Disclaimer: I do not own any part of The Corpse Bride. This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter Eleven: For True Love Comes From Dreams
Emily turned, smiling sadly at him, removing her hand gently from his grip.
"I made you a promise," he said, not understanding her actions.
She carefully removed his ring from her finger and placed it in his hand, wrapping his fingers around it with her own.
"You've kept your promise," she told him. "You set me free. Now, I can do the same for you."
"What do you mean?" Victor asked, refusing to release their intertwined fingers, forcing her to stay there for another few moments to explain what she meant.
"You love each other," she said, glancing at Victoria. "I won't rob another bride of her groom."
Victor smiled, falling in love with Emily even more at her words.
He released her fingers and retrieved the ring, sliding it back on Emily's wedding-ring finger.
"The one I love is already wearing my ring," he told her.
She looked at him, obviously confused.
"Victoria and I were arranged to be married by our parents. Neither of us wanted to get married, but we agreed we could be friends. We don't love each other," Victor explained. "She already loves someone else as well," he added, almost as an afterthought.
"As well…?" Emily repeated breathlessly.
"I wouldn't have agreed to marry you if I didn't love you," Victor replied, smoothing a stray strand of hair away from Emily's face in a soothing gesture, "I was already forced into almost marry one woman I didn't love; I wasn't about to marry another under the same condition." He cupped her cheek in his hand gently. "I only ask that I be allowed to search for someone," he said, "I made myself a promise that I'd find her. Help her."
"Her?" Emily asked, confused.
"I'll explain it all to you later, but you needn't worry. I don't think I'll ever be able to love anyone else as much as I love you," Victor reassured her, feeling quite bold at that moment.
Victor heard the church door being flung open and turned to see Vincent come running into the church.
"Vincent!" Victoria breathed, rushing over to meet him.
Victor stared as his younger brother lovingly embraced Victoria.
"You're in love with my brother?" he asked aloud, surprised.
Victoria turned to him and blushed, casting her eyes down in embarrassment.
Victor snickered, then started laughing at the improbability of it all.
"Take care of her Vincent," he told his brother when he had calmed down a moment later, "She's a good woman."
"Victor? Where've you been?" Vincent asked.
"Marrying a corpse," Victor replied, not being able to resist.
Vincent gaped at him and Victor broke down into gales of laughter, not being able to contain himself at his younger brother's expression.
"What is that?" Victoria's voice asked, bringing Victor out of his laughter.
Emily lifted her right hand up, showing that her wedding glove had been ripped during all the excitement and revealing something on her palm.
For a long moment, all thought ceased in Victor's head as he stared blankly at the strawberry-colored heart-shaped birthmark on Emily's right palm, barely hearing her say that it was a birthmark and how there was a legend about such birthmarks; that the people bearing them were destined to find their true love, who would have a mirror image mark, but that she had never found him.
His heart felt like bursting, but also like it was just going to stop so that moment could last forever, but time stands still for no one - though it may be slowed, Victor discovered - and soon the moment was over, leaving Victor with only one course of action.
He walked calmly over to the alter and tranquilly poured some wine into the empty goblet which had been replaced on the alter by Elder Gutknecht, raising it to his lips in a smooth motion and swallowing the entire contents before Emily even had time to realize what he was doing, not really caring that he was committing suicide in front of his own brother.
"Victor!" he heard her exclaim, feeling her rush to his side, presumably to stop him, but it was already too late.
The poison hurt for a moment, a fast tightening sensation in his chest that felt like his heart was being crushed, causing him to convulsively exhale all his breath quickly as he raised one hand to his chest instinctively, pain making him collapse slightly against the stone altar with him using his other arm to keep himself somewhat upright.
It was over just as quickly, leaving Victor to feel not cold, or warm, but neutral. Like there was no warm or cold anymore.
He took a couple deep breaths and discovered the odd sensation of the breaths doing almost nothing to his lungs. They inflated and deflated as air entered and left them, but no oxygen was gained by these actions.
Relatively, dying had not been that bad at all.
He sensed more than heard the absolute halt his action had caused in the remaining wedding attendants, everyone watching him in shock.
He straightened slowly, turned around and ignored the light gasps he heard as he faced those present, presumably from the living in relation to his now dead appearance.
He faced Emily squarely, holding her eyes for a long moment before he slowly pulled off his gloves, holding his left hand out to her, palm up, revealing…
A matching strawberry-colored heart-shaped birthmark.
"I've dreamt of you. Always crying in the dark," he said softly, eyes glazed as he remembered his dreams. "You're the one I promised myself I would find," he told her.
He pulled her into a gentle embrace. "I am yours," he whispered to her, holding her securely against him, "and I'll make sure you never have to cry again."
Emily stood stock still in his arms for a long moment before fisting some of his waistcoat jacket in her hands and started crying.
A laughing sort of crying that sounded so happy and altogether different from what he had heard in the darkness that it made his now-still heart soar.
"It's you," she whispered, "It's you."
He murmured against her lips, "Well, I suppose you can cry if you really want to," and pulled her forward into a kiss, not feeling the slightest bit faint this time.
"I would say that you could kiss the bride," Elder Gutknecht said, looking faintly amused, "but you seem to have beaten me to it."
A/N: The last three chapters were actually written as one, but I broke it down for easier reading.
YAY! I'm at the ending! I'm going to write it as quick as possible!