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We didn't get married in the typical way.
There were no fancy proposals. Just a sudden idea from Dark as he lay on the couch staring at the ceiling once night.
“Do you wanna get married?”
I had laughed at him from my spot on the floor, my head resting against the armchair. It didn't make much sense to me. I mean, there wasn't anyone to even marry us. No officiant in all of the outernet would even know where we were, much less agree to marry us. As far as most sticks knew, we came from the sky and disappeared into it, like angels.
-Angels of death.-
“What, like, right now?” I said, smirking. He didn't tend to be the most practical person, and at the time I was sure this was just another one of his crazy ventures.
But then he spoke again. “Yeah… why not?” Dark whispered, shifting his weight on the couch to face me. He had that spark in his eye, like he always did whenever he got a new idea. Mischievous and brilliant, that was Dark. -Unstoppable.-
That was another odd thing about our wedding. There were no invitations.
Before I could even speak, Dark had grabbed my wrist and thrust the door open, pulling me along as we bound through the field surrounding our house toward animator knows where.
Dark’s silhouette was framed perfectly in the dim starlight, ponytail billowing out behind him in red and black streaks.
We didn't have any fancy clothes, no suits or ties, veils or heels. Dark was wearing that old oil-stained tee that he always wore when he was tinkering, and a pair of worn-out jean shorts, and me, a pair of pajama pants and an old tank top. Probably not typical wedding attire, but it felt perfect to us as we dashed through hills and forests, laughing and panting and living.
Nothing to trip us up. Nothing to tie us down. We were free, because we were together.
When Dark finally stopped and let go of my hand, it was so sudden that I crashed into him from behind and brought us both down, tumbling into the flowers below. We each gasped for air between giggles, rubbing our heads sheepishly.
I was finally able to tuck my laughter away and catch my breath, staring out at the scene around us. The field of red and white flowers seemed endless, pouring off in every direction. The lights of Stick City loomed ahead of us, lighting up the sky with a pinkish glow. But behind us, the stars flooded every inch of the darkness.
Definitely not the most traditional wedding venue.
I turned to Dark, watching the reflection of the stars dance in his eyes darker than night. “The poppy field? Really?” Despite my disbelief, my smile refused to stay hidden. His face, his beaming smile, the warmth that emanated off of him, all just pulled it out of me. That was Dark’s special power.
“Of course,” he shrugged, as if it was the most popular wedding venue in the world. He stood up and reached a hand down to me, smiling. I wrapped my fingers in his as he pulled me to my feet, staring into my eyes. The smell of poppy flowers permeated the air, sharp and sweet. He plucked one and tucked it into my hair, which was pretty cliche, but I didn't even care. I wished I could keep it there forever, so it could grow and bloom just like us.
We may not have had a bouquet, but there were all the flowers we could wish for.
The wind blew in from the coast like it did every night, washing over us and clearing all the fear from our hearts. It rushed through the flowers and danced in our hair, blowing it into halos of red and black around our faces. Dark chuckled, retracting his hands from me and lifting them to his head, smoothing his bangs back. Then his face changed, his smile falling. He looked me straight in the eyes. And started to speak.
I didn’t think until then that this was anything more than a silly idea he’d come up with on the spot. A sweet one for sure, but not something he’d actually bothered to plan out in advance. Dark had never been the type to plan ahead. -That was probably why things ended the way they did.- But… this. The way he said those words, the way they flowed from his lips like he’d said them a million times before…almost as if they were his own name.
“Chosen. We’ve known each other for as long as I’ve been alive. Our souls locked together from the moment I took your hand. You’ve been my guiding star, my guardian angel, my best friend and the love of my life.” The words seemed so quiet, and yet they -pierced my heart like- filled me up, swirling and pulsing in time to the beat of my heart. Everything else seemed to fade into the darkness that was him. He blinked for a moment, then lowered his eyes, staring down at his palms as he took my hands in his.
“I promise I will never part from your side, whether in rain or shine, even if we lose sight of our lives, so that we may entrust our hearts to one another forever and always.” The tears I knew he had been resisting budded. He looked back up at me, smiling proudly, cheeks somehow even redder than before.
I let out the breath I didn’t even know I had been holding, along with a slight shuddering laugh. My neck prickled, sending shivers throughout my whole body. “Cursors, how am I supposed to beat that?” I grinned, shoving my hands into my pockets and glancing away.
His fingers touched my cheek so slightly I nearly thought it was the wind again, but this was warmer. Like the fire that burned in each of our hearts. He turned my face back toward him, giving me a half-open smile with his head cocked. “Don’t overthink it.”
My hand drifted to his wrist, my fingers against his skin. Dark had goosebumps too, his muscles tense, just like they were the first time we touched. For a moment all I could do was stare at his face in silence, searching for a shadow of fear. But there was none. All that stared back at me was the truth, any doubt trimmed away. I stepped back, letting his arm fall to his side again.
In, out.
My turn.
I glanced down at my hands, turning them over and fanning my fingers.
“Dark. I…The day you were created was the day I was freed. We- We’ve become part of one another in everything we do, from the moment we wake up to the moment we collapse each night.” I couldn’t help letting out a chuckle at all the times the two of us had fallen asleep before we’d even made it up the stairs.
“You’re my everything. I don’t even… know where I’d be without you.” I blinked back the tears, brushing the hair out of my face as I looked back at Dark. He was crying too, a few loose strands of hair sticking to the tears.
I was determined now, looking him right in the eyes. “I promise I will never part from your side, whether hidden in dark or brought to light, even if we must say our goodbyes, so we may always follow the beating of our hearts.”
Dark smirked, giving me a playful punch to the shoulder. “You copied me!”
I shoved him back and crossed my arms. “Come on, I changed it up a little bit.”
“Fine, fine.” He shrugged, and then reached back to fumble around in his pocket.
To this day I still don’t know where he got them from. He’d probably stolen them earlier that week when I was busy doing laundry or something. But sometimes I wonder if he’d always had them. If he had always been planning this, from the day we’d first met.
Dark gently placed on my finger a perfect ruby ring.
The stone was cut into a teardrop shape, small and intricate, and the same fierce blood red as him. It was set into a silver braid that fit my finger as if it had been custom made.
“Did you...” My voice trailed off as I stared at it, turning my hand around and watching it shine in the starlight.
Then he took my wrist again and pressed into my palm an identical ring, except with midnight-black obsidian in place of the ruby, and motioned for me give it to him. So I took his hand in mine, sliding it onto his finger as gently as possible. As if he was made of glass. Then I looked back up at him, and his eyes weren’t focused on the ring. They were on me, taking me in as if I was as beautiful as the night sky.
I could feel my face redden, so I let my bangs fall and cover my eyes. “So, this is the part where they say ‘you may now kiss,’ or something like that,” I said slyly, straightening my shoulders.
“Oh, I don’t think we need anyone to tell us to do that,” Dark smiled.
His arms wrapped around my back and I threw mine over his shoulders and we kissed, holding each other close in the field of poppies. His body was burning, almost feverish, but he wrapped me in his warmth as the wind danced with our hearts. The starlight of the sky above faded into the city lights, as the wind became our flower girl, tossing loose petals into a pattering rain of red and white. And we stood there, intertwined, parts of each other woven into our hair and hearts and lowered eyes.
It was only us.
I withdrew from him and took it all in, the air smelling of wildflowers and river water and storms, my -lover partner rival husband enemy best friend other half everything- Dark, smiling, shining in the night. I wanted to remember this moment forever, to engrave this atmosphere into my mind so I would never forget.
He grabbed my hand and lifted it, bowing his head to me. “May I have this dance, O noble one?” He whispered, the words falling from his lips as small and gentle as snowflakes.
I laughed, letting the tears I didn’t even know were building escape and nodding. “Of course, my lord.”
We took each other’s hands and spun through the field, our bare feet against the cool moist soil. Slivers of grass and poppy petals stuck to our soles, but we didn’t stop. We never wanted to stop. We could have danced forever.
We held each other close, the future and past seemingly all collapsing on this one moment. The synced beating of our hearts guided the melody of the wind into our song as we danced through the night.
We had no family to walk us down the aisle, nor an aisle to be walked down. No one to tell us what do to, to guide us through and make it true. No one watched us but the stars as we said our vows that night.
But we had music made from the beating of our hearts, true as life itself.
And rings, matching each other, beautiful as twinkling stars.
And flowers, poppies of brilliant red and white.
And love.
Today I walked back out to the field again, like we did every summer on that day. We would go and sit under the stars, no matter if it was raining, or if it was too dark to see. We would breathe in the scent of the poppies and dance to the music that followed the beat of our hearts.
Today is the first year I walked there alone.
The poppy field still looks the same as the day Dark and I fell into it from the sky all those years ago. An endless sea of white and red flowers. There are a few more white flowers than red now, but I still have the red one that Dark gave me that day. I had kept it in a vase as long as I could, but it wilted, as all flowers do in time. It’s still beautiful, even though its petals have dried and wrinkled, almost see-through now.
The wind runs along the edge of its petals as I hold it in my palm. I remember every detail, the way the petals overlap, the intricate veins, the dark seeds at its heart. I’ll never forget it.
I watch as the fire that bursts from my hand makes the petals blacken and curl.
I watch as it catches and spreads to the flower’s center.
I watch as it transforms into ash and the wind carries it into the sky.
The ash stains the silver braid of my ruby ring that’s ever so slightly too large, enough to slip off my finger if I wasn’t looking. I close my fist and lower my eyes.
“Farewell, beloved.” I say under my breath.