Saying the Vows
Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me - the characters anyway.
A/N: Written for The Yaoi/Yuri Wedding Ficathon.
They were bed - had been for over an hour - but because of Heero's stubborn silence, even Wufei had been unable to sleep. Heero was thinking so hard that his ears were starting to hurt.
"Wufei?"
Wufei tilted his head as a hand moved up his abdomen. Catching it, he laced their fingers together in an attempt to prompt further discussion. Gods knew that Wufei wasn't the kind to have a tête-à-tête with anyone, but if the situation demanded it...
"Let's get married."
Wufei froze.
Heero hastily started rubbing his stomach in a comforting way. He nuzzled the bare shoulder in front of him and pressed closer to Wufei. Good grief, no wonder he'd been so tense.
"I... married? Why?" Wufei replied, stumbling over his words.
Heero turned his face to Wufei's neck and exhaled slowly. Evidently, he had no idea either.
"...I want to," Heero murmured quietly after a while.
Wufei paused. He was... shocked, in fact. It was a rare occurrence that Heero vocalized his desires like this. Was he... serious?
After a long period of contemplation, Wufei turned around, his expression solemn. He shifted back to stare into Heero's set face, which seemed to be prepared for the worse.
"I'm not Christian."
"Neither am I," was Heero's instant reply.
"I hate crowds," Wufei continued seriously.
"We can have a small ceremony."
"I don't know a single thing about weddings," Wufei persisted.
"The others will help."
"What about work?"
Heero paused in uncertainty. Apparently, he hadn't thought about that point.
"We'll find a way around it," he replied after a moment, nodding as if finalizing his plans.
Wufei scrutinized the other man and finally snorted, backing off. He rested his head against Heero's chest and closed his eyes, giving in.
"I swear, if it becomes a huge thing, your balls will be on the line," he muttered threateningly.
Heero paused.
"...I'll keep that in mind."
Wufei snuck his arms into the warm cavern between him and Heero. He sighed, thinking about all the things that could go wrong.
"My last marriage was a disaster," he muttered.
Heero's arms tightened around him and pressed his closer.
"You didn't like her?" he ventured.
"I didn't want to marry, period," Wufei responded wryly. "I hope you've prepared yourself for the worse. When the news goes out, we won't have a moment of peace."
Heero sighed, then slowly rubbed his cheek against Wufei's head.
"It can't be helped," he said.
Wufei tilted his head to smirk at Heero.
"Well then, husband. If you're willing to sacrifice yourself so much for this, then I suppose I don't have the right to complain." He placed a light kiss on Heero's jaw line. "Let's just worry about that tomorrow."
Heero snorted in amusement before burrowing deeper into the blankets, taking Wufei with him.
"Yes, sir."
The next day, they told the others.
"Holy shit," was Duo's amazed response.
"I am so going to be a flower girl," Hilde'd said with a grin.
"Finally," was Dorothy's bland reply, though she couldn't help ," Trowa'd replied in lieu of Quatre, who'd been stunned speechless.
And now they sat in a downtown cafe with Relena, who was looking at them with an amused expression. Wufei'd suggested telling her over the phone, but Heero'd been sure that she'd have time to see them. Somehow, he was right.
Wufei took a deep breath, as he'd been doing since the third announcement, and turned towards Relena. She noticed his shifting and gave him a curious look.
"You can organize the wedding after all."
Wufei turned to Heero with widened eyes. Relena turned her amused gaze to him as well.
"Good," she replied, sipping at her tea. "My agenda for the next few weeks is almost empty. A distraction would be nice."
"Hold on," Wufei interrupted. "You mean to tell me that you've been discussing this beforehand with Relena, so that I'm actually the third person to find out that we're getting married?"
Heero shifted so that he was further away from Wufei's reach.
"Yes, sort of," he muttered quickly.
Wufei rolled his eyes and propped his chin up on his palm.
"Whatever," he muttered, "I don't care anymore."
Heero's sharp eyes flashed towards him. Scoffing, Wufei smirked softly at him.
"Relax, I'm not about to throw a tantrum over this."
Heero raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't elaborate.
"Now, then." Relena coughed, bringing the attention back to her. "Let's talk details."
"No crowd," Wufei offered immediately.
"No priest," Heero continued.
"No church, maybe," Wufei said.
Relena started laughing.
"So, nothing in an ordinary wedding, right?" She grinned.
"Basically," Wufei replied, smirking.
Relena tilted her head.
"Sounds fun." She took a last sip of her drink before putting on her hat. "I'll update you guys every so often."
Pecking each on the cheek, she waved happily at them before disappearing into the midday crowd.
"Well, then," Wufei muttered after getting over her abrupt departure, leaning back in his chair. "Looks like this is now officially out of our hands."
Heero ran a hand through his hair.
"I don't think we'd ever had control over it in the first place."
Wufei laughed.
"I see." His eyes twinkled as he chuckled. "Alright, then, let's go. Things to do, people to see, more tears to cause."
Heero gave him a curious look.
"Sounds fun."
Three days before the wedding, Wufei sat up in bed in the middle of the night with a panicked look on his face.
"You didn't let Relena order the rings, right?" he demanded Heero, who'd been woken up as well.
"What?" he murmured sleepily, blinking his eyes in the dark. "Rings?"
"Yes, Heero," Wufei muttered, "the rings. The wedding rings that we're supposed to wear for the rest of our lives and if Relena's gotten them, I'd die."
Heero chuckled and pulled Wufei back down.
"Relax, I've got it covered."
"No, seriously," Wufei persisted. "They don't have huge sparkly gems on them, do they?"
Heero blinked at him.
"That would be horrible. Of course not." He snorted, rolling Wufei on top of him.
Wufei rested his cheek against Heero's bare chest and listened to his heartbeat, feeling soothed by it.
"Good," he muttered, sleepy again. "I hate gems."
"You'll like the ones I got," Heero replied, pulling the blanket over them. "Don't worry about it."
And so, the first of Wufei's many worries was put to rest for the night.
The days flew by, and finally, the one they were waiting for arrived.
"I hate that I'm superstitious," Wufei murmured, almost dolefully.
Dorothy did up the last button of his vest and stepped back, scrutinizing him.
"Does that cause a problem?"
"I feel as if I'm betraying my people by not having a traditional Chinese wedding," Wufei replied, turning to look at the full-length mirror. "And this tuxedo is horribly uncomfortable."
"Don't pull on it," Dorothy lectured as Wufei reached for the bow. "And this is not a traditional wedding either, so I don't see what the problem is." She moved to smooth down his lapel. "Besides, you went to the temple yesterday to pray to your gods. Isn't that enough?"
Wufei sighed and pursed his lips.
"Doesn't matter anyway." He moved back to the vanity to pick up the folded triangle charm. "There's nobody here to organize a traditional wedding - parents, matchmakers, busybodies..."
Dorothy gave him a raised eyebrow.
"You're nervous, aren't you?" she ventured.
"Extremely."
Dorothy grinned and clapped her hands.
"Which shows your excitement. I'm happy for you."
"Thank you," Wufei responded wryly, tucking the charm into his vest. "And now, I'll just go hide in the bathroom until the ceremony starts."
Dorothy chuckled.
"Don't worry so much. It's just for formality's sakes anyway."
"Speaking of which," Wufei said petulantly, "why does it have to be in a church - besides the fact that Relena is a romantic and wouldn't stand to have a wedding outside of a church. I hate churches."
"Calm down," Dorothy said as she began to brush her hair. "It'll be fine."
"I know," Wufei muttered, sitting down as well. "I just... never thought that I'd get married again - willingly, even."
"You love him," Dorothy stated, "which makes this time different."
Wufei gave her a wary look.
"When did you become a philosopher?"
Dorothy shrugged.
"It's a talent."
He snorted, lounging back in the armchair.
"Now if only I had the talent to make things go smoothly," he murmured absently.
Dorothy turned to him with a smile.
"Don't worry," she said simply, "it'd be beautiful."
They were in the church - the chapel - and their friends were gathered behind them in the pews. Relena sat in a throne near the altar, watching as royal audience. A lot of what would've been in a traditional wedding was cut out from this one, but the organ stilled played and now they stood at the altar, staring at the stained-glass windows behind it.
Duo stood in front of them, grand and imposing. Wufei looked decidedly away from him, because he knew that Duo's seriousness would make him even more nervous. Just breathe now...
The music stopped. Heero grabbed his hand. Duo started.
"With your Queen as your witness," he said, his strong voice echoing in the church, "do you, Heero Yuy, pledge yourself to this man, Wufei Chang, for the rest of your life; to have and to hold, from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health; to love and to cherish 'till death do you part?"
Heero gripped Wufei's hand.
"I do."
Duo turned toward Wufei, and this time, there was a film of pride in his eyes.
"With your Queen as your witness," he repeated, somehow in a calm voice, "do you, Wufei Chang, pledge yourself..."
Wufei couldn't help but look at Heero at this point. He was staring at Duo. His face was set in an emotionless facade, but Wufei could see that it was cracking, and he was cracking too.
"...'till death do you part?"
Looking up slowly, he replied, "I do."
A rush of relief flooded his body. And it was joy too. He could feel the beat of his heart throbbing in his chest; he could feel Heero's too, through their interlinked hands. And he was happy. He was so happy that he didn't think words could express how he felt.
And then Quatre was there, offering them rings on a small cushion. Smiling lightly at them, he bowed minutely before backing off to the side.
Wufei, ring in hand, turned to Heero and looked into his eyes. Heero responded in kind, raising their joint hands. Feeling the sacredness of this ceremony, Wufei slid the heavy ring onto Heero's finger. Heero, his eyes boring into Wufei's, mouthed slowly at Wufei before sliding his ring on as well.
"...these rings, they are visible symbols of the love and trust you are giving to each other..."
Wufei was rooted to the spot, unable to turn, unable to let go. But that was alright, because Heero was standing there in front of him.
'With these vows, I marry you,' Heero mouthed to him, smiling slightly, and Wufei was awed. 'I join my life with yours; all that I am, all that I have, and all of my love, I truly and freely give to you.'
And then it was over; they were married. And there were people grinning up at them as they turned around. Relena's eyes were shining as she watched them from her throne; Hilde was near bouncing as she stood with Dorothy at the side; Trowa nodded at them, smiling; and even that didn't matter, because they were wedded and it was over, so nothing mattered after all.
"What are these made of?" Wufei asked Heero when they finally got a moment to themselves.
"Platinum," Heero responded, playing with his. "Durable."
"Practical," Wufei noted, grinning lightly.
"As always," Heero muttered, pulling Wufei to him by the hips. And he kissed him, because it was right, it was needed, and maybe just because.
"Love you," he muttered, nudging Wufei's nose with his.
Wufei nudged him back and smiled.
"Love you too."
The End