Liebestraum
Chapter 32: O Lieb, so Lang du Lieben Kannst (Or, the final movement)
Asuka stared up at Kurama, her eyes wide and her heart full.
"I'll see you very soon, love," he said. The gems in his eyes glittered.
"Yes, very soon," she agreed.
He leaned over and gave her searing kiss before he moved toward the door of their apartment. He hesitated. The man Asuka loved turned, and gave her another long look before finally leaving.
When the door clicked shut Asuka grinned. She ran to the couch and flopped on it much like a small child would. Laughter bubbled up out of her throat as she draped her arm over her eyes.
Today is a very good day.
Asuka stood up and roamed around her apartment listless. All she wanted was to go put on her dress, but she promised her friends that she'd wait for them to arrive.
They should be here any moment now.
Right on cue, the door to the apartment buzzed. Asuka flew to it and pressed the button. "Yes?" she said eagerly.
"Asuka! We're here!" Boton shouted into the microphone. "Hurry up and buzz us in!"
"Hurry and get up here before I decide to put my dress on!"
A few minutes later there was banging on the door. "Asuka I swear…." Botan's muffled voice said.
Asuka laughed and opened it.
"Happy wedding day!" Her friends shouted at the same time.
Asuka grinned.
"We brought you coffee," Shizuru said, handing her a large cup.
"And breakfast!" Keiko said holding up a bag with pastries.
"You're the best. Come in!"
"Oh wow," Yukina said entering her apartment and looking around. "It's beautiful."
"I'm glad you're here and that you finally get to see it," Asuka said giving Yukina a hug. "I love living here so much. Kurama may have gone a little overboard though."
"He tends to do that when it involves you, Asuka," Botan said with a laugh.
Asuka brushed her fingers over the ring he'd given her. She smiled tenderly. "It can be overwhelming sometimes. I'm still not used to being cared for like that."
Keiko put a hand on Asuka's shoulder, then folded her into a hug. "You deserve to be taken care of, Asuka."
"Speaking of which," Botan said, "let's hurry up and eat these pastries. They smelled so good when we picked them up this morning and I can't wait!"
The girls sat down at the table with drinks and breakfast. There was mirth all around as they gobbled up the sweet treats.
"Guess what, Asuka?" Botan said with a cat-like grin. "A certain someone came home last night, finally."
Asuka's eyes flew to Keiko. "Oh Keiko, I'm so happy to hear that."
Keiko smiled. "I guess I should thank you for getting married, Asuka. I don't know when he would've returned if you hadn't."
Asuka placed her hand on Keiko's. "He would've come back soon anyway, but I'm glad we forced him to come back a little earlier. I was confident he'd be here. Cutting it awfully close though. Typical Yusuke."
"What made you so sure he would?" Botan asked.
"His best friend is getting married. Yusuke isn't selfish enough to miss something this important. Plus, the girl he loves was waiting for him."
Keiko squeezed Asuka's hand. "Thank you, for saying that."
"It's the truth."
"So, are you going to show us your dress Asuka?" Shizuru asked.
Asuka stood up. "Yes! I'm dying for someone to see it."
Her friends followed her back to the guest bedroom. She opened the closet and moved some storage stuff out of the way to reveal a hanging bag. She took it off the hook, set it on the bed, and unzipped it.
"It's beautiful Asuka!" Keiko said with hands clasped.
The dress was a vintage 1940s floral lace dress. It was sleeved, high necked and had a train. Asuka had just happened to see the dress while walking by a vintage store one day and felt so lucky she had come across it. With some tailoring, it fit her perfectly.
"Well, I think it's time to get ready," Botan said with a smile. "Don't you, Asuka?"
"Yes, it's definitely time."
Asuka and Kurama didn't have a wedding party in the traditional sense, but since they were getting ready separately, they had decided to have their friends join them. Asuka invited her friends to get changed into whatever they had picked for the wedding while Kurama had the boys meet him at his mother's house.
Asuka took out the coreset she was wearing underneath the dress and changed into it. Then, with a smile, she slipped on white stockings and hooked them onto the straps.
"You look hot," Botan commented.
Asuka grinned. "Thanks. It's definitely on purpose. He likes how I look in thigh highs. Surprising him will be…nice. For him and for me."
Asuka imagined Kurama's eyes darkening as she undressed for him, the growl that would rip from his throat when he saw her in this lingerie, and the feel of his mouth on her body. She was looking forward to having him deep inside her tonight, where he belonged. Making love to Kurama was one of life's best gifts, Asuka had decided. And she would indulge in him as often as she could.
"Asuka," Keiko groaned with exasperation.
"Feeling squeamish Keiko?" Shizuru laughed.
Yukina covered her eyes, also embarrassed.
"Aw, and here I was hoping Asuka would tell us if she'd done it with Kurama's other self and what it was like if she had," Botan said mischievously.
"The answer is yes, and he was very good. But if you want to know more, maybe ask me some other time."
"Mmmhmmm."
Asuka laughed. "Help me with my dress?"
The girls assisted her she stepped into it. Yukina zipped up the back.
"You look so pretty," Yukina said coming around the front.
"He's going to flip out when he sees you, Asuka," Keiko said.
"I love it," said Shizuru. "And it's a good thing you chose something vintage. I'm afraid you would've gotten lost in the puffy dresses with the puffy sleeves that are all the rage right now."
Asuka laughed again. "I tried one on and…yeah. I looked ridiculous."
"How are you wearing your hair? asked Botan.
"Down like this. I was going to wear a veil, but I couldn't find one I liked."
"That reminds me. I should get started on your flower crown Asuka," Yukina said with a smile. "It shouldn't take me too long."
"Thank you so much Yukina," Asuka said. "If you go upstairs, you can pick what you need from the rose garden. The purple ones, please."
"I'm glad I can help," Yukina said exiting the bedroom.
The other girls got changed into the dresses they were going to wear. There was more laughter, teasing, and happiness. It didn't take long for Yukina to come back with the flower crown she had put together. When she placed in on Asuka's head, there was a moment of silence.
"You look like a princess," Keiko sighed.
"I feel like one," Asuka said truthfully.
"We should probably get going. Don't want to keep Kurama waiting," Botan said.
"Definitely don't want that," Asuka said. "He's already endured enough waiting to fill a lifetime."
Each of her friends gave her a hug. It felt so good to be surrounded by her family on such an important day.
"I'm so happy for you Asuka," Shizuru said.
"Thank you. I'm happy too. So very happy."
Her friends gathered up their things, and with more grins and laughter, they escorted Asuka out of her apartment.
-* ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ *-
The wedding was outside in a garden full of roses on a hilltop overlooking the city. Tokyo officials had never commissioned such a garden, and they were quite surprised when it showed up one day. The garden is still there, and it's said that couples who get married in it are sure to have a life filled with happiness.
Hiei came to the wedding and watched from a distance. Kurama didn't need to see his friend to know he was in attendance. Asuka knew too, even though she couldn't sense his ki. Hiei was one of Kurama's best friends, after all. Like Yusuke, she knew there was no way he would miss it.
Kenji came as well as Ena. They played the music for Asuka to enter the garden. It was their own arrangement of Liebestraum, and it was perfect.
When Kurama saw his bride he was so thunderstruck he had to reach for Yusuke to steady himself. Asuka looked like a princess, a fairy, and a goddess all combined into one. This woman was everything to him, and he could hardly fathom she was really his.
Her eyes were wet with tears even as her mouth held a grin of pure delight as she met him in the center of the garden.
Kurama and Asuka were surrounded by all of their friends and family as they made their promises. Genkai married them, and her words to the couple were filled with tender love. Everyone was shocked. It just goes to show that people are full of surprises, even when you think you've got them all figured out.
After the wedding and celebrations, Kurama and Asuka returned to their apartment. They'd both decided that a honeymoon made more sense after high school graduation. But just because they hadn't traveled anywhere didn't mean their time together wasn't blissful—it was.
Despite the hiccups of not attending school for a while, Asuka had managed to get into a high school with a prestigious music program, and into a college of the same caliber. Her music career launched, and she was heralded as the heir to Franz Liszt's technique.
Asuka thought Liszt would've found this rather hilarious.
Kurama loved how everyone in the musical world made such a a fuss over his wife. After all, he thought she was the best thing that had ever happened, and it gave him great pride she was beloved by so many different people.
Asuka and Kurama had their ups and downs, triumphs and challenges, of course. Not everything was easy—living never is. But they had each other, and that is what's most important.
Koenma came to them for help a few times with different missions, and Kurama would return to the Makai on a regular basis to fight in the tournament. The landscape there was changing. All it needed, it seemed, was for some teenagers and powerful Seer from the Raekai to believe it could something more than it was.
"I think I might actually enjoy living here in sixty years," Asuka told Kurama one day. "By then you'll have beaten everyone in the tournament and will have to rule the Makai."
"Would you be my queen?" he asked.
"I'd consider it."
"Fair enough."
But Asuka was smiling, and so was he.
It was a good life. The best.
Fin.
Author's Note:
Well, that's a wrap :-). I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hadn't ever done anything like this before and I'm so pleased with how everything turned out.
And even though we're done with this particular story, Kurama and Asuka's isn't over. I've known for a really long time what's going to happen to them so at some point, I'll write a sequel.
It won't be for awhile though. I've got a couple of writing projects that desperately need my attention, and it's been difficult for me to split my focus even though the only thing I've really been doing with this story is editing.
When I came back from hiatus with Liebestraum, I had basically completed the fic before beginning to upload again. Honestly, I loved that approach. It allowed me to treat the story more like a novel, and there wasn't pressure to write chapters in the midst of editing them. When I write the sequel, I would like to have the rough draft completed so that I can just focus on editing when I start posting. Maybe nine months I can start uploading again? We'll see. But know I'll be back at some point. I love these two so much and honestly, I'm sad I have to step away from them.
So, if you liked this story and would like to read the next one, you can give this fic, or me as an author a follow. I'll post here when I'm ready to start uploading the sequel!
In the meantime, I hope all of you remain safe, and well. Thank you for all the reviews you left me. They mean a lot.
Until next time,
-Arielle
Rosentic: RIGHT? They are TOO MUCH. Thanks for all the support, I deeply appreciate it.
Tashio: Writing some one shots in the interim might be fun, but we'll see what I have time for. Meanwhile, thank you so much for all your comments. They were very encouraging.