Chapter 16: Wedding Gift
Author's Note: Shana and Snake Eyes' wedding song is 'The Flame' from a group called Cheap Trick; Cam and Charlie's song is from Disney's movie 'Pocahontas'; Clayton and Liv's song is 'In My Heart' by Phil Collins from Disney's 'Tarzan' soundtrack.
Shana handed Cam the bouquet, her hands busy signing even as she spoke, her voice soft but firm. "I love you, Snake Eyes. I was attracted to you the first time you stepped on the mat to challenge me; I think I fell in love with you on that first date but I couldn't admit it to myself until much later. I think I always knew, though. No one has ever accepted me as freely and unconditionally as you have; no one has ever asked nothing of me except to be myself, and that is such a rare, unusual thing in my life that I thank God every day for giving you to me. There were times when you were so pigheaded I could have smacked you," a ripple of amused chuckles ran through the crowd of watching Joes, "But there were times when I was equally pigheaded and I commend you for not smacking me. So we're even." A tiny smile. "The last few months have taught me just how much I took you for granted; just how much you did for me that I never acknowledged, and how much separation from you hurts. Every moment when you aren't with me I look for you; my heart cries for you when we're apart, and I never, ever want to be apart from you again. So now, with these rings, I symbolize my need for you, my acknowledgement that you are my soulmate and without you I'd have no reason to live. You are my life, as I am yours, and with these rings, I thee wed." And, so softly that Snake Eyes was the only one who could hear her, she said in Gaelic, "My heart and soul are yours, now and forever."
Stalker held out the two ring boxes, and Snake Eyes grabbed the one with the women's ring and opened it. Blued Damascus steel shone from inside, eliciting gasps of delight from Stalker, Cam, and Charlie, and when Snake Eyes looked into Shana's eyes, he knew he'd made the right decision, because it had been months since the last time he'd seen that look in her eyes. Delight, joy, pure unadulterated happiness. She loved them as much as he did, and the ring fit perfectly as soon as he slipped it on her finger and drew her in his arms for a deep, soul-searing kiss.
Applause, cheers, whistles and howls greeted them as they parted, and they saw the radiantly happy faces around them moments before Shana was enveloped in a flurry of feminine hugs and Snake Eyes was drowned in a sea of backslaps and offered a beer.
He went looking for her after a while, driven by the desire to do just one thing before they left the party for somewhere more comfortable, and found her not in the middle of the crowd of girls, but standing by herself at the edge of the rocky promontory that jutted out over the Verrazano Narrows. She didn't turn as he came up, but she knew he was there; this new bond they shared, while at first he'd thought it was going to be slightly uncomfortable knowing where she was at all times and what she was doing, hadn't been intrusive or invasive at all. It had settled quietly in the back of his mind, just as the wedding ring had settled on his finger. It didn't feel strange or awkward, it was just there, and didn't remind him of its presence at all unless he needed it. The moment he turned his eyes inward to find that link, he saw the shining golden thread linking him to Shana, and if he slipped into a light trance, he could follow it with his mind and find her. He was getting better at that, it was getting easier, and Charlie was giving him lessons on how to subtly shift his perception of the bond so that he wouldn't intrude on her privacy. And Charlie assured him Cam was doing the same for Shana.
"I'm actually glad we did it like this. I would have much rather had a wedding where we could both enjoy ourselves than one where it was more about the guests being seen rubbing elbows with the right people. Dad doesn't care for the political maneuvering, but Mom does, and she and Siobhan would have made the whole thing a sociopolitical campaign. I'm glad we had this today." She turned to him now, and he saw the glow hadn't left her face. "How on earth did you know this is what I would have wanted?"
Part of him wanted to be a smart-ass male and tell her he always knew what she wanted, but the other half of him—the part of him that wanted to be in bed with her in another hour—said that being a wise husband would be a better choice if he hoped to consummate their marriage properly, so he told her the truth. I honestly didn't. During the trial Alex took me to a swordsmith's shop, she said she'd been shopping and she saw these rings and they would be perfect. I saw one with a Claddagh design, but the holes would have been difficult to deal with given our lifestyles, and there's too many things the edges could get caught on. I ended up choosing simple bands and having the Claddagh design etched on it…and he added the inscription inside.
"There's an inscription?" Shana pulled hers off, looked closely at the inside of the band. "'Mo Shonuachar'," she read. "'My soulmate'. Snake Eyes, they are absolutely perfect, I couldn't have picked better rings." She slipped it back on, then wrapped her arms around him and leaned her cheek against the side of his chest without the bars. "I love you, Snake Eyes, and this has been the perfect day. I can't think of anything else that would make this any better."
I can. There's one more thing I wanted to do. Actually, two.
"And that is…?"
One. I want to dance with you.
"You never told me you could dance!"
I don't often, because I get worried about what I look like. But I do dance. My old sensei used to say 'Never give a sword to a man who can't dance'. And I know you can dance, and you don't get to often, particularly not with me.
Shana giggled, but thought about that for a moment. "A martial arts master who understands dance as art, who appreciates grace and life and beauty, is unlikely to go postal and use his abilities for evil ends. Okay, I get that. And the second thing?"
I want to take you to our room before anyone else gets in and enjoy having you in privacy and peace and quiet.
Her face lit up and her green eyes grew hungry. "That sounds wonderful. So let's go dance. And then let's go and consummate our marriage, hey?" Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
He'd done some thinking about the song, and when they got back to the small grassy lawn where Allie and Dash were dancing, he nodded quietly to Jammer. Moments later the strains of the song he'd chosen floated on the air.
Another night slowly closes in
And I feel so lonely
Touching heat freezing on my skin
I pretend you still hold me
I'm going crazy, I'm losing sleep
I'm in too far, I'm in way too deep over you.
I can't believe you're gone.
You were the first, you'll be the last.
He'd felt so lost, lonely, and empty, during the time she'd been missing; he'd barely slept, hadn't really eaten. Yes, he'd had girlfriends, and before her he certainly hadn't been a virgin, but no one had really touched him until he'd met her.
Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you
Whenever you need someone
To lay your heart and head upon
Remember after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame,
I will be the flame.
The perfect song. Shana closed her eyes, letting a smile of contentment cross her face as she felt Snake Eyes' arms around her. Although they'd said that their lives were too busy and there was plenty of time to get married, really, they'd always been married. For the last ten years, in fact. There'd been no one but him for her, and she was equally sure there'd been no one but her for him. During the difficult recovery after the helicopter crash, no matter how he'd pushed her away she'd stayed, stubbornly, holding him when he cried from the pain, giving him her strength to lean on when recovery was difficult. And when she'd come back from Kennedy's island, he'd given her his strength to lean on, tried to help her heal in the only way he knew how to help her. Yes, this song he'd chosen had been perfect.
And as if their idea had caught on, she saw Cam and Charlie approach Jammer and place a request. As a new song started, they clasped hands in each other's arms.
If I never knew you,
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be.
And if I never knew you,
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you.
Shana felt tears sting her eyes as she saw Cam looking up into Charlie's eyes whispering the words to the song to him. If Clayton hadn't met her, if he'd never made the decision to bring her to Joe base, where would Cam be now? What would have happened to her, lonely and isolated at her former base, part of her Ranger support group but not in it, an outsider, dealing with her squad mates' chauvinism, with a commanding officer who used her and her talents for the good of the squad but didn't make an effort to integrate her, didn't fully include her and change the culture of his command so that she wouldn't feel so lost and left out? Would she ever have been as happy as she was now?
If I never knew you,
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be.
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Empty as the sky,
Never knowing why,
Lost forever
If I never knew you.
And where would Charlie be? He'd always been aloof. While not withdrawn, and certainly not as far out on the fringe with the Joes as Cam had been at Fort Benning, there'd always been a certain amount of emotional distance between Charlie and the rest of the Joes. There were very few Joes whom Charlie could count as a close friend, Snake Eyes being one of them, but with Cam's coming things had changed. He got involved with more things around the base trying to get her to come out of her shell, and in the process he'd cracked his too. Both of them had made such an impact on each other's lives, and on the lives of everyone around them, and she couldn't imagine seeing either of them ever alone anymore.
The song ended, although now Allie and Dash were out there, and even more interestingly, Liv had relinquished Auggie to Alex and Courtney as she stepped out with Clayton as a different song stated. As Snake Eyes took Shana's hand and led her away, toward their quarters, he heard the strains of the new song floating on air as Clayton and Liv danced:
You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say.
You'll be here in my heart, always.
I'll be there for you always,
Always and always…
The interior of Joe base was cool…and quiet. Practically everybody was out at the wedding, save for maybe a few who might be manning the base's security camera. Snake Eyes could care less what they thought as he shed his jacket as soon as they were inside, chasing after Shana giggling as they fled deeper into the labyrinthine maze of corridors that was their home, until he finally caught her at the door to their room and captured her mouth in his own hungry, fevered kiss. She returned it with interest, and his hands were already behind her looking for the zipper to the dress when she turned the knob and opened the door. They stumbled in, still lip-locked, and he turned to press her back to the door as he kissed her hungrily, his hands already sliding the shoulders off the dress when she gasped.
He froze, wondering if he'd been too eager, too anxious, as she pushed him away from her, but she headed for the bed. As he turned around and saw what lay there, he lost his train of thought as Shana reached for one of the two swords lying on the blanket atop the neatly-made bed.
Black Damascus steel with colored threads of blue and crimson running through it flashed out of the sheath, and his guess was confirmed; the colored Damascus steel swords from the shop where he'd bought their rings. As he picked up the second one and drew it, his guess was confirmed; this one was the red Damascus steel sword. Shana's. He handed her the red steel sword and took the black one, and she stared at it in sheer delight. "Snake Eyes, who would have…?"
He already knew; there was only one other person who knew of his fascination with this matched pair of swords. Alex. And as he looked down again, he saw the envelope sitting on the bed next to where the swords had lain, and Shana put her sword down long enough to snatch it up.
Dear Shana, Snake Eyes:
What can I say? Congratulations, I guess, would be in order; when I first met the two of you, on base after Flint and Allie brought me back from the Congo, I wasn't in any condition to recognize anything. But in the months since—has it really been almost a year now? It certainly doesn't seem that long at all—I've come to know you, know the rest of the people on this team, and you've become closer to me than some of the people in the DA's office where I work every day.
Snake Eyes, I saw you admiring these swords in the smith's shop, and he saw you admiring them too. When I'd first gone there I'd told him you were marrying a red-haired Irish lass, and when you went there, he remembered what I'd said and he was the one who suggested that these would be the perfect gift for both of you—I would have gotten you something traditional like a silver saltshaker! Thanks to the generous gift from the President after the Congolese fiasco, and a generous discount from the smith, I was able to get these for you—he said that these weapons were made to be used but cherished, and the others who had looked at the swords were basically going to put them up on a wall and never touch them again, and that was not what he made them for. He liked you, was positive that Shana would have the same attitude you did toward use and care of weapons, and said he couldn't be happier selling them to me for you, knowing that you two would treasure, cherish and care for them as you used them. So you now have a completely unique set of his-and-her swords as you embark on your life together, and Liv and I wish you well.
Alex.
P.S. This is officially a gift from myself, Liv, Clayton, and Ettienne.
"They are wonderful," Shana murmured, marveling at the sword as she stepped out of the dress and kicked it over to the side. "Beauty and functionality, and the balance is exquisite. Just like you." She sheathed the sword, laid it carefully on the dresser, then firmly took Snake eyes' sword from his hands. "All right. Now where were we?"