§ § § -- June 23, 1985

"What do you think Mr. Roarke will say?" Teppo asked Leslie on their way to the main house.

She shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "I can't even begin to guess. The only way to find out is to tell him. Your mother didn't take it very well."

"Mother's different since Father died," Teppo said with concern. "I'm beginning to worry about her. Someone's going to have to look after her."

Leslie nodded pensively, and they fell silent till they had entered the foyer. Roarke was going through stacks of letters, but looked up as soon as they stepped down into his office. "Hello, you two," he said. "Have you eaten?"

"We couldn't," Leslie said, feeling a lump rise in her throat. "We had some other things that needed attention, and we just didn't think about food."

Roarke saw their expressions and set the letters aside. "Tell me," he said simply.

Leslie replied in the same spirit, although her stomach felt as if it had been filled with Air Force bomber jets. "Teppo asked me to marry him," she said, "and I told him yes. We're hoping we can have the wedding here on the island, but…after that…" Her voice faltered and gave out, and she hung her head.

"Leslie, are you sure?" Teppo persisted. "Do you want me to tell him?"

But Roarke stunned them both. "After your wedding, you'll be leaving Fantasy Island."

Their expressions were comically identical. "How did you know?" Teppo finally blurted.

The sad smile returned, and Leslie suddenly understood. "You knew this was going to happen," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "Now I understand what you and Lempo were talking about that day." Roarke nodded slowly.

"I don't," Teppo pointed out. "Maybe someone would like to fill me in."

Leslie turned to him. "I came down while Mr. Roarke was confronting Lempo. Mr. Roarke said Lempo knew the reason he couldn't destroy you, and Lempo wanted to know if Mr. Roarke was so willing to give up the most precious thing he had. Mr. Roarke said he'd do whatever it took to save a life, and Lempo accepted that. It turned out that Lempo's question was about me, because you and I are going to live in Finland. I won't be here, and Mr. Roarke's losing me to you."

Teppo stared at her for a long moment, then at Roarke, who nodded again, in confirmation. "I asked Leslie if she wanted to stay on the island," Teppo explained. "I remember the first day we came here, she mentioned to me that she wanted to stay forever, even after she came of age. I'd miss Finland, but I could easily live here. I wouldn't have to take her away from you."

Roarke studied him. "Teppo, your mother needs to be taken care of," he said. "I realize you have siblings who could do so, but I can see that as the oldest, you feel a certain responsibility to her."

Teppo nodded. "That's right. Not only that, but I'm the reason they came here in the first place, and Lempo or not, I was still the instrument of my father's…of what happened to him. It is my responsibility to see that Mother is cared for and that she'll be all right. I feel this obligation very strongly, and I don't believe it would be right for me to foist it off on my brothers and sisters."

"Yes, I understand," Roarke said. He looked at Leslie. "You have known each other merely two weeks, you know. Are you completely certain this is your decision?"

Leslie said, "Most people who fall in love here do it over the course of a weekend. That's only two days. I wanted to be sure about it."

"My cautious daughter," Roarke said, gently teasing. She smiled wanly back, and he cleared his throat then and addressed them both. "Of course, you may have the wedding here on the island. Julie and I will be happy to help you; and if there are any Finnish wedding customs you or your mother would like to employ, Teppo, by all means, let us know what they are and we'll gladly accommodate you. I ask only that you let me know as soon as you've decided what you want to do and where you would like to hold the wedding."

As it turned out, there was only one thing to be added to the wedding, and it was a very odd request from Teppo's mother. "It's a family ritual," she explained to Teppo, Leslie and Roarke on Monday morning in the main house. "At the wedding, during the vows, the bride and groom shed tears which are collected in a small vial. The bride keeps this vial throughout the marriage."

"A family ritual?" Teppo echoed, staring at her. "Mother, you never mentioned that before, and I've never seen it at any family weddings."

Tellervo got a stubborn mien about her. "It was an old ritual that goes back in my family for generations," she said firmly. "In the last century or so, it began to fall out of favor; but I want to bring it back." She went to her son and framed his face in her hands. "Please, Teppo, this is all I ask of you. Do it for me, I beg you."

Leslie, startled and slightly alarmed, looked at Roarke, who had been watching in silence with only a raised eyebrow betraying his reaction to the request. Roarke caught her gaze and smiled slightly, but still said nothing. She bit her lip and turned back to Teppo when he touched her shoulder to get her attention.

"Leslie, kulta, what do you think?" he asked. "It's going to be your wedding too, and for this to be included, we should both agree to it. But if you don't want it, then…"

Leslie canted her head to one side and regarded Tellervo, who watched pleadingly, then Teppo, who gave her a reassuring smile. Finally she shrugged. "It's a small thing," she said. "If it makes you happy, Mrs. Komainen, then we'll do it. Although," she added with a teasing grin, "I don't know if I'm going to be able to cry on cue."

They all laughed, and Teppo admitted, "I'm not sure I can either. I suspect it'll be easier for you than for me, though. After all, don't all women cry at weddings?" She gave him a playful swat on the arm, and they laughed again. "Okay, all right. Why don't we get on with the plans."

And so it was that on Wednesday, June 26, 1985, half the island turned out for the wedding of Teppo Komainen and Leslie Hamilton. Even Tattoo had flown back, admittedly on extremely short notice, for the wedding, bringing Solange and their young son, Patrick. Thus, it was Tattoo who walked Leslie down the aisle, where Roarke waited to perform the marriage ceremony, with Teppo and Tellervo Komainen standing nearby. The latter held a five-ounce perfume bottle that would serve as the container for the tears.

Leslie's friends and their families were all there; so were all of Teppo's brothers and sisters, as well as his cousin Tarja and her boyfriend, the Kalevala scholar Launo Haavisto. Quite a few of Roarke's many employees had been given either a full or partial holiday to attend the wedding; those who were involved in the preparation and execution of the event were being paid time-and-a-half as a token of appreciation.

Roarke spoke the ceremonial words quietly, yet there was such a hush that everything he said was heard clearly. When it came time for Teppo and Leslie to repeat their vows, Roarke's prompting voice trembled ever so slightly, and Tattoo actually brushed away a tear. It was enough to get the waterworks flowing with Leslie, whose voice was thick with emotion as she repeated the vows. Tellervo caught her tears in the vial, causing a confused stirring in the crowd. Leslie bore this in silence, waiting till Tellervo had stepped back before quickly brushing at her tears.

Roarke turned then to Teppo and continued with the ceremony: "…for better or worse, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live…till death do you part?" He hesitated before adding the final phrase; there had been a peculiar stillness in the air. No one else seemed to have noticed; Teppo said "I do" in a strong, clear, sure voice, and Roarke put the odd moment in the back of his mind to mull over later. Meantime, Tellervo stepped forward again and collected some unexpected tears from her son, who looked a little surprised at having shed them. Again the crowd stirred and murmured quizzically. Tattoo eyed Roarke questioningly, his face a mask of puzzlement, and Roarke leaned down far enough to whisper to him, "Later, my friend."

With inordinate reverence, Tellervo involved herself in capping the vial tightly, while all other eyes fixed on the bride and groom when Roarke said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife." The newlyweds kissed, and a giant cheer burst out of the crowd and carried across the huge yard of the MacNabb house, where the wedding was being held.

Sometime later, at the reception, Tattoo finally got a chance to ask Roarke about the groom's mother's peculiar performance. At that point there was a slow dance going on, with Teppo and Leslie right in the middle of the dance floor; so Roarke was able to explain to his former assistant and longtime friend what Tellervo had been doing. "But why would she want to do that?" Tattoo asked, spotting Teppo's mother at the other end of their long table, talking earnestly with a couple of Teppo's siblings. "There must be some reason for it, and it looked like she was planning to keep those tears for a long time."

"The vial isn't for her, my friend," Roarke said. "As she explained it to us a few days ago, it will be Leslie who keeps it through the duration of her marriage."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain what it's for in the first place," Tattoo persisted.

Solange, who sat nearby, had overheard most of this, and finally put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Tattoo, mon chér, maybe you'd better give up this line of questioning. I'm sure Leslie's mother-in-law has her reasons, whatever they are."

Roarke smiled at her. "That's all right, Solange, because I myself am quite mystified as to Mrs. Komainen's motives. Teppo has expressed the concern that she has changed since her husband's death, and he was as surprised as anyone else when she requested that the ritual be performed. I have my suspicions about its alleged venerability, but I have no way of finding out the truth."

The dance ended then and the music came to a halt, sending the dancers back to their seats. Then the best man – the older of Teppo's two younger brothers – stood up and raised his glass. "To my brother and his new wife," he said, saluting Teppo and Leslie with the glass. "May they have a long and happy life together, free of all demons."

Roarke frowned heavily, visited abruptly by a strong thread of foreboding. The air grew still again, as if time had paused for an instant, before a cheer arose and glasses were lifted all over the room. Tattoo caught sight of the expression on Roarke's face, frowned in curiosity, but said nothing; and the party continued.

‡ ‡ ‡ -- June 27, 1985

The charter plane banked and soared higher into the sunny summer sky as Roarke and Tattoo watched, both shading their eyes with their hands. Not till even its drone had faded completely away did Tattoo turn to his former boss to say something, only to find him wearing that same expression of what he felt could only be called dread.

"Boss, what's the matter?" Tattoo asked.

Roarke turned to him, eyes curious. "What makes you say such a thing, my friend?"

"That look on your face. Like you're worried about something. I noticed it at the wedding and the reception, too. It just made me wonder if you know something you didn't want to tell Teppo and Leslie about."

Roarke was very quiet as he and Tattoo started for the car that would take them back to the main house. "I had a strange feeling of foreboding," he finally admitted. "I don't know its meaning, but there is one thing I do believe."

"What's that?" Tattoo prompted after Roarke had let several seconds elapse in silence.

"That Leslie's happiness is a fragile thing," Roarke murmured slowly, half to himself and half to Tattoo. "As though she had not already suffered enough tragedy in her young life…no, it's too difficult to see. I can sense only shadows."

"Do you think Leslie will be all right, boss?" Tattoo asked, reluctant to voice the question for fear of the reply. But Roarke merely shook his head with a fog of confusion in his dark eyes.

"Time will tell, my friend," he said distantly. "Time will tell."

TO BE CONTINUED…

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The references to Cindy in Chapter 4, Pepper the parrot, and Leslie's memory of Tattoo's kidnapping in Chapter 6 are taken from a "Sunday Special" episode (one of two such), story arc "Cornelius and Alphonse," original airdate May 6, 1979, with guest stars Red Buttons and Billy Barty, and Kimberly Beck as Cindy.