Six weeks later:

It was the wedding of the century. It seemed as though everyone in the entire world had been invited. Love was in the air and several people made plans to propose to their loved one. It was supposed to bring enormously great luck if one proposed on the day of their Maou's wedding. Gwendal and Yuri both looked amazing in matching white suits. There was not a dry eye in the place after they said their vows. The reception was even more magical than the wedding. Gunter had out done himself on the decorations and stood to one side of the reception hall, grinning at the happy dancing couple when he felt a hand run up his arm.

"Gunter, my love, when is it going to be our turn?"

"Oh Great Shino!" yelped Gunter. "Stop sneaking up on me." Gunter turned around.

Red hair framed a mischievous face. "What? You're not used to me sneaking up on you by now, Gunter dear? Anyway, you should stop being afraid of me already. I haven't experimented on you since you gave me that new pair of pliers."

"I know, Anissina, but can you blame me? For so many years now I've had to run every time I see you coming. It's a hard habit to break."

"Do you remember my promise?"

"Yes, I know. We are to get married and have babies so you can stop your experiments all together and take care of the babies. Until then, however, I'm still nervous for my safety."

Anissina laughed and tugged at Gunter's shirt. "Well, my love, would you like to disappear for a while?" She leaned forward and kissed his ear, then his jaw, and finally his lips. Gunter slid an arm around her waist and smiled. "I should stay, since I was the planner of this event. However, I think Yuri Heika will forgive me for leaving his party for a time."

Murata smiled from across the room as the pair slipped out one of the side doors. They were such an unlikely pair, but it seemed to work for them. Now if only he could approach his match and be as open. He chuckled to himself. After so many lifetimes of love and happiness, one would think the Geika would have no problems telling this person his feelings. It didn't seem to work like that this time around. He felt so tongue-tied every time they were near.

"Murata, how are you doing?"

The Geika jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion on his thoughts. "I'm great, Shori Heika. How are you?"

"A little teary since my baby brother got married, but I'll manage. So anything interesting going on in the last few months since I've seen you?"

Here's your chance, Murata thought to himself. "Oh, well, you know. A few things here and there. I got a very interesting and beautiful poem a couple of months ago. It was written in a very familiar handwriting."

Shori cleared his throat nervously. "Oh really."

"Yeah. The handwriting is very similar to Yuri Heika's, but something is slightly off about it. I can't quite place where I've seen it before. I do know, though, that if this person ever told me to my face how they really feel about me, I would love them to the end of my days and beyond."

Murata glanced knowingly up at the Earth's Maou with a small smile on his face. Shori's jaw hit the floor as he realized he had been found out. He then smiled back at Murata and thought, what the hell, let's go for it. He pushed the younger man up against the wall and leaned down into his face.

"I have had strong feelings for you since you first became friends with my brother. I didn't know, really, quite how to tell you, especially after I found out who you really are. I just felt like I was worthless compared to so many lifetimes of memories and lovers. I-I, well dammit, I couldn't think of any other way to tell you than through an anonymous poem. I hoped that you would figure it out. After two months went by, I felt rejected. I didn't think you wanted me."

Murata reached up and touched Shori's face. "You couldn't be more wrong. I didn't realize that you felt that way about me. I didn't even realize that I felt that way about you until I got the poem. I knew that the handwriting couldn't be Yuri's. I had already figured out his secret crush long before he ever did. I was hoping beyond all hope that it was written by you. I love you, Shori, like I've loved no one else. Even though I have loved many people, I have never felt this strongly about any of them."

Shori grinned at the words and bent down to kiss Murata. The Geika didn't resist in sliding his arms around Shori's neck. A few seconds into the kiss, someone gave out a catcall and whistled obnoxiously loud. The pair moved apart for only a second before Murata pulled Shori's head back down to his. Yuri walked over after a couple of minutes and stood smiling at the new couple.

"So my older brother and my best friend, eh? Who would have thought that all of those shy glances and nervousness would eventually lead to love?"

"You're not upset that I've gone for your older brother are you, Yuri?"

"What? Of course not. Why would I be? Although, you are defiling my only brother and I have yet to see a slap." Yuri grinned mischievously at the pair. Murata looked a little unsure and Shori looked utterly embarrassed. "Though I must say that if it ever does happen, I will gladly give my consent."

Yuri turned around to head back to Gwendal when he heard a loud slap. The whole room went silent. He spun to see a shocked look on his brother's face as he reached up to touch his cheek. Murata still had the unsure smile on his face, Shori still hadn't answered. It felt like an eternity before Shori finally nodded. Murata beamed and jumped on Shori, giving him a huge hug and kiss. Yuri shook his head with a grin.

Gwendal walked over to see what all the commotion was. He could tell by the entangled pair that something had happened. With the grin on Yuri's face, it could only mean a proposal. He smiled and draped an arm around Yuri's shoulder.

"You know, if you two need to go do something, we will forgive you for leaving our reception. It's not like we don't have a thousand other guests to entertain us while you're gone." Shori smiled, nodded, and carried Murata out the side entrance. Gwendal glanced at Yuri. "Have you seen my brother? He disappeared a little while ago and I don't know where he went. I was going to ask him about getting the group ready to leave for earth soon."

Yuri smirked. "Yeah, he and Yozak snuck out a while ago. I think they will be the next ones to get married. Though it sure has taken them long enough. I didn't think they'd ever get together. Oh, and I really want to say thank you for letting us take our honeymoon on earth. My mother is due soon and I'm so happy I get to be there."
He gave Gwendal a hug and the pair turned hand in hand to join the rest of the guests at the reception. Gwendal thought to himself, of all of those gifts he gave me, the only one that I truly needed was the gift of love.

Well, I hope it's been worth the wait. It sure has been fun writing about these two. Thank you all again for the reviews and patience.