This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.
Chapter 4: The Wedding
{That was some wedding.}
"Knock knock."
The door opened without getting the permission that was thought automatic by the entrant.
"Are you ready?"
Rouge poked her head in the ajar door and looked inside. Standing in front of a huge ornate mirror was the girl of the day. Bunnie only twisted her head slightly to acknowledge Rouge's presence, instead of turning around to see her.
"Oh, hi, yeah, Ah'm just finishing up."
Rouge walked in and closed the door behind her. Rouge wasn't wearing her normal outfit, but was instead wearing a woman's dress business suit, colored a light purple with black trim; she looked like she was off to a big meeting instead of a bar that her leather jumpsuit implied, but the bat's wardrobe was nothing compared to the rabbit's.
Bunnie was facing the mirror, looking at herself in the long white gown that shined in the bright lights of the dressing room; it was decorated with white lace patterns of flowers all over the bell shaped dress. The top half was made of the smoothest silk and came up past her chest and under her arms, completely covering the round bubbles of her breasts and her belly. Her arms were covered from her shoulders to her knuckles by more white silk that started the trip from a large frilly pillow of silk wrapped around her shoulder that clipped to the halter just under the arms. To finish the ensemble, a veil was laid on her head with her ears tucked underneath it; a long train ran down her back and almost three feet past the floor, and a piece of semi transparent white was crudely folded over her head, instead of down her face.
"You look beautiful, honey." Rouge turned to an attendant who was helping dress up the bride. "A nice job, Hershey. Would you let us be alone for a bit?"
The cat bowed without a word and quietly left the two alone.
"You look magnificent." Rouge whispered while she fluffed up Bunnie's shoulders.
"Thanks."
"You make such a pretty little bride."
The bat sighed, a few images swimming through her head, plotting out the rest of the evening, or wondering how she would appear in the pure white garment, with or without the extra load.
"Are yah alright?"
"Oh yeah, just fine. But this is your day, so don't worry about me."
"Right."
"You don't sound too happy, anything you want to tell me? You're not getting cold feet, are you?"
"No, but Ah've got a weird feeling in my stomach, and its not the baby. Just some butterflies, that's all."
"I guess that's to be expected; getting married is a big change. After today, nothing will be the same."
"Married life, motherhood, Ah hope Ah'll be alright. Yah think Ah can do a good job, right?"
"Of course, I know that you'll be an awesome mother. And you'll have Shadow with you; I know he seems gruff at times, but he has a good heart under that garish exterior."
"And what about yah, yah've been growing more distant lately."
"Me? Well…" Rouge was hesitating the moment that she'd have to reveal her plans to Shadow and Bunnie. She had talked with Shadow earlier, he was easy; but with how timid and emotional Bunnie was, Rouge wasn't sure how to break it to her. "I'll be leaving."
"Yah're leaving?"
"Yeah, you don't need me around."
"Yah mean yah'll get your own house, and…"
"No, I mean I'm leaving Mobotropolis."
Bunnie's heart skipped a beat. "What?"
"Bunnie, I can't stay here, it's time I left and found a new life of my own; to leave you and Shadow alone."
"Yah can't leave."
"Bunnie, what the three of us had was unique, and very special; but once kids enter the picture, things start getting… complicated. It's for the best that I leave."
"But Ah owe yah so much. It's because of yah that Ah had the nerve to tell Shadow how Ah felt about him."
"I'm sure you would have told him if I wasn't around."
"But yah've been so helpful over the last few months, and Ah've learned so much from yah. Like how tah act like a mature woman, how tah drive, and how sexy an open men's shirt and a thong are."
Rouge giggled. "I'm glad to hear I've been such a good teacher, but at some point a student has to go out on her own. It's time for this teacher to let you go."
"Is it the bet? Is that why yah're leaving?"
"No Bunnie, it goes far beyond that; there's no way I'd do something like this over a stupid bet." Rouge was starting to remember the bet she made with Bunnie many months ago, and exactly what was going through her mind when she made it.
"Then Ah'm not going through with this."
"W-what?"
"Ah don't want yah to leave because of me; how can Ah get married if it means losing one of the best friends Ah've ever had."
"Bunnie, you're not thinking right; Shadow is more important than I am, you can't just throw this away." Rouge was starting to get teary eyed and had to sniffle back a drop. "You'll get married, raise a nice little family, and you'll love each other until 'death do you part'."
By now, Rouge was crying.
"Rouge?"
Rouge shook her off. "It's… it's nothing."
"What is it?"
The bat took in one big sigh to shake herself back. "I never told you, did I; I told Shadow a while ago. When I was young, my father… ran out on me. He left my mother alone to raise me, and I never saw him since; I don't even remember what he looks like, I was just too young. He walked out on us, and it was hard. My mom struggled to raise me, to give me a good home, often relying on handouts from the neighbours; half the time I'd sleepover at a friend's house, because my mom was working late at some drab minimum wage job."
Rouge took Bunnie by her arms. "Now you listen; you're going to marry Shadow, and he's going to be a great husband to you, and father to your child."
Rouge reached up to Bunnie's head and pulled the veil over her face.
"What's this thing for?"
"It's tradition. The groom is not supposed to see the bride on the day of the wedding before they're married; it's bad luck, and in this day and age, a couple needs all the help they can get."
Rouge stepped back and looked at the rabbit. "There, you're perfect."
"Thanks."
"Now, the bridesmaids should be here in a minute, and I got Geoffrey to give you away, so he'll walk you down the aisle. He's with Shadow now, I'll have to go get him."
"Uh, Rouge?"
"Yes?"
"Why aren't you mah bridesmaid?"
Rouge took a deep breath before answering. "There's an old saying, 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride'. I promised myself a long time ago that I would be the bride, never a maid."
Bunnie didn't understand the answer. "What does that mean?"
"I hate coming in second. I hate being a little peon for a queen. I've had this fear that if I ever accepted being anything less that number 1, that'd I'd never get my chance. I've lived my life in the gutter and it took a lot of work to go get where I am, and I never wanted to be pulled down again."
Truth be told, Rouge didn't understand her answers either. She was making all this up because the thought of being the bridesmaid at Shadow's wedding instead of the bride was tearing her apart; but she wouldn't dare let that on to anyone, especially Bunnie.
"So yah wanted tah plan the wedding instead?"
"Hey, I love the power; bridesmaids don't give orders, but the wedding planner has everyone following their every word. Besides, I look horrible in seafoam green."
"We could have picked another color."
"Are you kidding, the first role of the bridesmaids is to make the bride look ravaging, by wearing crap that no one would be caught dead in."
Bunnie laughed.
"That's what I wanted to hear. This is the best day of your life, it should be the happiest, not the saddest."
"Then why are yah crying?"
"I just get so emotional at weddings. Now you go out there, and knock 'em dead, kiddo."
Rouge wiped a tear away as she turned away from Bunnie one last time, and went out the door.
Bunnie stood there, alone, awaiting her entourage. "So, Ah'm finally going through with this; Ah'm going to marry him."
Rouge walked down the hall. "So, I'm finally going through with this; I'm going to give him up."
The large hall in the east wing of the palace was completely packed; rows upon rows of seats were crammed with people from the city and a few visiting dignitaries.
The entire hall was painted white, just for the occasion, with large pink bows and ribbons tied between the columns that ran along the left and right sides of the large room; the columns themselves were also for decoration, made of plastic that were installed just for today. Running up the middle of the hall was a strip of red that started at a podium at the front and led out of the hall on the other end.
Standing at the podium was Queen Sally, wearing her gold crown and a large purple robe with gold trimming at the ends of the sleeves and the bottom; she was waiting for the ceremony to start, occasionally chatting with Shadow who was standing in front of the podium. The hedgehog was unusually dressed in an icy white tuxedo instead of just running shoes and gloves.
Rouge was sitting up front right just behind Knuckles who was standing at attention as the ring bearer; in the seat next to her was Tikal, each of them were holding one of the echidna's twin girls.
"It's beautiful, Rouge. You've really outdone yourself; our wedding was nowhere near as lavish as this."
"Thanks, but Sally is footing the bill, so that left a lot of room for excessiveness."
"But at least you kept it from turning gaudy."
"If I wanted gaudy, we'd be in Vegas with an Elvis impersonator performing the ceremony."
"I've heard of those; a justice of the peace and wedding singer all in one. You should be very proud, but tell me, why is Shadow wearing a white tuxedo? Isn't the traditional color supposed to be black?"
"And under normal circumstances I would have gone with black, but Shadow's fur was darker than any fabric we could find; even the blackest tuxedo in the city looked gray compared to him. So I went with white. I suppose I could have made Bunnie's wedding dress black to complement it, but I didn't want her to look like the bride of Frankenstein."
Rouge looked past Knuckles to Shadow who was standing there patiently, like a statue that couldn't move. Even though she was right there, he made no attempt to talk to her. The two had already spoken, and it was quick and to the point. They talked about the good times they had, Rouge said she was leaving, and they wished each other good luck. In a way it made them a perfect pair, they almost instinctively knew each other inside and out; but for them to part ways, it was unbearable. Rouge had this feeling of emptiness that there was something more that needed to be said, but it was all laid out, and no more words were left on either's tongue. If only he could have been more stubborn like Bunnie, never really accepting what fate had in store; even though there were things left to be said, both Rouge and Bunnie had talked to their peace and were satisfied.
As Rouge looked on, a wailing instrument churned in the background, wafting a familiar theme in the air. The entire congregation silenced very quickly, and all eyes turned to the rear. At the back of the room two people slowly walked through the main door. Right in the center of the aisle was the girl of the day, wearing the beautiful wedding gown that flowed from the form to the floor. Bunnie was holding a large bouquet of white and red roses before her and had her right arm hooked out and held by Geoffrey, who was also wearing a black tuxedo.
As the pair came out, more people could be seen behind the bride. There was Amy and three other girls, all wearing the same odd green colored dresses, each with a large bouquet of red roses. When the four bridesmaids entered the hall, one more came in; a small character in a bight white and red dress with a basket of flower petals. The flower girl picked out bits of flora and scattered them wherever she stepped. It all looked perfect, except the flower girl had a very odd complexion; her face was made of metal with glowing yellow eyes and a fiery red mouth that was locked in a perpetual smile.
The whole entourage took two minutes to fully walk down the long aisle. When they reached the end, Geoffrey moved to one side to allow Bunnie to approach the podium and take her position next to the groom; the bridesmaids and the flower robot stood a few feet back as well. Bunnie stood in position, not shifting her head from straight forward; she didn't move until Sally started her spiel, for which Bunnie turned her head to see the Queen through the veil.
"We are gathered here today to witness the union of this hedgehog and this rabbit in the bonds of holy matrimony. It is a sacred vow that Shadow and Bunnie shall make to declare their undeniable love for each other and to recognize that they are incomplete without the other. Their union, is a reminder to all that have come before and all that shall come after, that no one walks on this world alone. If there is anyone here today that has any reason that these two should not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace."
Sitting in the front row, Rouge froze; this moment was what she feared the most, for it was clinch time, for herself. Rouge had a horrible number of butterflies in her stomach; even though she worked so hard for this wedding, secretly she almost wanted everything to come crashing down. She wanted Shadow for herself and almost couldn't contain herself from jumping up and screaming "No, he'll marry me instead!" As she sat there, there was only one thing that she could think of otherwise.
{Damn it Sally, what are you waiting for?}
Rouge was squirming in her seat, while silence filled the air.
"Shadow, do you take this rabbit to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to honor, for as long as you both shall live?"
Shadow took in one very quick breath and reached into his gut to force out the words without hesitation.
"I do."
"And do you, Bunnie, take this hedgehog as your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to honor, for as long as you both shall live?"
Rouge looked intently at Bunnie while waiting for the answer; each micro-instant between Sally's question and Bunnie's answer seemed to pass like days.
{C'mon Bunnie, don't do anything stupid now.}
Bunnie took a breath as she prepared to answer, but Rouge was counting her heartbeats; with everyone silent, it was all she could hear.
"Ah do."
Rouge let out a breath of relief with a fairly audible sigh, or at least she heard it. Rouge wondered if anyone else heard her, but even if they did, no one around seemed to shift their focus from the activity at hand. Certainly Sally didn't notice, as she continued the ceremony.
"The rings please."
Knuckles brought two gold rings and handed them to Sally, who distributed them to Shadow and Bunnie.
"Shadow, repeat after me. 'With this ring…'"
"With this ring…"
"I solemnly swear my eternal loyalty and love to you."
Shadow placed the ring on Bunnie's extended finger.
"I solemnly swear my eternal loyalty and love to you."
"Bunnie, repeat after me. 'With this ring…'"
Bunnie choked a bit, but recited the line with a clear voice. "With this ring…"
"I solemnly swear my eternal loyalty and love to you."
Bunnie placed the ring on Shadow's extended finger.
"I solemnly swear my eternal loyalty and love to you."
"Then by the power vested in me, as high monarch of the kingdom of Mobotropolis, do announce you as husband and wife; and may no one question or deny your bond. You may now kiss the bride."
Shadow and Bunnie turned towards each other. Shadow reached up and pulled the veil over Bunnie's head. There she was, Mrs. Shadow the Hedgehog, the lovely belle that he was now tied to for the rest of eternity. He had seen that face so many times, he had loved her for many months, but now it was all different, now they were married.
He leaned forward and down and she tilted her head up as their lips came together, for what was definitely not the first time, but it seemed like the first.
"It's a shame that you're leaving us." Sally was in the front of the palace, seeing Rouge off; she was accompanied by Comet, who was now walking about, with a little help from a balancing hand from mom.
Rouge made one stop in front of the castle to say goodbye to the queen, and to pick up her long overdue payment.
"Are you just saying that because I'm taking a chunk of the treasury with me." Rouge closed the trunk of her car, filled to the top with gold and jewels; there was nary a free cubic inch for even the smallest handbag.
"Are you sure it can handle the weight."
"Of course, she's a custom job; built for speed, strength and style. I could drop a ton of bricks on her and not even scratch the paint."
"Gee, why would you need a vehicle like that? How often do you get to test the shocks?"
"Some advice to you, your highness; being snide is unbecoming a monarch, and you're not very good at it."
"I do recall pulling a good one on you when we first met."
"Oh right, I ended up with mud on my face, and a metal spike in my belly; lot of laughs there." Rouge had a brief laugh. "I'm gonna miss you, your highness."
"And what about Shadow and Bunnie? You're not going to wait until they get back?"
"I've said my goodbyes at the reception. It's best I get out of their way; I don't want to be a burden, or worse. If I don't leave now, I'll never gather the courage needed to do this." Rouge decided that there was no point crying over spilt milk, and it was time to lay out her future. Rouge leapt over the door and slid into the driver's seat. "Well, that's it; I'm off. Sally it was certainly something special."
"I hope everything works well for you."
"With that cash, I can buy happiness."
Sally smiled, then looked down. "You want to say 'goodbye'?"
The queen reached down and picked up Comet. "Say 'goodbye' to Rouge."
"Babye."
Rouge giggled. "Babye."
The bat waved to the toddler before Sally set him back on the ground. Sally pulled Comet away from the car as Rouge started the engine. She gave one last nod to Sally as the car pulled out. From that point on, Rouge didn't look behind her, she didn't turn her head or glance in the rearview mirror; there was only one thing Rouge wanted to see and that was the road before her.
Leaving Mobotropolis was one of the hardest things Rouge ever did, second only to remembering that dark day.
How ironic that the best day in Shadow and Bunnie's life was the worst in Rouge's. The bat loved those two so much, but deeply hated them for this one event; and she hated herself even more for even thinking such vile things.
