mood with questions I couldn't know the answers to…
Alyss had done this a hundred times before, obviously, but this time she gained a sort of clarity about it. She was doing what she wanted and needed to do. She was marrying Will. That was not a mistake; it was going to be the greatest thing she'd ever done.
'Will is going to be my husband,' she told herself. 'Nothing can take that away from me.'
Alyss smiled. Tears were running down her face, and she was smiling. She let out an unexpected, sudden sob, and her shoulders jerked up and down. Her hand went up to cover her mouth, and that's when she realized she was laughing, too. It was a ridiculous thing, to laugh and cry just as hard, but she was doing it.
Outside, Will was ready in his button-down white shirt (because neither of them wanted, nor needed luxury clothes), standing under the tree arch, ready for her. Sable was in her position, too, but lying down. She may have been asleep, but Will hadn't checked yet.
Alyss wouldn't let him see what she looked like before she walked down the aisle, so he had no idea what she was going to look like. He could only guess how amazing she was going to look.
His speech was folded up in his right hand, hanging by his side. Will only realized when he lifted it up to read it over again that he was shaking. His heart was pounding out of his chest. 'Oh, God, this is really happening, isn't it?' he thought. Will was getting nervous, now, but it didn't make him want to run. 'This is really happening,' he thought. It wasn't a bad thing.
Then he saw her. And all at once, his breath left him. A gust of wind came and snatched all his oxygen away from him.
Alyss's hair was up in a bun behind her, but two wavy strands of hair were left hanging down on either side of her face. The dress almost reached her knees, and flailed out so her knees pushed it up when she walked. It was the color of light. Sunshine was yellow, but this dress was white, like the light in her eyes when she looked up and saw Will waiting for her. There was a big difference. In her hands were a bouquet Will had made her of ruscus, white lilies, and red tulips; he thought it fitted.
As Alyss glided down the aisle, she began humming "Here Comes the Bride", and Will chuckled. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Whatever words were in his throat were stuck there. He almost glanced down at his speech, just to remind himself that he had everything he wanted to say already written down, but his eyes refused to leave her. She was radiance. She was…
He was tearing up.
"Y-You…" he finally stuttered, when she stepped across from him under the arch. "You look… absolutely amazing…"
Alyss looked around nervously, but it didn't take long for that nervousness to go away and be replaced with confidence. Happiness and confidence were the best combination. She met his eyes, with a smile in her own, and said, "I couldn't tell you… how long I've waited for this day."
Alyss quickly leaned over to set the bouquet on the log, where somebody was supposed to be sitting. She had tucked her speech into the back, so before going back to Will she slipped it out from in between a ruscus and a lily. They didn't exchange papers just yet, though.
"Is our minister sleeping?" Alyss asked, gesturing with a nod towards their dog. Technically it was Will's dog, but neither of them cared enough to distinguish that. Sable was like their child.
Will shrugged, then bent down and started shaking her body gently to find out. Sable didn't respond at first. "Heeey," Will cooed, "hey, girl. Time to wake up." Sable opened her eyes. Her owner dragged her up by her stomach, and with his help she stumbled stubbornly to her feet, clearly upset with the new situation and wishing she could go back to sleep. "There we go," Will grinned.
Alyss giggled, then cleared her throat and became composed. She raised her voice to a higher pitch like she was mimicking Sable's voice, saying, "Thank you all for coming." She gestured to the dozen empty seats next to her.
Will barely stifled a laugh, but Alyss continued with as much coolness as she could hold, "We are gathered here to witness the beautiful, ceremonious marriage of Alyss, and Will Treaty…" She met Will's eyes. "I'm not entirely sure what the usual format is for a wedding, so let's go ahead and hear their vows that they wrote for each other."
"Wait," Will interrupted, "first, is there anyone who objects to this union? Speak now or forever hold your peace."
They waited, and they heard nothing but silence in response. Just as Will opened his mouth to continue, a bird somewhere nearby in a tree decided that that moment would be the perfect time to chirp.
Will and Alyss's heads turned around to face it and, together, they snapped at the bird, "Be quiet." Whether the bird understood their harsh tones or not, it shut up.
"Now, our speeches," Will said.
He and Alyss handed their folded up pieces of paper to each other. They waited to open them until they decided who was going to go first; they wanted to see the other's writing for the very first time when they read it, not before.
"You go first," Will insisted.
Alyss nodded, and started to open Will's speech. Will didn't write in a big font, but almost the entire page was covered with words. Tiny, cute hearts were scattered here and there, and he had drawn a medium sized picture at the bottom of the page. With her strong will, she convinced her eyes to not look at it just yet. No spoilers.
Alyss took a deep breath and began, "Will… so it's our wedding day. I can't tell you how overwhelmed I am with how incredible you look right now… Your smile is gorgeous." She should've expected something like this. "You're the most handsome guy I've ever seen, ever."
"Awe, I'm blushing."
"I promise to always cook great meals and do the dishes afterwards because I know how much you hate the dishes," she read, her voice completely flat and unamused.
"How'd you know? You're so sweet."
Alyss gave him a dangerous look, but it was paired with a grin. Her fiance winked.
She rolled her eyes and looked back down at the paper. The mood made a 180 degree turn in the next sentence he wrote: "I also always promise to hold your hand… and sing to you when you can't fall asleep, because I know that when I do, you always sleep better than normal… I promise to spend every day with you, for the rest of our lives, and it doesn't matter how long that may be. Whatever is in store for us, in the future, it will be better with you there. Certain circumstances have complicated things a little more than they should be, and even if you're still afraid-"
"And I am," Will said, quickly.
"...If we go through this together, there's nothing to regret. Marrying you is the best decision I've ever made, and the best we're ever going to make no matter how long we live." Alyss paused, waiting for her voice to stop cracking. Even though Will was talking from Alyss's perspective, it felt like, now, he was talking from both.
"No matter which direction we walk, if I'm holding your hand, then there is nothing to be afraid of… I'm more myself in your arms then I ever was by myself. When we set up the wedding venue, I would sometimes, randomly look up at you and what you were doing. I wanted to walk over to you and kiss you every time; hold you in my arms like the world was falling apart. You walk like you're dancing. You talk like you're saying something brilliant every time and that's why I listen closely to every word you say. I don't want to miss a thing. I don't want to miss a moment of you, ever…" It was no use. A tear dropped from Alyss's eye and rolled down her skin, to her chin.
"You're my miracle. All these times with you, when we're laughing or when we're crying could make me happy for an eternity. Tomorrow doesn't matter right now. This, right here, is our eternity…" Alyss looked up from the paper, to Will, the man who wrote these words. She was crying. She whispered the last words on the page, "I'll hold you until it's over."
Will signed his name at bottom, in cursive, even though he never wrote in cursive. There was a beautifully drawn picture of a feather next to it.
"Will Treaty…" Alyss said, in her Sable voice, "do you take this woman, Alyss, to be your wife; to love and hold forever, till death due you part?"
"I do," Will answered. He'd never sounded so sure about anything. In exchange, he said, "Do you, Alyss, take this man, Will Treaty, to be your husband; to love and hold forever… till death due you part?"
Alyss smiled so widely she could feel her whole body swell. "I do," she said. "A thousand times over, I do."
They didn't spare enough money to buy proper rings, either; that was something that Alyss wouldn't compromise on. But Will came up with something better. He found a beautiful, blooming, white flower and fashioned its stem to wrap around like a ring. Somehow he knew the exact size.
"It's a carnation flower," Will explained, fitting one onto Alyss's finger. Their foreheads barely touched, even when it wasn't necessary for them to be that close. "They're known for their ability to bloom all year round, just like you."
Alyss felt a chuckle rising up in her chest, but it turned into a sob at the last moment. How many times had she cried that day? Many.
Will gave Alyss the other ring, so she could slip it onto his own finger. "This is for forever," she said. The words just burst out of her mouth, but she trusted her heart to know what she wanted to say. "All year, every year… I'm yours."
When they were done exchanging rings, they didn't back away. They still held each other at an arm's distance, their foreheads leaning towards each other in anticipation for what was next.
"I now pronounce you…" Alyss said, "husband and wife." She paused. "You may kiss the bride," she whispered.
Will placed one of his hands on Alyss's cheek. He touched her gently, but he knew she wasn't fragile. Alyss's hand crawled up Will's arm, brushing under his white sleeve and feeling the skin underneath.
They leaned in at the same time, after waiting two seconds just staring into each other. Will could see their future in her eyes. Then their lips met in the middle, sealing their pledge for the rest of their eternity, and longer.