A/N - I'm sorry it took me so long to update this! I love all of you that review my storyyyyy~ x3 Thank you so, so much. On another note, after this story ends, a new one will begin. The poll on my profile decides which pairing it will be! ^^ Unfortunately, there is a tie, so a new poll will be made to break the tie. Vote on it if you'd like to read the new story!

Everyone who reviewed more than once gets an internet cupcake -they're the pretty muffinx xD-. There were a lot of you, but nm-maximumride4eva and sunshine loving devil were super awesome!

Memories of You

Chapter14

Nudge POV

I glanced into the mirror in front of me, as I gazed deeply into the eyes of my reflection, studying myself. After so much talking about it, and my own fantasies of this day for years, it was finally happening. Everyone was bustling around me, playing with my hair or preparing things, but I was strangely calm, like being in the eye of the hurricane.

So much had happened to me, all in the course of a few months. I'd almost lost Iggy, and all the memories of him. More importantly, I'd almost lost all of them completely! But Angel had saved me, and Iggy had saved me, and my family had saved me. I'd met some horrible people, but I'd also made friends.

The memories drifted away every few days. I knew what was happening, and I'd try to figure out where I was, even who I was, but I just couldn't, and it wasn't my fault. Every time it happened, Angel had all my memories with her. All she had to do was touch me, and I'd know where I was, and I'd be home again.

Once or twice, I woke up to remember nothing, and ended up wandering out of the house, always having to be retrieved by the flock. They didn't mind doing it, although I sometimes felt like a bother. But every time I had doubts about staying with them, Iggy would make it go away.

It wasn't always easy, but I was going to do everything I could to stay with my family and live a normal life. Of course, we all knew that the flock would never be completely normal, not by a long shot. But at least we could try, laugh, live and enjoy ourselves. Sometimes, it wouldn't be hard. And this certainly wouldn't be our last adventure.

Four years ago, Max had saved the world. We were all there to help her, but she was the one who really did it, just like we all knew she would. It wouldn't have been right if she hadn't, but we were all there supporting her.

It was strange to think that years after all of our problems were supposed to be over, I had gotten to have my own adventure. It wasn't anything great like saving the world, but it was enough for me. This time, I hadn't been so sure that we'd get past it, or even make it out alive. It was the worst thing that had ever happened to me.

But it was also the best.

I looked into the mirror, seeing all the people around me. Today would be one to remember.

Max POV

I finally had my dress on, and even I had to admit that it was gorgeous. It was all Nudge's doing, she always knew how to shop, for sure. My hair hung in fine silky curls that framed my face and shoulders, and I was nearly killing myself in the high heels, but I would live.

So I suck at puns, don't shoot me. But it was really beautiful, actually. We were under a white tent, where the girls were getting ready, and the guys had one of their own. Outside, chairs were being set up in a garden owned by the city, and soft violins were playing as the people playing them prepared for the ceremony.

The late-summer wind picked up around me and blew my hair lightly, my feathers ruffling slightly at the breeze. That's right, my wings were fanned out behind me without a care in the world, and there were no ninjas attacking me or weird old men throwing knives.

Around a month and a half ago, the flock had picked everything up and moved to California, back to the very place of horrors we had experienced. When we were there for normal reasons, it was generally more peaceful for us. But if we wanted to be ourselves, and not have to hide, we had to come out and tell the world who we were.

So that's what we did. We explained that we weren't going to hide anymore, and we were willing to be ourselves without ridicule. For a few weeks, it was all people talked about, and we were stuck in our house, hounded by reporters and irritated to no end. We were on the front page of newspapers in India. All over magazines, the news, it seemed like we would never escape.

But, as always, something comes along that the press like better, that's new and fresh, and exciting. This something happened to be the unexpected death of Miley Cyrus. She was hit by a car. It was quickly blown up into more extravagant news as a rumor circulated that Nick Jonas was the one driving the car.

After that, the only people who noticed us were our neighbors. And although we sometimes caught people staring us, sending us sideways glances when they thought we couldn't see, we could wear our wings around, freely. It felt so right, so wonderful. It was just what we had always wanted.

I stepped out into the bright sunlight, letting the sun shine softly on my hair. I enjoyed a moment of pure peace before I was interrupted by Iggy. He was panting and sweating, and I could tell he'd been running. "Where were you?" I asked. "It's starting soon, and you're not even dressed properly yet!" I eyed his jeans and t-shirt.

"I guess I'm just nervous," he admitted with a shy smile. "You actually look pretty, by the way," he added as an afterthought. I rolled my eyes.

"You're too kind," I said wryly. "Look, just go to the other tent. They're already taking care of Fang, I'm sure they'll be able to do…something with you," I said in mock distaste. "Go!" I shooed him away, walking back inside the tent. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, taking the small plastic ring from the chain on my neck –identical to the one Nudge wore- and compared it to the fancy ring Fang had given me.

I wasn't sure which I liked more.

Nudge POV

I saw Max walk back into the tent anxiously, and I have to say, she looked beautiful. She was wearing a one-shoulder flowing dress, but I should know. I practically picked it out for her, dragging her through the best stores and spending a fortune, no doubt. But it was worth it. They had done everything perfectly.

Her hair cascaded in ringlets over her shoulders, small gems decorating the top of her head. She was actually up on high heels, white but shiny and polished and not too tacky like some of them had been. Her dress was long with a short train, and thin straps on both sides of her neck that came to rest on one side on her right.

I, on the other hand, had my hair up in an elegant bun with a few strands curled around my face to pool at my neck, with the same gems in a crown on my head. I also had a strapless dress with black designs and swirls, matching with my white and black heels, which I could walk on considerably better than Max could.

I'd always been so worried about how I looked, always checking my makeup and preoccupied with my hair. I wanted to be pretty, to make up for being a freak of nature with wings. But today, I didn't worry about it, letting my wings fan out behind me. And I actually felt beautiful, not like a freak, and I didn't need to worry.

Angel skipped in, and beamed at the both of us. She looked completely adorable, and just like Max's sister or daughter. Her hair was curled the same way, bouncy curls framing her face and cascading over her shoulders. Her dress was simpler, slightly silver with spaghetti straps, and a bouquet of soft pink flowers in comparison to the white ones that Max and I carried.

"Everyone is in the garden," she clarified. "Victoria's here, and so are Jeb and Dr. Martinez. Everything's entirely set up, they're just finishing up with the guys. They probably had to scrub to remove all Fang's eyeliner," she joked. "In about five minutes, you're out there."

It felt so strange, I noted as I smoothed my dress. Knowing my life, something would go wrong. Would Iggy leave me, or would something even worse interrupt us today? Would the most important day of my life be the one I forgot?

Max and Angel noticed as something clouded my vision and I walked to the edge of the tent, looking into the sky. I was already technically handicapped. I'd never pictured myself like this, and it made me feel disabled. I was disabled, because I still had to have Angel touch me, even to get me to remember who I was.

Someday, when we could just settle down, when Iggy and I got a home, possibly even when we had children, would I wake up every morning and not be able to remember them? This didn't just effect me. My entire life, I'd been more trouble than I was worth, and now it was really getting out of hand. I didn't want to ruin their lives.

And I was seriously starting to think about saying no to Iggy, telling him to find someone better, and to leave me. It wasn't like it got me anywhere last time, all it ended up doing was getting me lost in California. But if I had to, I could live that way. I wasn't weak, and having memory loss was something that I'd just have to live with.

"Stop," Angel put a hand on my arm, and I was brought back to earth. "Nudge, you aren't a bother. We love you and we don't care if you have a couple problems. I'll always help you, and you're staying, because Iggy loves you more than anything and so do we." Her eyes glittered with tears. "Don't go," she whispered, and I saw her for the eleven year old she really was, and the six year old she had been.

Max came up on my other side. "I didn't let you cut off your wings when you were eleven, and I won't let you leave now that our lives are finally piecing together, you little brat," she grinned. "So go out there and go get him!" She smiled encouragingly.

My heart soared as Angel jumped excitedly when the violins started playing, got a firm hold on her bow and flashed us one last smile before running out to finally walk down the aisle. She really was pretty, and she was growing up. It wouldn't be too long until she had a boyfriend, and her own life.

Max grabbed my hand and laced her fingers through mine, giving me a bright smile. "Our turn," she said quietly, and we took a step into brighter sunlight, holding onto our bouquets like they were our last lifeline. And all I had to say, looking at the setting and the music and the people was…wow.

It was gorgeous. The grass was short, clipped and smooth, with roses and assorted flowers scattered all around, and white chairs set up in rows, all facing an old-fashioned gazebo, flowers hanging on it. There were only a few puffy clouds in the sky, the golden light shining down softly as the early-autumn breeze fanned my hair out behind me.

Ahead of us, Total and Akila marched down the aisle, seemingly smiling, though I knew for sure that they couldn't. Akila carried a small basket that flower petals fell easily out of, as Total carried a small pillow with two sparkling rings. Angel walked behind them, smiling slightly as adults pointed and smiled at how pretty she was and how tall she was getting.

Jeb and Dr. Martinez sat in the front row, their hands resting on each other's peacefully –was something going on there?-, watching us as the procession moved forward.

Everything was perfect, calming and just how I had always imagined it, but I didn't pay attention to a bit of it, because at the end of the aisle was the guy that I had come so far for, and how this whole thing started, but I still loved him to death. And at that moment, I felt so much love that it felt like I would burst.

A certain strawberry-blonde boy smiled at me, right at me, and I saw that I was halfway down the aisle, and Angel was standing next to him, touching his hand lightly. Showing him me. I would have glanced at her gratefully, but my eyes were fixed on him, in his white tuxedo, which suited him strangely.

No doubt that Max's eyes were lingering on the tall, dark-haired boy next to him, who wasn't dressed in the traditional white but still managed to look formal and appropriate in black. Gazzy was standing behind him, grinning slightly. Cameras clicked around me feverishly, and I bit my lip to keep from smiling.

As we got to the end of the aisle, I reached out a trembling hand to take Iggy's, warm and reassuring, and I could have melted right there. I let go of Max and looked up at Iggy, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Max looking up at Fang with the same wonder in her eyes. Iggy lifted a finger to my chin and led my face back to him.

And I let all thoughts of Max –or anything else in the world- disappear. How could I ever say no to him? I couldn't even if I wanted to.

The music came to a stop when we were finally ready, and we were standing just where we needed to be. I felt every eye in the garden on us, but I didn't care. Some older man that looked like a preacher of some sort stood between Fang and Iggy, in the center of the gazebo.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…" he began reciting the words for the traditional ceremony. And despite how utterly and heartbreakingly gorgeous everything was, I would have preferred getting right to the vows. Max, too, had never been one for patience, and was currently fidgeting uncomfortably.

Dr. Martinez shook her head behind us. Even now, Max would always be Max.

Throughout the remainder of the service up until our vows, I entertained myself with certain fantasies involving Iggy and I –oh, grow up-, feeling myself start to doze off through it all. I never had a great attention span, believe me. But I snapped out of my haze when I heard him asking Fang what I'd been waiting for.

"Do you, Fang, take this woman, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, until death do you part?" he asked Fang, who replied with a professional "I do," but it seemed different from anything I'd ever heard him say. He looked at Max when he said it, and she looked like she was ready to faint.

He turned toward Max, and I had to stifle a laugh. She looked like she had seen a ghost. "Do you, Maximum Ride, take this man, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, until death do you part?"

"I do," she whispered faintly to Fang, who smiled wryly and squeezed her hand. The color returned to her face and she took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush. Fang smiled again and put the ring on her finger, giving her a moment to admire it, as he knew she would.

"You may kiss the bride," the preacher guy said, and he leaned down and swept her into his arms, cupping his hands around her face and pressing his mouth to hers tenderly. Her arms came up to caress his cheeks, and she leaned into the kiss, deepening it.

I, having lived with them for years, was used to this pervy kind of making out that they did. But the crowd wasn't, and it would have appeared that Max and Fang had forgotten about Dr. Martinez and Jeb watching the little scene. Someone in the crowd finally cleared their throat, Max broke away, blushing like mad.

I felt a small shiver of…what was it? Excitement? Anticipation? Nausea? Ah, all worthy answers. He turned to Iggy first, and I almost collapsed in relief. Why was I so scared? Didn't I want to marry Iggy?

"Do you, Iggy, take this woman, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, until death do you part?" He asked.

"I do," Iggy said, giving me a slight smile of encouragement. And my heart swelled. So when the preacher looked at me and asked me the same question, how could I possibly say no? This was how it was going to be forever. Iggy was really it for me. I wouldn't lose him to anyone, he'd be mine forever.

"Do you, Nudge," Talking to Iggy…

"Take this man," Holding Iggy…

"To have and to hold," Kissing Iggy…

"In sickness and in health," Forgetting Iggy…

"For better or worse," Loving Iggy…

"Until death do you part?" Remembering Iggy.

"I do," I said whole-heartedly, meaning it with everything I had. I would love him forever and for always, as long as I lived. But I had been wrong about one thing. Nothing, not even death, could part us again. The real ring was slipped onto my finger, then.

"You may kiss-" but he was cut off as Iggy stepped forward and covered my lips with his, pulling me close to him as my arms wrapped around his neck and his around my waist. Our lips moved in perfect synchronization, and I had forever wrapped up into a few moments. He broke away too soon to look at me, and I knew he could, because Angel's pinkie finger was stretched as high as it could go to the base of his neck.

The preacher guy was smiling wryly at us, clearly a bit peeved that we hadn't let him finish his last sentence. "I now pronounce you man and wife," he said to us. "And man and wife," he added to Max and Fang as an afterthought.

"One last picture for the newspapers, for old times' sake?" A photographer joked to us. I shrugged. "Why not?"

So we all crowded together, Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, Dr. Martinez, Jeb and Victoria. Somehow, Iggy and I were pushed toward the center of the picture, and I couldn't help but smile as I saw Max on my right, Iggy on my left, Angel a step below me and Victoria a step above me. We all smiled as the camera clicked, a picture of all of us together, one last time.

After that, we wandered around to take some private pictures for our homes. First, we captured some of Gazzy and Angel, then Iggy and I split off from Fang and Max to take some pictures of just us. Kissing him, laughing with him, holding him. I was positively sure I was never going to be able to forget.

We returned back to the garden, where the late afternoon was fading and the dark was falling. Someone had hired a DJ with real music, and there was a lot of dancing going on, as well as food, cake and drinks. The garden had been turned into a dance floor, with several teenagers laughing and having fun while adults sat and talked in other areas.

"I'm going to go get some cake," I excused myself from my constant place by Iggy's side, and went over to the table, trying to decide between my white cake with pink frosting and Max's dark chocolate swirled cake. Just as I was about to make my decision, knife in hand, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

Whirling around rather suddenly, a very surprised and frightened Ella jumped back, eyeing the knife in my hands cautiously. I grimaced and put the knife down. But then I remembered how she had almost stolen Iggy from me, and I folded my arms over my chest. Did she have to show up on my wedding day and remind me of what almost happened?

"Hi, Nudge," she said quietly. Her eyebrow had been shaved off, I noticed. I remained silent, the smallest hint of a frown on my face. I was trying to be civil, I really was. But what I really wanted to do was scream at her. When I kept silent for a while, she took a deep breath.

"Okay, here it is. I know I was a world-class bitch to you, and that it wasn't fair." I waited, raising one eyebrow. "Look, I always knew Iggy was in love with you," she continued. "I was always a little jealous, because, well, I liked him too. And when you were having memory problems, I wanted to keep him for myself so badly that…I didn't consider your feelings.

"I know I really hurt you, and I don't expect you to forgive me. We used to be such good friends, what I did was inexcusable. I hope you can forgive me in the future," she said softly. She turned around to leave, and I felt as bad as she did in that moment. What had happened to us? We had practically been sisters.

"Wait," I pulled at her wrist, turning her back around. Much to her surprise, and mine, I pulled her into a swift hug. She was startled at first, but leaned into the hug eventually. We were both crying when we pulled away. She gave me one last watery smile, then walked away quietly.

I picked up the knife again, settling on the cake that I had actually picked out, the white cake with pink frosting and little edible roses. Just as I was about to cut it, I felt another tap on my shoulder, slightly harder and from a chubbier finger.

"What?" I practically yelled. It was my damn wedding. Could I not simply eat my own cake? I turned around, face to face with Gazzy and some girl I'd never met before. She was cute, with dark brown hair and a light summer dress on. She looked slightly disturbed by my outburst, but Gazzy just grinned.

"Nudge, this is my girlfriend, Cynthia," he offered. "She wanted to meet you." She smiled shyly. She was a good foot shorter than Gazzy, but she was a normal human, after all.

I smiled on the inside. I always knew that Gazzy would get a pretty girl. He was so smart, kind and honest, it was only a matter of time. And this Cynthia looked like exactly that kind of person – the kind who couldn't hurt a fly. She might be good for him.

"Do you really have wings, like Gazzy?" she asked quietly. I smiled, and wordlessly unfolded my wings from my back, revealing their complete length. She eyed them, quietly impressed, and a bit enviously. "Cool," she whispered. "Congratulations," she stuck out her hand, and I took it in a silent thanks.

"Come on, Cyn," he pulled on her arm, and she turned around to face him. He scooped her up into his arms, and gave me one last smile before taking off into the air, a smile on her face. He had really grown up.

The cake temporarily forgotten, I joined Iggy in a walk through the gardens. The sun was low in the sky now, the low light casting shadows on the gardens. Colorful lights lined the walkways and the gazebo, where he pulled me along, under the glow of the lights.

We leaned on the railing of the gazebo, watching the stars appear in the sky. I made a wish on every one. A wish for happiness, a wish for peace, a wish for love. It seemed magical, a perfectly cloudless night. He held me close, one arm around my waist, hugging me to his chest. I certainly didn't complain.

"I love you," he whispered, leaning in to kiss me, not for the last time that night. I wound my fingers into his hair, leaning into his touch and the sweetness of the kiss. And I didn't have to say anything. He knew I loved him just as much, and I always would.

He had my heart, every inch of it. I knew I'd never lose him again. He was everything that I cared about.

The last thought I had of the night was that I'd been wrong. The old memories weren't the only thing that mattered to me. I cherished the new ones, too.

Memories of today, and the past experience, would always be in my heart. But new memories would be added to those soon. I could feel the beginning of our lives, starting tonight. As the last stars appeared in the sky, I made one last wish.

I wished for forever.

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~Rachel