AN. The winners for all the Author categories in the Wicked Awards were announced last night (Story categories are still to come); and I won third place in Best OneShot Author category; and first place in Best Author and Best Romance Author categories. This is my 3rd Wicked Awards, and the 3rd year I've been voted Best Author and Best Romance Author.

I am so so so thankful and grateful for everyone who voted for me. To be voted Best Author even for one year is such an amazing honour, let alone three times. Thank you! I don't know what else to say!

Chapter 21: The Vows

This was it. The last day of wedding planning, and four days before the actual wedding.

"So, when it comes to the vows," Kellye explained to them. "You have to decide if you want to write your own vows, or if you want to use traditional vows."

"Oh, you should write your own!" Galinda cried. "It's so romantic!"

Elphaba cringed. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" Nessa frowned.

"I don't really fancy the idea of spilling my guts about my feelings in front of everyone," Elphaba replied.

Galinda and Nessa both knew that wasn't really Elphaba's thing, so they didn't push the issue.

"So, something traditional?" Galinda asked.

"Yeah. But nothing religious," Elphaba added to Nessa, before her sister could say anything.

"Fair enough," Nessa agreed.

Kellye and Galinda had a collection of different wedding vow templates, and they began to sort through them, looking for one Elphaba liked.

"In the presence of God and these our friends I take thee to be my husband/wife, promising with Divine assistance to be unto thee a loving and faithful husband/wife so long as we both shall live," Nessa read.

"No," Elphaba said immediately, shaking her head.

"It was worth a try," her sister chuckled, and Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"This one's nice!" Galinda said, looking over one. "Listen, Elphie. I, (name), take you, (name), to be my friend, my lover, the (mother/father) of my children and my (husband/wife). I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity."

Elphaba took the sheet of paper from her friend and read it over herself. "It's nice, but... I don't know if it's me. Isn't that what wedding vows are supposed to be? Just... the truth?"

"That's a really honest approach," Kellye said, with an approving smile. "Do you think Fiyero has that same mentality?"

Elphaba considered that. "I think so... I hope so. The thing about Fiyero is that... he is a romantic, as I'm sure you've noticed by now," she laughed lightly. "And he's a lot more comfortable than I am with expressing his feelings. So, that may influence the decision he makes regarding the vows."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know..."

"I do," Galinda interrupted, smiling at her best friend. "Fiyero loves you. And he loves you because you saw through who he was pretending to be. So, he's not going to hide how much he loves you."

Elphaba and Fiyero had been together for two and a half years, and never once had Elphaba thought of it like that before now.

"Where did that come from?!" she demanded, impressed.

Galinda waved a hand. "Oh, please, Elphie. It's so obvious."

Elphaba exchanged a glance with her sister, and Nessa shrugged as Galinda returned to sifting through the different samples of wedding vows.

"Here, Fabala. This one," Nessa said suddenly, handing her sister a piece of paper.

Elphaba took it and read it silently. "I, (name), take you, (name), to be my partner, loving what I know of you, and trusting what I do not yet know. I eagerly anticipate the chance to grow together, getting to know the (man/woman) you will become, and falling in love a little more every day. I promise to love and cherish you through whatever life may bring us."

She smiled softly. "That's perfect, Nessa."

Galinda read it over Elphaba's shoulder, and beamed at Nessa. "It is perfect. It's so them. Great job, Nessa."

Fiyero had a few clear ideas about what he wanted for their wedding vows. Like Elphaba, he didn't want anything religious. Unlike Elphaba, he wasn't opposed to writing their own vows. And he one firm rule, that Elphaba wouldn't have expected.

"None of this 'til death do us part' nonsense," he told the boys.

"What do you want instead? 'For as long as we both shall live'?" Boq asked. "'Until the end of my days'? What?"

Fiyero shook his head. "No, none of that."

"Until one of us gets fat?" Corin suggested.

Fiyero glared at him. "No."

"Then until what?" Micah asked.

"Until... never."

"Aw, that's sweet, Yero. You're such a romantic sap," Corin said cheerfully.

Fiyero rolled his eyes. "Have I told you that I can't wait until you fall in love and get married?"

Corin scoffed. "Yeah, that's not going to happen yet. I am way too young, handsome and awesome to settle down at this stage in my life."

Fiyero coughed. "Dude, please. I'm trying to eat," he said, holding up the toast in his hand.

"Can we get back to this please?" Micah spoke up with a sigh.

"Well, I have some samples of different types of wedding vows," Ioulia answered him. "You could use one of them, or use one as a base and tweak it to suit you and Elphaba."

"Cool," Fiyero grinned.

Fiyero rejected the more traditional vows, wanting something more "interesting".

"So, no 'love, cherish and obey'?" Micah asked.

Boq snorted. "Can you really see Elphaba promising to 'obey' Fiyero?"

"No, she'd kill me if I tried that," Fiyero agreed immediately.

"Listen to this," Corin announced. "Today I take you to be my husband/wife. Together we will create a home, becoming a part of one another. I vow to help create a life that we can cherish, inspiring your love for me and mine for you. I vow to be honest, caring and truthful, to love you as you are and not as I want you to be, and to grow old by your side as your love and best friend. Yero, please tell me you're not going to say something like this? I would like to be able to perform your wedding without cracking a rib from trying not to laugh. And/or throw up."

"What's wrong with that?" Fiyero demanded. "It sounds nice. It's romantic."

"Together we will create a home, becoming a part of one another. I vow to help create a life that we can cherish, inspiring your love for me and mine for you," Corin repeated incredulously, making a face.

"Ok, so maybe it's a little sappy," Fiyero admitted. "But I could change that. Right, Ioulia?"

"Absolutely," she nodded. "You could do that. Or you could pick something simple and add to it."

"What do you mean?" Boq asked.

"Well, something like this: I, (Name), choose you, (Name), to be my wife. In front of our friends and family gathered here I promise to love and cherish you throughout the good times and bad times. And then you just create your own promises to one another. Like... 'I promise to try to remember to put my dirty clothes in the hamper and to replace the toilet paper roll when it's empty.' Or 'I promise to make you breakfast in bed every Sunday'... whatever you want."

"That's really cool," Fiyero said brightly.

"Yeah, that's sounds good," Micah agreed. "You can make it as personal as you want."

"I think I like either that idea, or making our own completely," Fiyero mused thoughtfully.

"One issue here," Boq spoke up. "If you write your own vows from scratch, either you're making Elphaba make up her own wedding vows on the spot; or you're writing them for her."

Fiyero grinned at the Munchkin. "Now there's an idea."

Boq paused. "Which one?"

"I'll just write Elphaba's vows for her," Fiyero said casually.

Micah sighed heavily. "You were doing so well at this wedding thing until the end," he told Fiyero solemnly.

"I think the wheels fell off the wagon when he thought letting Corin perform the ceremony was a good idea," Boq muttered to Micah in agreement.

"I don't know if Elphaba would appreciate you writing her own vows," Ioulia told Fiyero gently. "Think about that for a moment."

Fiyero paused thoughtfully and then nodded. "Yeah, ok," he agreed. "So, maybe we just do the other thing. Use the basic vows and... personalise them."

"Great idea," Ioulia smiled.

"Do you want some help with that, or do you want to work on them alone?" Boq asked.

"I've got this," Fiyero replied confidently.

He shut himself away to begin working on the vows, and Corin retreated to his room to finish what he referred to as "The Most Amazing Wedding Speech Ever... version 3.0."

"I feel better about Fiyero's vows than Corin's speech," Micah said thoughtfully, as he, Boq and Ioulia sat back in silence.

"Really?" Ioulia asked him.

"Yeah," Micah nodded. "I mean, Fiyero loves Elphaba and if even some of his choices have been... controversial, he wants her to have an amazing day. He's not going to screw up the vows."

"But Corin?" Boq pressed.

Micah sighed. "Who knows. As long as it doesn't have the words 'giving' or 'receiving' in it... we'll see how it goes, ok? I'll try and check it beforehand, but I can't make any promises."