Verdurous Seas, Cerulean Skies

Red Strings

"You're what?!"

The outcry drew the attention of some passersby, so Melty quickly covered her friend's mouth with her own two hands. She smiled nervously at the spectators and sighed in relief as they dismissed their conversation as childish gossip and went back to their own business. "Could you not be so loud? I'm trying to keep this on the down-low."

"But—what—how—why—"

"Calm down, Amy. I told you guys first because I thought you'd understand."

"How could I possibly understand? I'm not planning to elope with my boyfriend!"

Melty rolled her eyes. "We're not eloping. We're just getting married without telling our families."

"That's the exact definition of eloping!"

As the girls continued their argument, Ledo looked over at their other friends as they congratulated Melty's flustered fiancé. Earlier today, Melty and Haru had invited everyone to lunch, claiming they had some really exciting news. After the announcement was made, no one was surprised the young man had some questions.

"Eloping? You mean marriage?"

"You guys have marriages in space?" Saaya asked.

"There isn't a place in this universe where a woman can't tie you down," Pinion said in pity of his gender. He patted Haru's shoulder for the tenth time that day. "Good luck with this one, bud. She's a spitfire, but I'm guessing you already know that."

Bellows elbowed him in the gut. "She's not even eighteen, you perv! And you…" She turned back to Haru with a stern look, making him tremble in fear of what she planned to do to him. "I don't know about you, but I don't approve of pedophiles on my excavation team, you little—"

"I'm not a pedophile!"

"What is so unusual about Haru and Melty getting married?" asked Ledo.

"Well, for one thing, minors aren't allowed to get married," explained Saaya.

"Minors?"

"People under the age of eighteen," clarified Bellows. "Melty's only seventeen, so she's just under the legal age of adulthood."

"At least on this planet," Pinion murmured. "I'm sure Ledo's people have some sort of weird regulations or whatever that prevent them getting married until they're thirty."

"Actually, there is no set age for adulthood in the Galactic Alliance. One's merit is determined by their skill set and how far they excel in training. Technically speaking, I became an adult on my thirteenth birthday."

"So that means you could have gotten married when you were a teenager," Saaya surmised.

"The ideal age of matrimony is 16, but yes, technically, I could have found myself a companion whenever I felt the need, though it is rare for adolescents to marry so young. To be honest, I was never really interested in the idea. I was too devoted to the oath I took the moment I became an ensign. Marriage seemed too impractical to me at the time since we were constantly under the threat of the Hideauze, so I never speculated it, not even when Chamber suggested it."

Pinion couldn't help laughing at that. "Even the giant tin told you to get a girlfriend?"

Bellows slapped on the back of the head. "You're one to talk. It's been three years and you're still single."

"So are you!"

The redhead smirked. "For your information, I've been seeing someone for the past two weeks." The repairman scoffed and crossed his arms, lacking a retort. "Anyway, now that we're on the subject, when are you and Amy going to tie the knot, Ledo?" The young excavator met his superior's question with a blank look. "You know, get married?" His expression didn't change. "Don't tell me you still haven't thought about it!"

"Oh my," Saaya giggled, seeing how flustered the young man became. "If anyone was going to get married so soon, it'd be you two. It's like you were brought together by the red string of fate."

"'Red string of fate'? What's that?" Ledo asked.

"It's a metaphor for destiny. The red string of fate is the everlasting link between two people who are absolutely meant to be together, through this life and the next."

"Marriages aren't taken lightly on Gargantia, so it's especially emphasized on the day of the wedding," Bellows added. "During the ceremony, the couple-to-be ties a string around their pinkies, which symbolically joins them together forever." She rolled her eyes at the notion as if were a childish custom.

"How do they know they married the right person to spend the rest of their lives with?"

Bellows leaned back against her chair in contemplation. "Hm… that's a good question, but there is no simple answer."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it really depends on who you ask, but I think it boils down to this: who do you imagine spending the rest of your days with, the one person you can't possibly live without? Who do you trust with your life—your entire being—more than anyone, and who would you in turn die for? Whose life do you cherish so dearly, nothing on Earth could compare to the suffering of losing that person forever—?"

"To put it simply," Saaya interrupted before Bellows's question could turn into a convoluted tangent, "this isn't something we can answer for you, Ledo. Ultimately, it comes down to how you feel: Who do you want to marry? Who do you love?"

Who do I… love?

Was that even a question?

With newfound determination, the young man stood erect and walked confidently up to Amy and Melty. The girls were still having at it, completely oblivious to the very deep-thinking conversation their friends just had, but their heated debate was abruptly interrupted when Ledo took Amy's hands into each of his own. "Amy."

Amy looked up at him in befuddlement. "Ledo…?"

"Marry me."

"… HUH!?"

~VSCS~

Amy stared aimlessly out the window, her eyes following the gulls enviously as they flew carefree. She remembered when her friends used to ride their surf kites around the fleet and race towards a nonexistent finish line. Now that they were maturing, they had less time for fun and games, they were on the cusp of adulthood—and it scared her to death.

She never actually thought much of it. Even as they had got older, it felt like things had barely changed. A few months ago, the girls were promoted from their courier jobs, handling more management-oriented tasks, which were much more tedious than making deliveries. While Saaya didn't mind the paperwork, Melty and Amy decided to go in another direction by mentoring new recruits. Though having kids under her tutelage did establish a more prominent sense of responsibility, it still didn't make her feel too grownup. After all, rising up the professional ladder was a part of a life that every person on Gargantia, including children, participated in one way or another. And since she and her friends had had the same job since they were twelve, it didn't feel much had changed at all.

Until Melty announced her engagement the day before. And not only was she getting married, but she and Haru were also planning on leaving Gargantia.

After the initial shock, Amy had become extremely upset. Yes, at times Melty was impulsive and a bit too mischievous for her own good, but even she had enough common sense to know that getting married so abruptly and then leaving the only place they called home was a stupid idea, even by her standards. Then again, this was the same girl who had flown a surf kite through tumultuous winds and milky fogs for hours on end. Amy had no doubt this would be the most outrageous stunt thus far. Melty didn't seem to understand that, and Amy didn't hesitate to point it out, even though it only made the strawberry blonde livid.

And then Ledo did the unthinkable: he proposed. It wasn't the most romantic gesture, not to mention it was so out of the blue, but what really tipped her off the edge was the determination set in his gaze, as if it was an obligation—another one of his missions. Considering Ledo's reform, it was an absurd assumption, but having been fired up from her bout with Melty, it made her absolutely furious. After chewing him out, she stormed off from the scene and went home (not to cry or mope or anything of the sort, of course).

"Amy, you've been staring out that window for the past half hour. Are you okay?"

The troubled girl turned away from the window and frowned at the pristine fabric lying on the tabletop. "Do you even have to ask?"

Saaya just smiled as she continued to stitch the seams on Melty's wedding dress. The younger girl was off with Bellows trying to find last minute décor and flower arrangements for the girls to hold while the boys were searching for someone eligible to secretly delegate the ceremony and marry the couple without notifying Melty and Haru's families.

"It's not the end of the world," the older girl said.

"They haven't even been together for six months! She's still seventeen!"

"That's why they decided to hold the wedding on her birthday, and that's only in two days."

Amy vaguely remembered Melty mentioning something about that before they broke out into their quarrel:

"Makes sense, doesn't it? That way he has no excuse to not to remember our anniversary or my birthday! It'll be so romantic!"

Oh yeah… "But—I—"

"If I didn't know any better, Amy, I'd say it sounds like you're making excuses to prevent Melty from getting married first; she's the only one who still hasn't turned eighteen, after all."

"Do you really think I'm that petty?"

"Are you?"

"Of course not! But how can Melty think this is okay? How can she believe I think this is okay?"

"This doesn't have anything to do with a certain spaceman's proposal, does it?"

Amy paused and crossed her arms over her stomach as she thought back to yesterday, feeling abashed for making such a scene in front of their friends. "Maybe I overreacted a little…" Saaya gave her a look that told her otherwise. "Okay, I completely overreacted. But the way he said it, it made me feel like… an obligation. He made it seem like it was something we had to do just because it's an Earth custom, like it was another way for him to fit in, you know?" She turned her gaze back to the window, her exasperation slowly evaporating into melancholy. "I love him, but… I want him to propose when he wants to propose, not when he feels he has to just because our friends decided to have a shotgun wedding."

"Melty's not pregnant."

"You know what I mean! I don't want other people to influence his decisions!"

"How do you know Ledo doesn't honest to goodness want to marry you?"

"I'm not saying he doesn't. I'm just saying… I want a proposal from my boyfriend, not from the boy who crashed down here from space three years ago."

Setting the dress aside, Saaya moved closer to her distraught friend and set her hands in her lap. "Do you remember the story our parents used to tell us about the red string of fate?"

"Everyone knows about the red string of fate. It's a part of the ceremony."

"I'm talking about the story, Amy. Do you remember?"

Amy thought back to when she first heard the story. Her parents had told her when she was so little, but she remembered the story as if she just heard it yesterday. Long ago, the lunar matchmaker god, Yue Xia Lao, linked couples together through an eternal bond by tying a red string around their ankles. The first couple he matched was a young boy and girl, but the boy was not keen on Lao's match so he scared away the girl who was supposed to be his wife. Many years later when the boy became a man, he was betrothed to one of the renowned beauties in his village. Later during their honeymoon, the boy found out he ended up marrying the girl Lao had set him up with.

It was one of the oldest stories told in Gargantia—one of the oldest stories to last on Earth—and the ancient folklore inspired the denizens of Gargantia to take on the tradition of tying red strings around their pinkies instead of haphazardly tying their ankles together. But as romantic as the story was, Amy didn't see what Saaya's point was.

"You're not… You really think me and Ledo were drawn toward each other by fate?"

"You don't?" Amy shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, Ledo seems to think so." Her eyes widened, and the black-haired girl nodded affirmatively. "Yep, he was asking all sorts of questions about fate, and after I told him the story, I saw something in him change. I think he wholeheartedly believes you two are soulmates, and he seems to have a lot of faith in your relationship. In fact, you're the only one who seems to still have any doubts. Perhaps it's not my place to say so, but maybe you need to think about what you want to get out of this relationship instead of making Ledo wait for you."

Amy felt as if she had been stabbed in the chest by one of Saaya's sewing needles. Ledo seemed like the last person who would believe something as naïve as destiny, but he wouldn't have been so adamant to marry her if he didn't think he was ready to take the next step. At least that was what she wanted to believe. She bit her lip anxiously in thought.

Why did she still have doubts? Perhaps she wasn't as ready to take the next step as he was? But why not? Was it his proposal? Was it just that unromantic? Was she really that petty?

Before she could get another word out, Melty burst through the door. "We found someone to do the ceremony for us!" she proclaimed. "Now all we need is…" Spotting her nearly-finished wedding gown, she squealed in delight. "Oh, Saaya! It's so beautiful! I can't wait to try it on!"

"Well, I still need to do the finishing touchups, and the only way I can do that is if the bride-to-be is in it." Saaya stood and held out the dress for her. Melty could barely contain herself as she took it into the bathroom to try it on.

Meanwhile, Amy looked back out the window at the gulls, feeling more miserable than before.

If Melty's grownup enough to get married, then what does that say about me?

~VSCS~

The day of the wedding had come much quicker than Amy had anticipated. Of course, preparing an impromptu ceremony within two days' times certainly sped things up, but she thought she'd have more time to keep Melty from doing something so hasty. Of course, her plan was botched the moment she began questioning her own life decisions.

As the other girls were getting ready, Amy stared aimlessly in front of the mirror, replaying the conversation she had with Saaya two days ago over and over and over again, when a hand lightly touched her shoulder. Looking up, Amy noticed that the other girls had left the room, except for Melty, who was smiling endearingly at her best friend with just a hint of concern.

"Do you want me to help you with your hair?"

"Shouldn't I be helping you? You're the bride."

"But you're the only one who's not ready. You haven't even put on any makeup." Looking in the mirror, Amy saw that she was indeed unprepared for the ceremony. Melty, on the other hand, was fully dressed, her hair and makeup all done up thanks to Saaya and Bellows. Her wedding dress was stunning; subtle and elegant, Melty was a vision of beauty. Amy was a little jealous, but only about the dress. As much as she rued this day, it still belonged to Melty.

With stubborn huff, Melty took the brush off the vanity and began doing Amy's hair. "Melty, stop—"

"No. I can't have my Maid of Honor looking like a mess on my special day, can I?" She winked playfully at the brunette, and Amy returned the gesture with a small albeit uncomfortable smile.

The silence dragged on for a while, and there was still so much Amy wanted to say. It needed to be said, she told herself, but she knew that the notion was insincere.

This isn't about the wedding, or even Melty. And you know it.

"I'm sorry, Amy."

Amy looked up at her friend's reflection in surprise. The strawberry blonde was still smiling, but it was sadder than it had been a moment ago. "Why are you apologizing?" she asked. "I'm the unsupportive friend."

"You were just looking out for me, and we had a stupid fight because we're both equally stubborn. I guess I wasn't really thinking about how you'd really feel once I told you. I just assumed you'd be okay with it, but I should've known better. You've always seen things differently than everyone else. Ever since Ledo showed up…"

The mention of her boyfriend made Amy heart clench. Her throat felt tight as she spoke again, "Sometimes, I wish I didn't see things so differently."

"But if everyone saw things the same way, then we'd be missing out on a lot, wouldn't we?" Melty stopped brushing and started putting up Amy's hair. "Ledo would think so. You two have always been so sure of everything, whether it was something as simple as what you'd make for dinner or something as big as moving in together. It's so obvious you guys are meant to be together. I want the same thing for me and Haru, but we want to do it somewhere other than Gargantia.

"You're my best friend, Amy. You've always looked out for me whenever I got carried away, and you've always supported me whenever I was uncertain of myself. Even if I had to wait a whole year for you to be okay with it, I would do it because what you think matters to me a lot."

"What?! Then why are you still going through with it today?"

"Because this isn't about me, and we both know it."

Amy bit her quivering lip, afraid once she released it she would start yelling or crying or both. Sometimes she really hated when Melty became introspective. Now all she wanted to do was curl up in Ledo's secure embrace, drift into the cerulean sky, and forget the last 48 hours ever happened.

Setting aside the hair accessories, Melty bent over and hugged her friend. Amy gripped her like a lonely child and accidentally released a sob. "Hey, now. No tears. You're going to ruin my dress," Melty teased lightheartedly.

Once she calmed down, Amy pulled away to wipe her unremitting tears. "I haven't talked to him since I yelled at him, Melty. He probably doesn't want to see me let alone marry me, not after I humiliated him."

"Doubt it. He's probably more worried than anything. Ledo loves you, Amy. And besides, you two are practically already married, so there's no reason not to accept a second proposal."

"Second proposal?"

Melty backed away from the chair as her friend looked at her in astonishment. "Oops. Pretend you didn't hear that. Just talk to him."

Amy nodded, putting aside her dilemma. This was Melty's special day, after all. "Okay… Are you absolutely sure about… this?"

The blush on the bride's cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink. "I've never been more certain of anything in my life. I love him so much."

"Then… at least wait a year before you leave."

"You just want us to wait long enough to change our minds, don't you?" Amy smiled sheepishly. "One week."

"Six months."

The strawberry blonde rolled her eyes. "Fine. I promise. Now let's clean you up." She wiped away Amy's lingering tears and covered up the salty rivers with some foundation. "There. Now no one will know."

"But—"

"You look fine." Melty smiled warmly at her. "Besides, you're not allowed to look prettier than the bride."

~VSCS~

Ledo watched the newly-wed couple as they danced under the light of the gracious moon. Haru held his bride close, muttering something into her ear, and Melty laughed, hugging him closer. Glancing over at the remaining party, he saw Pinion talking to Bellows, somehow managing to make her blush, and Saaya was talking with the minister who happily married the newly-weds. Everyone was having a great time, except for Amy, who happened to be missing from the scene.

After she had yelled at him, Ledo was so stunned by her outburst it took him a few minutes before he snapped out of it so he could go after her. However, Saaya stopped him, suggesting that providing her with space instead of confronting her after such an explosion would do them both some good. As much as he wanted to go after his belligerent girlfriend and try to comfort her, Ledo supposed if he wanted to avoid her fiery wrath, giving her space would be the best course of action. So he stayed away, and he would continue to do so until Amy was ready to forgive him.

The first day was agony. After living together for so long, Ledo was so used to the warm solace that was Amy's presence that sleep was difficult to come by. To help him from wallowing, Haru dragged Ledo around to find a minister for the wedding. Pinion was stuck with Bellows and Melty to find flowers due to the excavator's insistence, so the groom decided it would be a good time to talk privately with his troubled friend.

"Don't take it too personally, Ledo. Your proposal just caught her off guard, is all."

"Perhaps I should've been more discreet."

"Yeah, the timing wasn't so great. But simply asking her to marry you won't cut it. When you propose, you have to do it in a way so she knows that you love her." The older boy patted him on the back fraternally. "Trust me. Amy will come through. I've never seen two souls bonded so closely together."

Ledo took Haru's advice to heart and compiled a mental list of ways he could make it up to Amy. He wasn't the type to be flashy, and Amy appreciated honesty more than anything else. Only she could understand why he was determined. Though most of his military tenets were long forgotten, there were certain good qualities that Ledo made sure never to forget, and Amy reinforced those virtues; she made him a better man. He knew she deserved better, but if he could just have her by his side for the rest of his days, that'd be enough. He wanted nothing more than to prove that to her.

During the ceremony, as the couple were symbolically bound together by the little red string, Ledo looked at Amy, hoping to catch her eye. Either was she was too caught up in the ceremony or deliberately avoiding him, but he would not quit. Now, he sat alone, wondering where she had wandered off to.

"Ledo." A sudden rush of relief ran through him hearing that lovely voice he missed so much. Amy stood with a rueful smile on her face. "Can we talk?" He nodded and took her proffered hand, and the warmth she emitted rushed through him once more.

She led him up to the roof, one floor above where the covert reception was being held. They stopped as they faced the scenic view of the sea. Amy closed her eyes as a light breeze passed through, but Ledo's eyes couldn't look away from her. After a fleeting moment, she opened her eyes again, and he alarmed to see that they were glistening with tears. "Amy—"

"I'm okay. It's just the wind." She wiped her eyes, but the tears didn't stop. "I feel like such an idiot. Yelling at you like that, it was uncalled for. I'm so sorry."

"There's no need for you to apologize. I'm sorry I asked so abruptly. It's just…" Suddenly, Ledo felt his confidence waver. Perhaps tonight wasn't the right time to do this. He could tell just by looking at her that even the thought of marriage was still unnerving to her. He didn't want to force her into anything that made her uncomfortable, but he still wanted her to understand why it was important to him.

"In the Galactic Alliance, if one chooses to marry, they are assigned a spouse according to compatible traits based on a biological algorithm. That way, once they're unionized, the married couple will produce children with the most desired attributes of a standard Galactic soldier."

"So… you couldn't choose who you wanted to marry?"

The former ensign shook his head. "I never thought much of it back in the Galactic Alliance. The constant threat of Hideauze discouraged it, not to mention if the time came, I did not want to concern myself with being in a frivolous relationship.

"When I first came to Earth, I used to underappreciate the value of life and I caused so much strife. I've changed so much since then. I have so many people to thank for allowing me a second chance, so many people who I couldn't live without, but with you, it's different."

He took her hands, squeezing them with tender affection. "You were the first person I saw when I woke up on this planet. You were the one who reached out to me and taught me almost everything I know about Earth. I don't know where I would be if you hadn't been there every step of the way, and I don't know what I'd do without you now." Amy opened her mouth as if to say something, but Ledo held up a hand to stop her from interrupting. "This isn't a proposal. I don't want to force you into anything you don't want, but I want you to understand, no matter what anyone says or does, my feelings for you will never change. I love you, and I'll wait for as long as it takes to be yours forever…"

Ledo was caught off guard when Amy started crying again. He wasn't sure what he said wrong this time. He had followed Haru's advice and told her how he felt. This was not the result he expected; he had no idea what to do! But then she flung herself at him and kissed him with so much passion. His face heated up so fast he was certain he resembled a tomato. When Amy pulled back, he found her smiling and realized those were actually tears of joy.

"Yes."

"… W-What?"

Amy giggled and caressed his cheek. "These last two days have been agony without you. I guess I was scared because of how fast things were happening with Melty's wedding and all. It seemed like only yesterday we were just teenagers going on all these crazy adventures. But young or old, for better or for worse, I can't imagine going through another day without you."

Ledo smiled and kissed her fervently, the red strings binding their souls closer together.