Author's note: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge using list lambda. Theme 6: Formal.
Promises
Tseng had to admit that Elena did stand out from most of those here. She was clearly not Wutain. But she more than lovely in her traditional Wutain wedding dress. Her clearly foreign looks made her stand amidst the women who were acting as her attendants. In all honesty, it was a small wedding, but that was fine with the both of them. Actually, if it had just been up to the two of them, the whole affair would have probably lasted twenty minutes at a city hall.
However, Tseng's cousin had found out that they were getting married, and the next thing he'd known, Shunsui had the entire wedding organized and planned for them. It was rather nice, and not at all overblown as Tseng had worried that it might have become. His cousin had done a magnificent job. It was a small intimate wedding attended by Tseng's cousins and his fellow Turks and Rufus.
Then Elena caught his eyes with her own, and Tseng's mind couldn't hold on to any other thoughts besides how lovely she looked. Together the two of them made their way through the intricate dance of the ceremony, even if Tseng wasn't exactly paying very close attention to anything other than Elena. The droning of the priest really wasn't that memorable or probably that important anyway. For the most part the ceremony consisted of him and Elena just standing there, except for a few rituals.
In some ways it was hard to believe that they were here. At times it really did not seem all that long ago that Elena was the newest rookie on the team and just another Turk to him. That certainly had changed over the years. Now she was not only his partner, but the Turks and ShinRa had certainly changed to an extent as well. Still, Tseng didn't think he would change the way things had turned out. At the end of the ceremony, he and Elena finally said their vows followed by the ceremonial drinking of nine cups of sake. Elena carefully sipped the rice wine, her nose wrinkling slightly at the taste, before holding the cup out to him. Tseng winked at her.
Once the wine had been drunk and the cups set aside, there were only two things left. The priest tied their hands together with a silken cord and mumbled a blessing. Then he spoke the words that Tseng had been waiting to hear.
"You may now kiss the bride."
Tseng closed the distance between them and kissed Elena. In the end, all that really mattered was they had managed to get here.