A/N: Alright, I'm gonna answer the few reviews I got last chapter then I'm gonna head straight to the chapter.
Reviews:
ranma hibiki - Yeah, the short name works better. Rolls off the tongue easier, ya know? n.n
JustCurious - Ah, yes. The hybrid question...one I've asked myself quite often. I thought about it...and thought about it...and thought some more. And in the end came to two conclusions. Ryuu isn't going to run into anything that'd warrant a hybrid form, therefore making it sort of a moot point. And the second conclusion I came to was: Thinking hurts.
Ryan L. Spradling - You know, it's easier to read your story if I'm not being held at sword point...
Ryo's Destiny - Ryoga gets abused like he does cause he's the reason Ryuu left Nerima...then again I guess we should actually be thanking him for that, huh?
neko - I checked out the lyrics to that song and wasn't too into lyrics being used. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Okay, onto the chapter.
Live For Today
Last time I left you guys I was walking home from my pig hunt. Which occurred right after I handed Akane's ass to her.
Well, as you all probably guessed, when Akane regained consciousness she denied having lost and accused me of cheating. Which technically I did. But she wouldn't have beaten me anyway. I didn't argue with her, mostly because I wasn't around to hear her denials.
I heard all that from Sam who was around when Akane woke up. Of course I heard all about this after I got a speech from Sasha about treating women right. And "even though she made you leave Japan you should still try to be nice."
Afterwards I'd pointed out that she'd bitch slapped Akane. Sasha simply blushed in response and sent me into the kitchen to make us some lunch.
Are we all caught up now? Good.
The rest of the week was uneventful. Just full of relaxation and laziness. The week after Sasha and Sam got together and began making preparations for the wedding. I had nothing to do with that because apparently I have a bad taste with it.
I was fine being left out. Meant I could sleep late and all that. It wasn't until I was forced to get my tuxedo fitted that I had to do anything involving the wedding...
(-)
Ryuu sighed for the umpteenth time in the past 10 minutes as he stood with his arms wide and allowed the tailor to take his measurements. He had had to remove his shirt and pants, thus he was simply wearing his black silk boxers.
Sasha sat off to the side, admiring the view. Sam sat next to her and poked the daydreaming girl next to her. Finally Sam got tired of poking and hit Sasha on the head with her water bottle. Said girl lowered her head from the blow, blinked, and turned to face Sam.
"What?"
"Stop staring at Ryuu's eight pack."
"Why? He's my fiance, I'm allowed."
"That's fine and all, but must you also drool and daydream?"
"Yes."
Sam sighed again and turned to Ryuu with half-lidded eyes as if saying, "Somehow this is all your fault."
Ryuu gave a sheepish smile and shrugged, "So I rubbed off on her. It was bound to happen."
The tailor gave him an annoyed look and Ryuu responded with an apologetic smile before working on keeping his arms straight out and raised. With his arms still raised Ryuu asked, "Are you almost done with the measurements?"
The tailor nodded, "I just need your waist size and then we're finished here."
"Thank the Kami..." Ryuu muttered as he let the tailor do her job. (Did you seriously think it was guy taking his measurements? C'mon, who would've turned down the chance to see Ryuu in only his boxers? I know I wouldn't. n.n )
Once she was finished he put his pants on and was about to put his shirt on when he had a better idea. Sasha was talking to Sam and had her back to Ryuu, therefore she didn't notice Ryuu sneak up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him as he placed light kisses on the side of her neck.
"Geezus, will the two of you get a room?" Sam said in an exasperated tone.
Ryuu smirked and looked around. He noticed a dressing room off to the side and began dragging Sasha towards it, "I think we can manage that..."
Sasha shrieked in surprise and struggled in his grasp, "No! Ryuu! Not in public!"
Ryuu gave her an innocent look as she turned in his arms to face him, "But if we go in the room over there it wouldn't be in public..." He trailed off and tilted his head, "And besides, don't you wanna be pressed tightly against my rock hard muscles? I know you like that," He flexed one of his arms and gave an evil smile as Sam stuck her fingers in her ears.
"La la la la la la la! I can't hear you!" She sang loudly.
Ryuu and Sasha laughed at her as Ryuu moved to put his shirt back on. Once he was fully dressed he turned to Sasha again, "Are we done here?"
Sasha replied with, "Yeah, your tux is all picked out, we just needed your measurements."
Ryuu nodded as they made their way out of the store. It was time to decide on the wedding bands and Ryuu was coming along for the ride.
As they walked they talked about unimportant subjects. Well, unimportant subjects to Ryuu anyway. As such he was barely paying attention to Sasha's ass as it swayed in front of him and he let his mind wonder on more important subjects, like what he was going to do during the honeymoon...
"So who are we inviting from Japan?" Sam asked.
Sasha thought it over for a few moments, "Actually, I don't know. Maybe Ryuu should be in charge of that..."
Ryuu blinked and joined them in reality, "Wait, what should Ryuu be in charge of?"
Sasha turned her head towards him so she could see him in her peripheral vision, "We want you to be in charge of inviting people to our wedding."
Ryuu tilted his head, "Why? I already invited my Mom, Kasumi, and Nabiki."
"What about that nice man from the bar? Ryo?" Sasha asked.
"I can send him a letter. And while I'm at it I'll send one to Saori and Akashi..." He trailed off.
"Who?"
"Sakura's parents."
Sasha nodded in understanding as Sam gave them a weird look. Sasha noticed it and said, "Long story," Sam nodded slowly but gave her a look that promised an interrogation later on in the day without Ryuu's presence.
The 3 of them approached the jeweler's shop a couple minutes later and entered the building. The girls moved over to the display with the golden rings and stared at all the stones.
Ryuu stood next to the door staring at all the shiny objects. Sam noticed and pointed this out to Sasha, who sighed and went over to him. She waved a hand in front of his face a few times, trying to get a reaction, before grabbing his ear and dragging him over to the display case containing wedding bands.
She pointed to the case, "Any of them catch your eye?"
"I think the whole store catches his eye, Sasha," Sam said.
Ryuu pointed to one of the rings. It was a plain golden band with a tiny rope-like design that ran across the top and bottom edges of the ring. Sasha looked at the band and nodded, obviously pleased with his choice, as Sam called one of the jeweler ladies over.
"We'd like to see that plain golden band there, please," Sam said pointed to the ring. Meanwhile Ryuu made his way over to a more shiny case. It held many diamonds.
The woman nodded, "Looking for wedding bands are we?"
Sasha nodded, "Yes, me and the spaced-out lug over there are getting married. He surprisingly chose a nice ring..."
"Oh...so many shiny stones..."
A sweat drop formed on the back of all three women's heads as Ryuu stood caught in awe as the light glinted off the diamonds and various stones and gave off a rainbow-like shine.
(-)
And I stayed that way the entire time we were there, only moving when they needed my ring size. After we were done there we went to TJ's Heros for lunch. And after lunch we all went home to relax until that night's concert.
There wasn't much going on either. Sasha and me simply hung out around the house, occasionally moving to the basement for some video games and flirting. I must admit, the flirting has become more fun since we got engaged. Mostly because each line spoken seems more of a promise than a simple flirtatious thought.
(-)
"Hmm...you know, Chun Li's boobs seem to move around a lot in this game."
"You would notice that wouldn't you."
"If you jumped around more often I'd watch your boobs move and jiggle."
"It's going to take time to get used to this again."
"What? The flirting or the jiggly boobs?"
(-)
After much flirting, and lots of blushing on Sasha's part, the time for our show at the bar came. And we left the house heading towards Uncle Dan's with hopes of getting a drink before having to get on stage.
(-)
Ryuu gulped down the light green soda greedily and enjoyed the cool feeling of the liquid as it slid down his throat, "Ah! So refreshing..." He sighed and slouched on his stool.
"Who knew Mountain Dew could make someone so happy?" Sam said.
"I didn't. But then again, Ryuu has never ceased to surprise us," Jon said from behind Ryuu. In his hand was a glass of water and the ice cubes clinked against the glass as he swirled it.
"The day Ryuu runs out of surprises is the day I take a liking to the opposite sex," Mike declared from beside Sam. His choice of drink having been Pepsi the sugar was already running through his veins, Pepsi was what he preferred to drink before a show. His theory being it helped him hit the right notes at the right time.
"Well, finish your drinks guys, the show's supposed to start in a few minutes," Dan spoke as he served a man off to the side his drink.
"Cheers to a good show," Ryuu said as he raised his glass. The others raised their glasses to tap his with an assorted reply of, "Hear, hear."
A minute later, after chugging their drinks, they were on the stage and prepared for their first song. As the people gathered quieted down there was no announcement. Sam introduced the song of choice, "Live For Today," and they began playing. (Song by 3 Doors Down)
Show me the road and I will find my own
You build your bridges and I'll burn'em down
So far away and all alone I roam
I'll take my chances in the here and now
All you wonder is who's for sale
Well you won't know now and I won't tell
You're always hiding throwing up your hands
While heroes ride again
And gods only knows all the places I've been
But I love this life that I'm living in
I won't look back to regret yesterday
We're not handed tomorrow so I'll live for today
Another day and yet another's done
Spending a life living within the past
I'll take the chance before the chance has gone
You never know when it'll be your last
But you still wonder who's for sale
Well you won't know now and I won't tell
You're always hiding throwing up your hands
While heroes ride again
And god only knows all the places I've been
But I love this life that I'm living in
I won't look back to regret yesterday
We're not handed tomorrow so I'll live for today
We'll know when we run out of time
Until it's all over with
And there'll be nowhere to run
We'll never say it but we're over our heads
And we're drowning inside with all the things we've said
And god only knows all the places I've been
But I love this life that I'm living in
I won't look back to regret yesterday
We're not handed tomorrow so I'll live for today
God only knows all the places I've been
But I love this life that I'm living in
I won't look back to regret yesterday
We're not handed tomorrow so I'll live for today
(-)
As the music faded out the crowd burst into applause, just like every other time we've played in this bar. I'd never get tired of this life. But even as I knew that, I also knew that with my marriage to Sasha, things were going to change. And none of it for the worse.
(-)
Ryuu stood in front of a full-length mirror and looked at himself dressed in the tux he'd been fitted for not two weeks ago. And as he stood a realization struck him.
"Good God...I'm getting married..."
"It's good to know your mind is on topic for your wedding, Ryuu," Ryo said from the chair behind him. He was dressed in a tux as well, though from the looks of it the tux was well worn. When Ryuu had asked about it earlier Ryo had said it was the tux he wore to his own wedding.
Ryuu was shocked to say the least, it was sort of rare for a Japanese man to have a western wedding, but it didn't matter. Apparently it was shorter than the traditional Japanese wedding and Ryo had been...in a hurry...to get to his honeymoon. To say the least Ryuu now understood why Ryo had a happy marriage with his wife, Theo, and their 2 kids.
To make a long story short, Ryo wore it as sort of a good luck charm for Ryuu's own marriage. Ryuu thanked the man and turned to Akashi, his surrogate father.
"So, how do I look? Decent enough to be married to a beautiful woman in," He glanced at the clock, "20 minutes?"
Akashi nodded, his eyes shining with happiness and amusement, "You look fine, Ryuu. And I'm sure Sasha will think you look handsome."
"Geezus..." Ryuu sat down on a nearby chair and buried his face in his hands, "Who am I kidding? I don't think I'm ready for this..." He ran his hands through his hair a few times, removing the hair from its previous gelled perfection.
Akashi kneeled down in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Do you love her?"
"Yes."
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life with her?"
"Of course."
"Are you willing to work for it?"
"Absolutely."
Akashi stood and smiled down at the stressing young man, "Then you're as ready as you'll ever be, Ryuu."
Ryuu nodded and gave Akashi a smile of thanks just as the door opened to reveal his mother and Kasumi. They walked in with bright smiles and simply radiated happiness. Until Nodoka spotted her son's hair and frowned.
"Can't you keep your hair neat for your own wedding, son?" She asked as she started fussing with his spiked and blue striped hair.
Ryuu sighed, "What is your obsession with my hair, mom? Can't you simply leave it be?"
Kasumi nodded, "I'm afraid I agree with Ryuu-kun, Auntie. His hair looks quite handsome with the spikes."
"Thank you, Kasumi-chan."
"You're welcome, Ryuu-kun."
"But these spikes, they give you such a delinquent look..." Nodoka trailed off at the disbelieving look her son gave her. She sighed, "Oh, well I guess it does suite you..."
Ryuu smiled, "I love you too, mom."
His mother suddenly engulfed him in a big, rib creaking, hug as she came close to tears, "My baby's growing up!"
Ryuu struggled weakly against the hug, "Mom...need air...ribs...creaking..."
She released him quickly, "Oh dear," A light blush from her embarrassment covered the bridge of her nose, "What a way to start the day, almost killing the groom..."
Everyone in the room slowly grew a sweat drop on the back of their heads and Ryuu silently waited for what he knew would next.
"That would most definitely be bad if I want many grandchildren in the future," Ryuu smiled lightly, his mother never failed to disappoint.
A knock on the door and Mike came in with a slightly embarrassed look, "Ryuu! Xian and Jon are at it again!"
Ryuu sighed and stood from his seat, "Excuse me. I have to separate a pair of fiancées," He walked out the door and made his way down the hallway towards where he felt Jon and Xian's ki signatures. As he made one turn he spotted the two leaning against the wall in a passionate kiss.
He cleared his throat once, then twice, before sighing and producing a thermos of cold water from sub-space. Throwing the water at the couple he now stood before an annoyed Jon and a soaked, hissing and spitting, white and purple cat.
"Save that kind of stuff for the honeymoon. Or at least get a room," Ryuu said as Jon bent down to pick up the wet cat by the scruff of her neck. Ryuu retrieved a thermos of hot water from subspace and handed it to Jon to pour over Xian.
He turned his back to the couple and spoke as Xian dressed herself, "You should head to the alter and make sure everything's ready. And if you can, Xian, can you go be my personal spy for a few minutes and go see how Sasha looks? I'm curious."
Xian spoke when she was fully dressed, "No, I'm not going to be your spy, you can wait until she comes to the alter," She waited until Ryuu turned to face them again before sticking her tongue out at him, "C'mon Jon, let's head to the alter."
Jon nodded, "See you later, Ryuu."
Ryuu nodded and returned to his room in time to see a familiar black cat stalk out of the room. He smiled as he remembered a week ago when Tony had disappeared from his mind. He'd been worried, I mean, if Tony was moving onto the afterlife wouldn't he have told his charge of almost 5 years?
A few days later a black cat appeared on their doorstep. Of course it was no ordinary cat, it had blue stripes, a blue tipped tail, and blue tipped ears of course. This cat could also speak. Which, to say the least, practically scared the shit out of both Ryuu and Sasha, who had been prepared to go food shopping.
He recalled the long talk the cat had given the both of them. Explaining to Ryuu that it was Tony and then explaining to Sasha who Tony was. When Ryuu had asked why he'd left the confines of his mind Tony replied with, "I have nothing to teach you...and your thoughts kind of disturb me sometimes." Ryuu had had the decency to blush and mumble an apology before it was agreed to keep Tony around the house as "the family pet".
He grinned widely as he saw the red color around Tony's neck. Tony hated that collar, with the passion of a thousand suns. But he also didn't want to get thrown in the pound for not having any form of I.D. Tony had sighed when he had it explained to him and began complaining of the sacrifices he'd made for his charge.
"What's up, Tony?" Ryuu asked.
"Checking up on the groom," Tony answered, "How're the nerves holding up?"
"Holding up pretty well considering I'm due to get married in 10 minutes..." Ryuu trailed off as he thought about it, "I never thought I'd get married."
"No one does, kid, no one does."
Ryuu shrugged, "Oh well, it's not like I regret any of this. As my song says: We're not handed tomorrow so I'll live for today..." He hummed the tune to the song as he made his way into the room as Tony followed him back into the room.
For the next 10...(checks clock) sorry, 8 minutes, Ryuu hung out in the room with the men, as his mother had left to fuss over Sasha and Kasumi had gone to find her seat next to Nabiki. When it was finally time Ryuu walked out of the room, down the needed halls, and out towards the alter.
As the music of the organ filled the small church Ryuu became nervous. Butterflies that had been dormant a few moments now flew around his insides restlessly, causing his hands to become a bit sweaty.
Demons, rivals, perverts, and violent fiancees? Ryuu had handled them all with ease (mostly). But getting married? Now that was an entirely different battlefield. One Ryuu was very unfamiliar with and knew he'd be getting a lot of experience quite soon.
The doors opened and the bridesmaids walked in arm in arm with a guy. Sam was the first one out with Mike on her arm, then Xian with Jon, after them were Melissa ("midget") and Jason, and then Sasha.
I, wow, Ryuu's eyes widened as he caught sight of Sasha. The white dress she wore hugged all of her curves and had a silk-like sheen to it. As he watched her slowly walk up the aisle all doubts and nervousness left him. Sasha looks...absolutely magnificent... (Ha! I bet you didn't even know Ryuu knew such big words! xD)
As she came closer and finally stood beside him, he smiled widely. No more doubts drifted through his mind. It was replaced with the confidence that he'd made the right decision and would never regrets it.
Sasha returned his smile and they both held hands, unconsciously intertwining their fingers, as they turned to face the priest. Whatever the priest had to say idly breezed by Ryuu's ears as he stared at his very-soon-to-be wife through the corner of his vision.
Her long black hair had been pulled back so that only one layer was tied back by a white tie while the rest hung down her shoulders freely. The two thick strands of hair that were always died red hung loose, framing her faintly flushed face.
A moment later he heard Sasha speak, "I do," and turned his attention back to the priest as he spoke to him.
"And do you, Ryuu Mouko, take Sasha to be your wife, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?"
Ryuu nodded, "I do."
"If there is any reason that these two people should not be joined together in holy matrimony, then speak now or forever hold your peace," There was a minute of silence and the priest nodded with a soft smile on his face as he spoke to the couple before, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Ryuu turned to Sasha and gently lifted her chin with his hand, bringing her lips closer to his, before finally kissing her softly with all the love he held for her. She returned the kiss they parted a few minutes later breathlessly as everyone around them clapped and whistled.
(-)
Later, at the reception, everyone gathered for the cake. The large 3-layer cake was coated in white frosting, blue and red frosting flowers, and little figurines at the top of the cake.
It had to have been the most delicious cake I'd ever eaten...of course what happened while we shared our cake was certainly delicious as well.
(-)
Ryuu took a decent sized chunk of his piece and offered it to Sasha, who did the same for him. At almost the same time, they smashed the cake piece into each other's face and laughed.
Ryuu leaned over and kissed her, inadvertently eating some of the cake on her lips as well. When he broke the kiss he smiled and then took his finger and wiped some more cake off her face.
"Tasty," a wide smile adorned both their faces.
(-)
After the reception our friends and family saw us off to our limo and then we were driven to one of the nicest hotels in Jersey. I have to say, the honeymoon was my favorite part. (Grin)
(-)
In the background we hear Ryuu singing the song "Lovercall" as all of this goes on.
I love it when it goes like...BOOM!
Ryuu helped Sasha out of limo and they both walked into the hotel. They approached the hotel clerk and retrieved their room keys before heading into the elevator.
Now I might not be the flashiest dresser in the room
And I might not know how to look a girl in the eye
I might not have the right pick-up lines
But I'll tell you what I got
The ding of the elevator sounded and they got off at the 5th floor. They made their way down the hall and Ryuu grabbed one of the keys to open the door.
You see when I was growing up
I got the inside scoop
I used to watch all the older fellows work down the block
That's right, when they used to work I used to watch
And when I watched, I'd learn...the lovercall, baby
As the door opened Ryuu turned and picked Sasha up in the most appropriate way. Bridal style. And he walked through the door with her in his arms, careful not to smack her head on the doorjamb.
If you wanna do it, do it right
Up and down, side to side
Baby we can do it for a night
Don't hold me back
He placed her on the bed and looked to the side to see their suitcases near the large dresser. He turned back to her and kissing her deeply. She broke the kiss and pushed him away gently as she stood up. She moved over to their suitcase and retrieved something from it; all Ryuu saw was a brief glimpse of red.
She poked his chest and sat down on the edge of the bed, "You stay right here. I'm just going to get comfortable."
The sly grin on her face made Ryuu grin and he watched walk into the bathroom, keeping whatever she had retrieved from their suitcase out of his view.
Now you gotta look sharp fellows
And you gotta act right
No woman in her right mind is gonna waste her time
If you ain't on time
Ryuu undid his tie and took of the dress coat, leaving him in a long white shirt that he was in the process of unbuttoning while he simultaneously removed his shoes with his feet. A task that he was having a bit of trouble with. He unbuttoned his shirt before bending down and working on removing his shoes and socks.
Let's not talk about how I know that
I'm just here to pass down what I know to you
He was in the middle of removing his shirt when the bathroom door opened.
You see when I was growing up
I got the inside scoop
I used to watch all the older fellas work down the block
That's right, when they used to work I used to watch
And when I watched I'd learn...the lovercall baby
Sasha stood there in a lacy red, satin nightgown. It was soon thin Ryuu wasn't sure if he could call it decent. But it was there honeymoon and at the moment his mind didn't care. Nor was it exactly functioning properly.
If you wanna do it, do it right
Lick it up, side to side
Sasha walked over to him with a seductive sway to her hips and stopped before him. She leaned towards him and gave him an excellent view into her nightgown. Being so close Ryuu had finally noticed that Sasha had gone...commando.
His mind froze again, worse than before and he idly watched Sasha pout.
"All that flirting and when it comes time to keep your promise you go and freeze up on me?"
Ryuu's mouth moved but no sound came out. Sasha giggled at him before leaning forward even more and kissing him passionately. Slowly his mind rebooted and he pulled her deeper into the kiss.
He slowly lay back on the bed, neither ever breaking the kiss, and Sasha crawled onto the bed and over him. When they finally broke the kiss she smiled down at him as she knelt over him on all fours.
"Ready for our honeymoon now?"
Baby we can do it for a night
Don't hold me back
"Absolutely."
The End
A/N: W00t! (Confetti and noisemakers go off) I finally finished! (pauses) Almost. All that's left is the epilogue. Which should actually tie up any loose ends that I might've left hanging. And then the beginning of the story (the first chapter) is going to get edited to fit the actual story. THEN the story will be finished.
Before I go, I wanna give a big thanks to Ryan L. Spradling for..."motivating" me to get my ass writing. If it wasn't for Ryan you'd still waiting for this chapter. n.n;;
I hope to see a lot more reviews for this chapter than the last one. So you people better review! Or I'll make you all wait a full month before I post my epilogue. And don't think I won't do it either, cause I will, despite any threats Ryan might make. I'm a desperate woman looking for some reviews! Can't you grant me that much?
Reviews are always welcome and flames will be used to fend off the lawyers.
-Lov3the3vil