Summary: Despite his better judgment, Brock agrees to an illicit affair with the Saffron City Gym Leader. That was his first mistake. His second was falling in love with her. His third was buying her a sea breeze on her birthday. Mangashipping.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
5. The Forbidden Fruit: Citrus paradisi – The Wedding Feast
Sabrina did not answer him straight away. She brought the two of them securely back to the retreat, surprised to find that the baby wasn't fighting her for power anymore – she figured that was what was happening, in fact, when she went through the doctor's thoughts she found out that psychic offspring start developing their psychic abilities 12 weeks into pregnancy.
(Later, when she was feeling a little less shell-shocked by the news, she'd question why that little titbit had been left out of her reproductive education)
"What the hell are you thinking!?" she screamed at him, pushing him away once they were back in the Ketchum-Waterflower retreat.
"I don't know," he suggested with a shrug, sounding as casual as if she was asking him directions to the nearest Pokemon Centre. "That we should get married. How far along are you?"
"About four months," she replied absently, before returning to his initial reply. "Why on earth should we get married?"
"Because we're having a baby," he told her without a single hitch in his words or a shuddering breath. "Because I want to marry you."
"How do you know it's even yours?" she asked him with a sneer, hardening her eyes at him. She knew it was cruel, saying the words just to hurt him, but in that moment her first instinct was to lash out and drive him away.
But it didn't seem to work this time – not that it ever seemed to work with him, all she'd ever done was hold him at arms length. Instead he came closer, clasping her hand in his with the same tentative care you'd use approaching a wounded Pokémon and brushing his fingers against her knuckles of her clenched fists, making her physically relax even if the rest of her remained on edge.
His voice was low and calm when he responded. "Because it is, and it loves me," he told her with the utmost certainty, not the slightest bit of doubt in his words or in his mind. "Isn't that right, little Brocky Junior?" he finished in a baby-voice, speaking into her stomach which – now that she knew that she wasn't just putting on weight – did kinda have that growing-a-tiny-human-being look to it.
She narrowed her eyes at him, not enjoying how easy this all seemed to be for him. Her next words came out sharper than she'd have intended if she was anywhere close to feeling level-headed, her anger fuelled by how non-bloody-plussed he was about the whole thing. Yes, he'd been shocked initially, but now that he'd absorbed the information, he was back to his usual unflappable self and it irked her that she seemed to be the only one freaking out about things.
"And how did you work this out, genius?" she asked snarkily.
"Because the psychic stuff doesn't happen when I'm around," he answered plainly, not even seeming to question the idea of a psychic fetus pulling crazy paranormal tricks on her.
Sabrina opened her mouth to argue, but was stopped on two counts. The first was because he actually seemed to be right, and the second was because something else was stopping her – apparently the baby didn't like mummy fighting with daddy and had made it physically impossible for her to speak.
It made complete sense. Whenever the baby had taken her to the wrong place, it had always brought her closer to Brock. Whenever it had brought an item towards her, it had always been an item connected to him in some way – a piece of clothing, a photograph, a pokeball or some other trinket. Whenever it had opened the channel of communication so to speak, it had usually been when she was around other males and usually in order to deter her from them (and thus send her to daddy's loving arms).
Although she had been having these weird psychic flashes for almost a month now, she had never had them in his presence other than yesterday, which was too much of a coincidence not to mean something. The baby growing inside of her wanted to be with its father, and seemed willing to go to great lengths to do so.
"There's no way I'm calling our child 'little Brocky'," she said finally, crossing her arms over her chest. "And if we're getting married I don't want a big deal made of it. I just want to get it over and done with."
"I'm ok with that," Brock replied, still calm and amiable as ever despite her ultimatum. He quickly laid out their options, not seeming to need to process everything that was happening the way that she did. "If we flag down a cruise ship, we can get the captain to marry us, but it won't be legal until they get back to their original port to get it notarized. Otherwise, we can have a gym leader marry us and it will be immediately legal."
"I pick the second option," she replied. "Know anyone discrete?"
Brock paused in thought. "We're not far from Navel Island, which is Danny's gym," he explained. "We can trust him."
"Ok then, let's go," she said simply, holding her hand towards him, wanting to get this whole thing over and done with before she could change her mind.
But then he paused. And for one unending moment she thought maybe he had been joking and she'd gone and taken one of his silly pickup lines seriously when he was just trying to lighten the mood and cheer her up and –
"Are you sure?" he asked her, his tone turning serious.
Her face froze for a moment as she considered his question. Was she really sure? Was this even what she wanted? Millions of voices screamed in her head with different answers, but she couldn't deny that even a small part of her wanted to marry Brock and it wasn't the rational part or the practical part that knew it was what was best for the baby. Part of her wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, wanted to claim him as her own, and that part wanted to marry him more than she had ever wanted anything before in her life.
"Yes, I'm sure," she replied, taking his hand in her own and taking them in a flash to where they needed to go.
"Hey," Danny waved at the two Kanto mainland natives that suddenly appeared in his training room. He gave them each a curious look. "Don't tell me you guys are here to challenge me for the Sea Ruby badge," he joked.
"No, well, actually," Brock began awkwardly, glancing briefly at Sabrina to check once again that this was what she wanted. He took a deep breath and continued, "We were wondering if you could perform a marriage."
Danny smiled. He sure did love weddings. "Sure," he said happily. "When for?"
"Today if possible," Sabrina replied, her cheeks darkening slightly. She looked at the ground rather than meeting his eye.
"For you two, right?" the Orange Crew member asked a little unsurely. Both nodded in response. "When did this happen?"
"About a year ago," Brock replied. He cringed slightly because he knew that Danny was smart enough to do the math and work out exactly when and where their relationship (if you could even call it that) had started.
"Ash's party. Of course," Danny said, coming to the correct conclusion as though it were incredibly obvious. "I told Koga and Mathis there was something between you two. You were pretty much inseparable the whole night. They're going to owe me so many evolution stones for this."
"Yeah, well, the thing is," Brock began sheepishly nervously scratching the back of his head in a gesture taken from too much time with Ash, "we don't want lots of people knowing about it. Just a discrete ceremony."
Danny nodded. "Today's fine with me," he told the pair. "We just need a witness, but we can go grab Nurse Joy down at the Pokémon centre. There's a nice grotto nearby if you're interested?"
"Sounds great, Dan," Brock replied, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thanks so much."
Together the three walked to the Pokémon centre. Nurse Joy was ecstatic at the prospect of a wedding and happy to be involved. She quickly whisked Sabrina away to prepare.
"Do you have a dress?" Nurse Joy asked, smiling widely at the bride.
Sabrina began to answer, blushing at how stupid they were to think that they could just show up and have a wedding just like that, but then remembered a dress that had been hanging in her closet for months now waiting for the perfect occasion. She had bought the dress ages ago while thrift shopping, having fallen in love with the cut and shape of the dress. Her intention when buying it had been to recolour the dress to something more her style - a dark violet or even just black - but she'd never gotten around to it and had forgotten all about the dress in the meantime. It was a very pale pink dress in a style reminiscent of Jackie O – slightly off shoulder with a pencil skirt that stopped at the knee and finished in a short fishtail like flounce.
She closed her eyes, teleporting their dress to them with minimal effort. She'd almost forgotten how nice it was for her abilities to just work the way they were supposed to.
"Oh it's perfect!" Nurse Joy gushed, holding her hands together dramatically. "And I know just how to do your hair!"
And so they began to prepare. Sabrina sat in her dress as Nurse Joy pulled her hair up in a beautiful, ornate seashell clip.
"Let's see," the nurse said, checking off her list. "We've got something old – the earrings. Something new – the dress. Something borrowed – the hair clip. Something blue . . . " She trailed off, looking around the room expectantly, as though, like the dress, the desired blue item would appear from nowhere.
"Hmm," she sighed. "I guess we'll just have to go with your eyes."
Sabrina nodded wordlessly.
"Are you ready?" Nurse Joy asked her, a broad smile on her face.
Sabrina nodded again. "I think so," she replied, taking a deep steadying breath.
Nurse Joy smiled wider. "Then your husband awaits."
Brock fidgeted slightly in the suit he was wearing. It was too warm to be wearing a full suit, even in the shade of the grotto, but he wasn't sure if it was appropriate to take it off.
"You'll be fine without the jacket," Danny told him. "Now stop fidgeting. You're making me nervous."
Brock nodded and took off the jacket revealing a short-sleeved shirt underneath. He pulled off the tie that he had put on it finish the suit – it looked utterly ridiculous with short sleeves.
The suit had 'magically' appeared as the girls had disappeared to get ready, which didn't exactly surprise him. What surprised him was how she had known about his grandmother's ring, which now sat in his pocket. Maybe she'd picked it up inadvertently – he'd certainly thought about her and the ring before, but it had been wishful thinking at the time. He shrugged it off, however, simply because he knew that there could be no marriage without a ring and the ring itself was always intended to be passed on to his bride.
Nurse Joy waved at the two and disappeared. Brock felt his chest tighten as Danny followed the instructions of her signal, and pressed play on a small portable tape deck. The gentle sound of flutes filled the grotto, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of his wife-to-be walking towards him clad in an off-white dress.
His heart beat wildly as she returned his smile with one of her own. He could tell she was nervous, but she was happy and that was what mattered. When she stopped beside him he turned to face her and took her hands in his.
"We are gathered here today to join these two," Danny spoke cheerily, raising his voice as though he were speaking to a whole room of people and not just those three, "Sabrina Natsume Le Fay and Brock Takeshi Slate, in holy matrimony.
"Today we share in the love of these two people," he continued. "And now Nurse Joy would like to share a sonnet with those gathered."
Nurse Joy cleared her throat lightly and began to read off a piece of paper in a soft voice.
"Love is not love
which alters when it alteration finds,
or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh no! It is an ever-fixed mark.
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
it is the star to every wandering bark,
whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
within his bending sickle's compass come;
love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
but bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved."
Nurse Joy finished with a soft sob although she continued to wear a bright smile on her face. Sabrina nodded a thank you at the pink-headed nurse even as she blinked back tears. She was touched by the words of the sonnet, and even more so as her future husband gently squeezed her hand in his own.
Maybe it was love. Sometimes it felt like it, even though she had no clue as to how love should feel. She knew that she was happier when she was around him; that she felt more herself with him than anyone else. He meant more to her than she could even begin to describe, and that thought was both frightening and comforting.
Danny continued with the ceremony, and asked loudly if anyone present wished to object to the marriage, even though Nurse Joy was the only one around to do so. She clearly had no objections, and smiled for Danny to continue.
"And now the vows," Danny said happily. "Repeat after me: I Brock-"
"I, Brock," Brock repeated, looking into the eyes of his beautiful bride with complete sincerity. He followed after Danny, his smile never leaving his face as he recited his vow. "Take you, Sabrina . . . as my wife and constant friend . . . to have and to hold from this day forward . . . for richer, for poorer . . . in sickness and in health . . . to love and to cherish . . . loving you faithfully . . . for as long as we both shall live."
Sabrina followed, her voice shy at first, but gaining conviction as she repeated after Danny. "I, Sabrina . . . take you, Brock . . . to be my friend, my husband and father of my children . . . to have and to hold from this day and always . . . to be with you for richer and for poorer . . . in sickness and in health . . . to love and to cherish . . . to be unto thee a loving and faithful wife . . . so long as we both shall live."
"Good," Danny said with a quick nod as they finished. "I always get a bit nervous around that part," he joked, "like somebody's going to change his or her mind." Nurse Joy gave him a pointed look and he laughed nervously. "How about those rings?" he suggested.
The bride and groom nodded. Brock reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold ring with a blue gem set low in the ring so that surface of the ring appeared unbroken from the side.
"I don't have a ring," she said quietly, suddenly feeling silly and emotional and wishing she could blame it all on pregnancy hormones.
"That's okay," Brock whispered, beaming at her still.
That only made her feel more weepy and emotional – that this beautiful man could be so understanding, could stand before her wanting nothing from her in return. It made her wish that she could give him everything. Or at the very least something so that the world could look at him and know that he belonged to her.
"You've given me all I could ever want," he said in a low tone, as though reading her thoughts again. His hand lightly squeezed her own, the child inside her fluttering as though in response to his nearness.
Still, she couldn't give him nothing, so she unclasped the leather cord that she wore around her neck, a Marsh badge hanging from it like a charm.
Danny spoke as they exchanged their tokens. "You exchange these tokens to wear with love and joy. As a ring has no end, neither shall the love that you share for one another. Forever bound as you speak these words: 'I choose you to be my wife/husband this day and forevermore'."
"I choose you to be my wife this day and forevermore," Brock whispered softly as he slipped the ring onto her finger.
Nurse Joy, who had been on the verge of tears for most of the ceremony, cried at the sight of the ring. "Something blue," she cooed softly, sighing in happiness.
"I choose you to be my husband this day and forevermore," Sabrina affirmed, gently holding his hand as she wrapped the leather cord around his wrist, Marsh badge and all.
"And now," Danny concluded with a smile, "by the power vested in my as member of the Orange Crew, by the Orange Archipelago and Kanto Regional Government. I now pronounce you husband and wife. I do believe it's time to kiss the bride."
"May I?" Brock asked his bride, smiling warmly at his only love.
"You may," she replied.
He stepped forward, lightly cupping her face in one hand and met her lips with his own, capturing them in a sweet heartfelt kiss. The kiss was incomparable to those they had shared before – it was soft and gentle, born of love (or something very like it) rather than lust. As they broke away their eyes locked and they shared a serene smile, which neither could resist.
Danny and Nurse Joy cheered. "Now all you have to do is sign here," Danny told them, offering them a marriage certificate and a pen. They each signed. "Now you guys are officially hitched."
"Quick Chancey, get a picture," Nurse Joy commanded of the pink Pokémon who had been busy snapping pictures through the entire ceremony, unnoticed by the happy couple.
"I'll get this filed today," Danny let them know as they all began to dissipate, "and then I'll send it to you in Kanto," he told Brock.
"Thanks Danny," Brock replied. He smiled broadly, still caught in the glow of being married.
"Don't mention it," Danny smiled in response. "So, what are you guys gonna do now?"
Brock looked at his wife for an answer and she shrugged in response. "Well, I guess we're on honeymoon now so a bit of rest and relaxation?" he suggested.
"You kids have fun then," he laughed. "I'll see you round," he added as he and Nurse Joy left the newlyweds alone in the grotto.
"So, Mrs. Slate?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in her direction. Sabrina couldn't help but giggle at the address as her body filled with warmth. "What should we do with our first day together as husband and wife?"
"Well," she drawled, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself near. "I think we should go to the bea-" she began, but cut herself off as the fluttery feeling she'd felt earlier intensified.
"What's wrong?" Brock asked her, his eyes clouding with concern.
"It's ok . . . I just . . ." she babbled, her confusion more than evident. "I think the baby just kicked," she told him, her eyes narrowed as they met his. She took his hand in hers and placed it lightly on her stomach. After a few moments the same fluttery feeling tickled her stomach.
"Was that it?" her husband's eyes widened in surprise. She nodded. He smiled and kissed her gently. "Sabrina, you know I love you, right?" he asked seriously.
She nodded. She suspected she had always known. There had always been something in the way that he held her gaze that revealed his secret as much as tried to deny it for her own sanity.
"How do-" he began, cutting himself off nervously. "How do you feel about me?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted, dropping her gaze. "I don't know if I do love you, Brock," she told him sadly, her heart clenched with guilt. "But I know you're the only one I ever could."
"I can live with that," he told her gently.
~ to be continued ~
The most shot-gun of shot-gun weddings. Obviously they're very lax about marriage in the Orange Islands.
Nurse Joys poem is Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare (v. popular at weddings).
Sorry about all the section breaks in this one. I couldn't quite resolve the shifting perspective the way I wanted to.