Love is Worth Dying For Chapter 8: Come What May, a corpse bride fanfic

LIWDF chap 8

Love Is Worth Dying For chap 8

Disclaimer: What? You say Corpse Bride is mine? Shame on you! You ought to know I would never put Victor and Victoria together! (Waves a little flag with 'V/E Forever' written on it)

I also don't own the song Come What May. It is a wonderful song, sung by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor and you should look it up and listen to it.

So I'm back. After a very long silence. Hope you all haven't forgotten me. Welcome to chapter 8, my faithful fans! I feel almost sorry to be finishing this story, I really like it. At the same time, however, I really don't feel like I have enough inspiration to continue it much more, and I want to end it here in order to preserve my attraction for it.

So enjoy, and I hope to write more Corpse Bride fics in the future.

Dedicated to my friend Laura, who is a huge Tim Burton fan, and a wonderful person, and who will probably never read this. Whatever you decide to do with your future I know you have the drive and the ingenuity to do it. Remember to value yourself and never let anyone stop you.

"Father, I want to dance with him." The red head smiled and brushed a coiled ringlet of hair away from her face. Victor gulped. Her voice was purposely loud so that he would hear it and respond with the expected offer. He could feel her eyes burning in his face and chest. He sensed his mother standing behind him, breath whistling past his ear and knew what was coming. The woman laid one plump hand on his shoulder.

"Well, go on," she commanded.

A murmur. "I'm nervous, mother."

"Nervous? Posh!" She lowered her voice and the pressure on his shoulder increased. "I need the approval of that girl's father. This is important to me boy, so dance with her!"

A shove in the small of his back and Victor felt himself careening toward his intended dance partner. He stopped in front of her and she smiled coyly at his hesitation.

"Victor, isn't it?" A small nod. "Well, don't you have something you want to ask me?"

Victor closed his eyes painfully, remembering what came next. He had simply been too nervous. He was shaking and uncoordinated. He had stepped on one of her pretty, brocade slippers and gone reeling over on top of her and torn a long, jagged rip down the front of her beautiful dress. Needless to say, his parents did not get her fathers approval. He didn't even know her name, yet she haunted him and now, on his wedding night, she still persisted.

"Victor?"

Victor looked with difficulty past the pain of long ago and met the soft, black eyes of his bride.

"What's wrong, darling?" the corpse bride asked him, and in spite of himself, Victor felt a trickle of warmth in his heart at the sincerity and love lacing her voice.

"I've just…had some bad experiences, dancing." He felt miserable and useless as he said it, as he saw a worry line creep over her formerly laughing eyes. It wasn't right that she should worry so much about him.

"Oh, how sad!" Her bony arm crept around his shoulders comfortingly, and she leant in so she could whisper in his ear. "You know what we can do then?"

"Uh, no," Victor murmured. He was completely mystified, and just a little distracted by her face so close to his own.

"We'll have to make some good ones!" Emily pronounced with enthusiasm. Then, before he could protest or even fully realize what she meant, Victor felt her seize his hand and guide him, gently but firmly, out onto the dance floor.

Victor was certain his heart would have been beating loudly enough for the whole congregation to hear it, had it not already stopped forever some hours ago. Well, that's one thing to be thankful for he thought distractedly.

"Just relax darling," Emily whispered. She had taken his hands in hers and pulled him close. He suddenly realized how close to him she was. Her face was radiant with happiness and reassurance and her eyes… Her eyes were glowing with such emotion. They were like the reflection of the full, white moon, shimmering on the water of a deep, cool lake. He drank in their love and found himself refreshed.

"I love you." He didn't quite know where the words came from. They seemed to begin in his throat with an emotion so strong it was almost a physical pain, and then trickle through his whole body until they finally found an outlet past his lips.

"Then trust me," she answered, eyes on his.

And he did. He did trust her. When had he ever really trusted anyone? When had he ever loved anyone? What was this world, so full of feelings and sensations he had never experienced? This was his world now, and he trusted her; Emily, his wife, his world. He trusted her.

The music began.

Victoria followed Bonejangles through the empty streets. They were not very encouraging, being very run down and filled with various unpleasant, often unmentionable things. They passed a shop which displayed an array of baskets filled with disembodied hands and arms. The young bride almost screamed aloud when, as they passed, the hands started moving and waving at them.

Bonejangles was her anchor, her lifeline, holding her away from the brink of despair. It was surprising that she was already so comfortable with the walking skeleton, but some time in the middle of her story of woe, she had realized that it really didn't matter. He was comforting and gentle and funny and somehow familiar all at once. He did not speak, and she got the feeling that he was deep in thought. Several times, he raised one hand and made to scratch his skull with it, before coming to himself and lowering the offending appendage.

Victoria knew they were going to Victor's wedding reception, and she wasn't certain how she felt about that anymore. Since hearing Victor's confession to the Corpse Bride in the church, she had felt such a kaleidoscope of shattering emotions that it was difficult to sort how she felt about anything anymore. And she was feeling…drained. I feel as withered as an old corpse, she thought, and had to clap one blue hand over her mouth to stop an outburst of macabre laughter.

And yet, in spite of it all, she was feeling better than she had before. Yes, she felt drained and empty, but she also felt open. Just a few days ago, the company she was now keeping, the circumstances she was in, the streets they were traveling through, one or all of them would have sent her shaking to her room. Now she was…braver? Perhaps she was. Or perhaps she just had nowhere to run to.

They had stopped. Victoria broke out of her confusing thoughts and looked around her. They were standing outside a building of black wood, dark and dingy, yet bright with garish blues, greens and oranges. A weathered sign hung down above her head, creaking softly, although how exactly it had become weathered down here was a mystery. It was probably simply for ambiance.

As she stood there, Victoria heard a strain of soft music drifting through the dark timbers.

"Is this…it?" she asked softly.

"Yup." Bonejangles sounded almost apologetic. There was a long, trapped, silence. "We don' have ta go in, if ya don' want to," he continued after a moment.

She hadn't intended to be quite that obvious. Victoria sighed. She could decide not to go in; no one was pushing her, which was in itself, a completely new experience for the young bride. But, in the end, did she really want to? She didn't want to start off her existence like this, out in the dark. Even with Bonejangles beside her. And she knew he wanted to go in. She could feel it in his voice. He wanted to, but he would stay out here with her if she asked him. Just to know that gave her a warm feeling deep down in her dry soul. And that was all she needed.

"Let's go," she said, and opened the door.

At first, Victor was completely frozen. He felt like a branch caught in the frost, arms and legs stiff and brittle. He felt cold, even though he knew that was impossible now. The music was starting, and he couldn't do this.

No, he could.

He let the music recede into the background and raised his eyes to meet those of his wife. Her eyes, her lips, that wonderful smile, how had he ever deserved someone like her? But that didn't seem important any more either. She was here, and she loved him. That certainty was the most wonderful fact he had ever known.

The music flowed on, soft and beautiful, and they moved to it, together. They began simply holding hands, but slowly moved closer, and closer still, until Emily was resting her head on his shoulder, and the scent of her filled him and mingled with the simple joy of being so close to her, and of being here, among friends. He clasped her to him more tightly, communicating his happiness to her without words.

He was only mildly conscious of the other corpses moving out on the dance floor. The music had begun to speed up now, and they were moving faster as well, to keep up. It was easy now to keep dancing. He was dancing with Emily. He spun her around and brought her back to his arms, and he heard that wonderful chuckle of hers as she cuddled into his shoulder once again.

He would do anything for her, to make her happy, to hear that laugh once again. The realization should perhaps have been frightening to him, but it wasn't. Because what he said before had been true. He trusted her.

Only when the song ended did the world come back into focus. The room was filled with gaiety. The dance floor was filled with corpses, some in couples, some in groups, and others alone. The members of the skeleton band were joking with each other as they conferred about what song to play next.Step One: check crack in wall (N) for traps

Victor allowed his eyes to wonder over this happy scene until finally they rested on the one person in the pub who did not belong, the person he had forgotten about in the ecstasy of the dance.

"Victoria."

When she felt her husband tense up beside her, Emily broke off her conversation with the corpse next to her, and turned to see what was wrong, and then she two felt her body tense unconsciously.

Through the crowd of dancers, Victoria was advancing toward them. Her hair was loose, and although it was tangled, it hung becomingly about her face. Her skin, Emily noticed distractedly, was paler blue than that of her husband and herself, and was set off by the ripped and draggled, yet still somehow mercilessly severe, wedding dress she still wore. Her expression was unreadable, but her cheeks were wet with tears.

Victor went to meet her as she approached, but he seemed not to know what to do. He held out one hand, but let it drop limply to his side again. Victoria had stopped directly in front of him and was gazing at him with her large, tragic eyes. Impulsively, Emily advanced as well, until she stood once more beside her husband.

Then Victor lent forward suddenly, and enfolded the young woman in his awkward arms. There was a purpose to him now, as there had been so often of late, and Emily felt the tension drain out of her as she watched the embrace. Emily too, after her death, had wished for someone familiar to hold.

Victoria sobbed into his shoulder only for a moment before pulling back. Now her eyes saw both of them, standing together. Fresh tears were attacking her cheeks, but she was smiling a little too.

"Congratulations," she whispered.

Victoria was the object of everyone's eyes, but it was not so bad, because these eyes were not disapproving, they were not judging her.

There were so many corpses! Victoria had not stopped to think before of how many people passed on over the years, even in such a small town as this. She had seen them all before, of course, in the church, but her mind had been otherwise engaged.

And now she looked at Victor and his wife, his corpse bride. She had said 'congratulations' largely because she really didn't know what to do, and had therefore fallen back on her polite upbringing again, but she was surprised to discover, now, that she meant it. She had heard Victor's speech in the church, but at the time, she had been thinking only of her own troubles; that Victor was in love with a corpse, that he was willing to die for her. Victoria had thought she loved Victor. He was sweet, in a nervous sort of way. He was gentle and cultured, handsome, and most important, he was to be her husband.

All of her life, Victoria had dreamed of finding someone she loved to marry, and when Victor came along, it had seemed as though she had. And she had 'loved' him, with all her heart. Then when she had seen him with that corpse, and heard his heartfelt confession, it had been like a knife in the ribs. Her love, her husband, her happiness had been stolen away, leaving her with nothing.

But now she knew she had never really loved him so much as she had loved the idea of him. She had loved the idea of a husband she could love, and who would take her away and give her freedom from her parents forever.

And now she was free from them. And she had eternity to find someone she loved.

"What is your name?" she asked Victor's wife suddenly. Her voice was calmer than one would expect from looking at her face, for her wild emotions finally seemed to be settling.

"Emily," answered the bride. "Are you all right, Victoria?"

"I…don't really know," Victoria said softly. She looked into Emily's eyes and saw concern and compassion. "But I think," her voice was stronger now, "I think I will be, with a little help." And she cast a glance back to where Bonejangles stood nearer the door.

Emily held out one white-gloved hand, and Victoria took it in her bare one. Everything was alright.

The moment ended when all three corpses heard a sharp rapping, and looked over to see that Bonejangles had crossed to the stage. He had stolen somebody's leg bone somewhere along the way, and was now using this as an improvised gavel, rapping it against a bench to call attention to himself.

"Greetin's, everyone!" the skeleton called when he had the full attention of the house. "I do 'ope yer all enjoyin' yourselves!" This was met with cheers, applause, and a chorus of yeses and are we evers.

"Is it time already?" Victor asked faintly.

"Mhmmm," Emily affirmed, chuckling. "And don't worry, darling, you will be fine."

"What is this?" Victoria asked, mystified.

"Oh, just something Victor and I were working on before the reception," Emily said.

"An' now," Bonejangles announced, "The bride and groom 'ave a little song they'd like to sing for you all!" The cheers increased, and Victor and Emily were born forward onto the stage. They made their way together to the old piano which stood against the wall and bowed together before seating themselves.

Victoria was feeling a little lost amid the multitude until she caught Bonejangles' eye and he winked at her.

Victor and Emily sat together at the old piano. I should really feel nervous, he thought. But he didn't. Somehow all he felt was elated. He was so happy he felt as though he could float.

Beside him, Emily felt the same. Who would have ever guessed that this miracle would happen for her? She felt Victor beside her. How could she have been so lucky?

Together their hands extended to the keys in the now silent room, and they began to play. They played a few bars of the song together in silence, and then Victor began to sing, softly but clearly.

Victor:

Never knew I could feel like this

Like I've never seen the sky before

I want to vanish inside your kiss

Every day I love you more and more

Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing?

Telling me to give you everything

Seasons may change... Winter to Spring

But I love you until the end of time

Come what may

I will love you, until my dying day

Emily:

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace

Together:

Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste

Emily:

It all revolves around you

Together:

And there's no mountain too high

No river too wide

Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side

Storm clouds may gather

And stars may collide

But I love you, until the end of time

Come what may

I will love you, from my dying day

Oh, come what may

Come what may

I will love you

Emily:

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Together:

Come what may

I will love you, from my dying day

As the last clear notes of the duet faded Victor turned to Emily amid the thunderous applause.

"Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place," he said softly.

And so it is, Emily thought, Forever and ever.

Thank you for reading, and for all of your support during the writing process. And check out my other stories if you feel like it.

I hope I have stayed true to the characters and the feeling of the wonderful movie.

Thanks again,

Deyinel