The day of the wedding came. It was a big event in Fanelia. After all, Van's older brother returned, and there was a wedding. Everyone came. Hitomi was my Maid of Honour, and Van; I mean King Van; was Folken's Best Man. After the war, Van and Folken made up for lost time. You couldn't find a better pair of brothers. I was standing in my room, waiting for my cue to walk down the aisle. I was so nervous about the whole thing. Even though we loved each other, I would far outlive him...oh well. Hitomi came in and tried to get my mind off of things by talking about all the shopping trips we'll go on while she's here.
Folken stood in front of a mirror, mumbling about how he looked like a butterfly. Van walked in and laughed at Folkens outfit.
" Shut up, Van, it's ceremonial...you're going to have to wear it sooner or later." Van stopped laughing. " To continue on that subject...who do you have in mind?"
" Well...ah...no one, yet." Van turned red.
" Come on, I can tell you're lying. I'll find out sooner or later." Folken grinned. A guard knocked on the door.
" Excuse me, sir, majesty, but the ceremony is about to begin." Folken took a deep breath and walked out behind Van and the guard.
" Don't worry, Folken, just keep breathing. It'll all be over soon."
" Yeah." Folken stepped out into the courtyard and waited at the altar.
When the trumpets sounded, he looked eagerly at the oak doors that kept his love from him. When the doors swung open, he could see Van's jaw drop. Hitomi stepped out, Maid of Honor. She was wearing a light blue gown, with a single red rose in her hand. Her gown was strapless, and went down to her feet. On her arms were the same color gloves going to her elbows, and around her neck was her famous pendant. Folken absentmindedly reached over and shut Van's mouth, whispering;
" It's not polite to stare, you know." Van threw an irritated glance at Folken. Just then, the music changed, and Embyr walked down the aisle. It was his turn to stare open mouthed.
Van reached over and imitated Folken, closing his mouth, whispering;
" Hypocrite." Folken glared at Van.
When Hitomi stepped into the courtyard, I could see Van's jaw drop 50 feet. Folken then reached over and snapped Van's mouth shut, while whispering something to him. I grinned, and saw Hitomi looking at Van. Well, well, well, maybe there will be another wedding sooner than expected. I smiled nervously, and stepped into the sunlight. I had to keep from laughing as Folkens jaw dropped about 55 feet. Van and Folken, two peas in a pod. I saw Van snapping Folkens jaw shut and whispering something to Folken, and got an evil glare from Folken. I had reached the altar. Folken was still staring at me, but I didn't mind.
" You're beautiful, Embyr." I leaned in towards Folken.
" You were expecting something else?" I grinned and faced the priest.
An hour later, the ceremony was almost finished. My knees were aching from kneeling on the ground. The priest poured the sacred wine into a glass and handed it to Folken. Folken took a gulp and kissed me with the wine still on his lips. It tasted like strawberries. Everyone cheered, and the party began.
As we were dancing, I put my idea to Folken.
" You know, Folken, we should get Van and Hitomi to dance. God knows they like each other. They're just both chicken." Folken chuckled.
" Good idea. Did you see Van's face when Hitomi walked out?" I laughed.
" Yeah. I also saw your face when I walked out. What were you two whispering to one another, anyway?" Folken kissed me and answered,
" I said that it wasn't polite to stare, and then he called me a hypocrite." I laughed, and kissed him back.
" Well, for that, I guess I can forgive you for being a hypocrite...of course, you're going to have to make it up to me later." I grinned as Folken blushed.
" Don't worry, I will. Let's form a plan of attack for the Lovebirds." Folken smiled. "My little brother, all grown up."
" Yeah, just wait till they get married. Then you'll be saying that, Uncle Folken." Folken grimaced.
" It makes me sound ancient."
" I know." Smiling, we broke apart and found Allen and Mellerna.
" We have a proposition for you." Grinning slyly, I told them our plan.
" Oh, it's perfect!" Exclaimed Mellerna.
" Well, then, let's put this plan into action." Allen rubbed his hands together with an evil laugh.
I found Van standing by a pillar looking at Hitomi, who was looking out a window. I stopped and just looked. Van looked so sad. I just HAD to do this. I grinned. I looked over at Hitomi and saw Folken doing the exact same thing.
" Hey Van. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me? After all, isn't it a custom or something?" Van shoved himself off of the pillar with his shoulder and shrugged.
" Sure. Not like I'm doing anything anyways." I laughed and smiled.
" I'm sure you were...Hitomi sure looks nice today, huh Van?" Van lowered his eyes and blushed. I grabbed his hands and dragged him onto the dance floor. A quick glance in Folken's direction showed that he was doing the same thing. Allen and Mellerna danced up to us and stuck around to make sure that neither one of them could run away. Folken and Hitomi wandered up towards us, and as soon as we got close enough to one another, Folken nodded his head and the guests formed a large circle around them. I broke away from Van, and Van looked around in bewilderment. I grinned as Folken did the same with Hitomi. Suddenly, Van understood what we were doing.
" No way, Embyr. Not in this lifetime."
" Folken...." Hitomi started blushing.
" Aw, come on you two, you know you want to. Everyone in this room knows you two like one another. So DANCE!" I pushed the two together. Van slumped over in defeat.
" Hitomi...do you want to dance?" Van was staring at the floor.
" Sure, I guess." They grabbed one anothers hands and started to dance. I sighed happily. Folken, Allen, Mellerna and I got in a line and did a victory dance. I looked over in the circle, but Hitomi and Van weren't there. I looked around the room and saw them outside, dancing in the moonlight. They were both looking into one anothers eyes.
I sighed happily and turned back to Folken, poking his shoulder and pointing to the courtyard. Folken grinned and poked Allen, who poked Mellerna, who smiled and started to dance with Allen again. I tugged on Folken's sleeve.
" Lets spy a little. Just to make sure they hit it off." Folken nodded eagerly, and we snuck outside behind a bush. Hitomi had her head resting on Van's shoulder. I grinned. They were sooooo SWEET! Then Van started talking.
" Hitomi, do you think you'll ever go back home?" I winced....bad topic of discussion Van.
" I don't know. I don't know how, first of all. Plus..." She fell silent.
" Plus what, Hitomi?" Their faces were inches apart. " Please, tell me what it is."
" I...Van, I..." Hitomi, looking very nervous, lifted her face up and kissed Van. Van's eyes opened in surprise, but closed them and kissed her back. Folken and I sighed in unison. I leaned my head on Folkens shoulder, and he stroked my hair.
" Kinda reminds you of our first kiss, huh, Embyr."
" Ummhmm." I closed my eyes. " Maybe we should leave them alone, Folken."
" Yeah." We both stood up and went back to the party.
I broke apart from Hitomi, happier than ever. I hugged her close, stroking her hair.
" Van...it'll hurt too much if I have to go..." Despite what she said, she made no effort to push away.
" This is another example that you have more courage than me." Hitomi looked up at me.
" What do you mean?"
" Do you know how long I've wanted to do that? And yet, here we are, with you making the first move." Hitomi blushed.
" I've wanted to do that for a long time too. It just seemed right to do it now. Did you know that that was my first kiss?" My eyes softened.
" I'm honored, Hitomi." I kissed her lightly on the forehead, and she rested her head on my shoulder.
" Well, I guess we should get back to the party. Come on. I'll have to find Embyr to thank her later." Hitomi smiled, and, holding hands, they went back inside.
Back at the party, the songs were just about to end. Folken got an idea. Walking over to Van, who just came back, he whispered his plan to Van.
" That'll work. I can get her back for the dance." Van punched Folken in the shoulder, proceeding to rub his hand as he punched the metal. Folken laughed and went to look for his wife.
" Hey, Embyr! I need to talk to you for a moment." Embyr shot him a quizzical look and walked over. Across the room, he could see Van talking to Hitomi. As Embyr got closer, Folken grabbed her arm and started leading her to the stage. Her eyes widened and she started to struggle.
" There is NO WAY that I'm going to sing! FOLKEN I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Folken looked up and prayed that she wasn't being serious, and on cue, Hitomi said the exact same thing to Van. Folken and Van both dragged them up on stage and cut the music. After a brief talk with Hitomi, in which Folken was sure he heard the words " He's gonna regret this one", they started to sing.
Embyr
Many nights we've prayed
With no proof anyone could hear
In our hearts a hopeful song
We barely understood
Now we are not afraid
Although we know there's much to fear
We were moving mountains
Long before we knew we could
There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe
Hitomi
In this time of fear
When prayer so often proved in vain
Hope seemed like the summer birds
Too swiftly flown away
Yet now I'm standing here
With heart so full I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought I'd say
There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe
Repeat Chorus in Both
When they were singing, it was like something that wasn't human. When two beautiful voices blend together, the result is pure perfection. Everyone in the room stopped dancing and just listened. Van was looking around at all of the guys staring at Hitomi, his eyes a fiery red. Folken patted his shoulder and told him to calm down and look at Hitomi, who was looking only at Van.
When they finished singing and stepped off of the stage, the applause was thunderous. They were both so red you could go out in pitch black and have enough light to see clearly.
" Where did you get that song from?" Van asked Hitomi instantly. Hitomi and Embyr looked at one another and said in unison
" We don't think we'll tell you." They both giggled and walked away, whispering to Van and Folken in the ear. " We'll get you back. When you least expect it, we'll be there, embarrassing you as much as we can." Folken and Van both looked at one another nervously.
An hour or so later, the party started to end. Embyr and Folken were talking to one another behind a pillar, waiting for the last people to leave. When no one else was there, they kept on talking, glad for some time alone. Just then, they peeked around the corner to see Van walking up to Hitomi. She was staring out of the window again. Van came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. She looked back as Van started to talk to her, then looked out the window again. Van leaned forward and whispered something in her ear, smiling. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he walked around and stood beside her. She smiled, said something back, and they started to kiss again, Van's arms around her waist, hers around his neck. Embyr tugged Folken's cloak, and they left the room.
" Well, I think it's safe to say that our plan worked, Folken." She whispered and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked down the hall.
" Yep, I guess it did." Folken smiled and ruffled her hair, getting an annoyed glance at him in return.
" It took me a long time to get my hair the way it was!" Embyr reached up and totally messed up his hair.
" Hey!" Folken reached up and patted his hair down. A bright light appeared in the hallway.
" Oh no, not Hitomi! Van'll be heartbroken!" Embyr was yelling at the light.
" Oh, don't worry. We're not going to send her home. We came to give you two your wedding gift, sister." Four strange voices sounded from the light. As the light faded, four ladies were standing in the hall, although none were as beautiful as Embyr, even if it was just his own opinion.
" Sisters? I've missed you so! I haven't seen you for at LEAST a millennium!" Embyr rushed forward and hugged them one by one, leaving Folken feeling extremely uncomfortable. If a millennium could go as casually said as that, then why did Embyr marry him? If she loved him as much as she said, which he was sure was true, she'd be so sad when he died. Did she really love him that much? If so, then he was the luckiest..Draconian..on Gaia. Embyr turned to Folken.
" Folken, these are my four sisters. Since they go by so many names, I'm not even going to try to tell you all of them." Folken nodded his head. " So, sisters, whatdya bring me?" Embyr tilted her head to the side and grinned slyly. Her sisters laughed and produced a bright ball of light.
" Actually, it's more of a gift for Folken, but you'll benefit from it. This," the youngest sister turned to Folken, " is the most important thing you'll ever get. This ball of energy will make you an immortal, meaning you can come through in your promise to stay with her forever."
" Really? Cool!" Embyr smiled happily at her sisters as they pushed the light into his chest. Folken felt a strange tingling in his right arm. He usually never felt anything in his right arm, because it was metal. As he watched in amazement, his metal arm disappeared, and a real arm appeared in it's place. Soon Folken was wincing as a massive pins and needles attack seized his arm.
" The only downside to that." The oldest sister grinned. Embyr ran up to them and gave them all another hug, before racing back to Folken and giving him a suffocating hug.
" Help...me..." Folken reached out a hand to the sisters, pretending (almost) to suffocate to death.
" Sorry Folken...guess I got a little carried away. Hehehe." Embyr smiled at Folken and laughed.
" Well, I guess we should have got them the castle and land instead, huh sisters?" They all laughed, and disappeared. Embyr and Folken walked down the rest of the hallway and came in front of their apartments. Laughing, he opened the door, picked Embyr up, and closed the door behind him, starting the first night as, as the priest put it, Man and Wife.