Spirits and Sorrows
FOUR

The day felt never-ending for Laura as she waited for nightfall.

She counted the hours until the sun set and the most important event of her life would take place.

All of her days felt never-ending since she was a nurse/healer and a community leader. Her day consisted of her usual routine. She went to the medicine cave at dawn to tend to the sick patients. She was one of the healers there and applied all the nursing skills she learned in university to help everyone. She would work there until the evening.

Unfortunately, despite everyone knowing it was her wedding day, no one was making it easy on her. She had to stitch up a teen shapeshifter whose leg split open and was as rude and uncooperative as could be. Laura’s patience was tested as she tried to clean and stitch the wound and the younger shifter kept making snarky comments and wouldn’t be still. It felt like ages until she got it done and it took everything inside her to not lose it.

She had to treat an elf who had food poisoning and was throwing up constantly. She barely managed to avoid getting thrown up and prayed for this to be over soon.

She left when it became afternoon, earlier than when she would usually leave so she could attend the leadership meeting. She met with Ruben, Nathaniel, Alison, Hendrix, and Sebastian, who were all community leaders to strategize for their next scout mission. They were going to Ethereal Village since it was the least dangerous territory and strategized about taking down any lone scouts or small groups of Kane’s army they came across.

They were going to avoid the bigger territories, such as Rave City, Ocean Falls, and Silver Moon City since they were the most dangerous. The last time they went to Raven City, there was a brutal attack by Kane’s army. They’d lost a few scouts which was a huge blow to the community. The bigger territories were crawling with members of Kane’s army.

They met early so they could end up having enough time to get ready for the night. They made the plan to leave in a week and then everyone got ready for tonight.

The night when a new chapter of her life began.

The sun was setting as everything was being set up. All members of the community gathered in front of the waterfall to watch Laura and Ruben take their vows. Alison would be the one officiating the wedding and Nathaniel would hand them the rings.

Laura and Ruben got ready in their tent. Both of them were silent with nervous excitement as they processed what they were about to do.

She felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest as she shyly looked over at the man she was about to marry. She couldn’t believe her dream was coming true. The circumstances they were in weren’t ideal at all to get married in but she was grateful she was getting married at all.

An elf named Dawn was a seamstress and created their clothes for the wedding. She made Ruben a simple black dress shirt and pants and Laura wore a simple, short, beautiful blue dress and her hair styled in a long elegant braid.

After they got dressed, they took a second to gaze at each other. The reality that her dream was coming true hit her and a smile brightened her face as she gazed at the shifter she loved. A smile graced his face and he pulled her toward him to give her a long kiss.

When they pulled away, she said, “I can’t believe we’re finally doing this,” she said breathlessly as she continued to gaze at him. “You look so handsome.”

“Thank you.” He pressed a kiss on her head. “You’re so gorgeous. I can’t believe I finally asked you.”

“You could’ve asked me anytime. I would’ve said yes no matter when you’d ask me.”

“I was scared.”

She playfully swatted at him. “We’ve been talking about getting married for years, you goofball. You had no reason to be scared.”

“I don’t know. I just was. But that doesn’t matter now. We’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

“Yep, all that matters.”

He took her hand and took a deep breath. “Are you ready?”

This was happening. She had to restrain herself from pinching herself to see if she was dreaming. This was what she’d dreamed about when she met him in grade six all those years ago when she fell in love with him at first sight.

“Yes.” That simple word held onto so much meaning. She was ready to start this new chapter with the man she loved.

He led her out of the tent and guided her to the waterfall where everyone was waiting for them. Everyone in the community was there, gathered around as they waited for Laura and Ruben to approach. This place and everyone here meant a lot to her. This place had become like home to her; having everyone here meant everything to her.

The crowd smiled at them and parted to let them through as they walked to the waterfall where Alison and Nathaniel were waiting. Nathaniel would hand them the rings and Alison was officiating the wedding. Mark stood beside Nathaniel and gazed at them with love and pride.

In the Eternal World, the couple marrying would pick whoever they wanted to officiate their wedding and who would give them the rings after they walked in together. Before all of this started, Laura had wanted her brother, Derek, to do it. She was so close to him and thought it would be wonderful to have him do it but he wasn’t here anymore. She chose Alison to officiate the wedding because they had become close after growing up being distant and she was the only family she had left. She thought Alison was the perfect one to do it. At first, she was worried Mark might take offense to this but he was content with this and didn’t have any objections.

Laura’s heart raced so fast she thought it would burst out of her chest. She and Ruben stopped in front of Alison. Her sister looked like she would cry as she stepped forward to hug both of them.

“I’m so proud of both of you,” her sister said as she gazed at them. “You better be a great husband to her,” she told Ruben. “Treat her with the love and respect she deserves.”

“I will,” Ruben said with assurance. “I always will.”

Alison turned to Laura and said, “You treat him well too. As much as it pains me to admit, he’s a great guy who’s been good to you and our family and he’s the one for you.”

“Took you long enough,” Ruben said jokingly and everyone laughed as Alison playfully punched him in the shoulder. In the years Laura and Ruben had been together, Ruben and Alison had detested each other but since Alison grew as an individual they became close friends.

Alison stepped back and said in a clear commanding voice, “We’re here to celebrate the marriage of Laura and Ruben, whose love lasted and overcame the most challenging trials over the ten years they have been together. We now bear witness as we witness their souls become as one.”

Alison recited the marriage vow that was used in the Eternal World, “The Divine Fates have blessed these two souls as they come together today to celebrate their love for each other. We witness these two souls begin this new life. May your souls become one and your lives be filled with peace and love. Your souls are now one.”

Nathaniel stepped forward and placed the ring on both of their fingers.

“Congratulations,” Alison said as tears of happiness streamed down her. “You can kiss the bride, Ruben.”

Everyone erupted into cheers and applause as Laura and Ruben kissed and their marriage was complete. When they pulled away they faced everyone, both of them beaming as everyone came up to hug and congratulate them.

Once that was over, a few sups grabbed a few guitars and played a few songs. Last time there was a scout mission some of the sups had found guitars in the territory they were in and brought them here. Laura was grateful since it’d been so long since she heard any music. Everyone seemed to feel the same way as they sang and danced under the stars.

Laura didn’t want this day to end. This was the happiest day of her life and she wanted to savor it for as long as she could.

She and Ruben stood away from the others as they danced slowly, gazing into each other’s eyes. She looked up when she saw three glowing lights floating in the sky.

Tears swelled in her eyes for the millionth time that day as she knew her family was watching out for her. She thought she could hear Derek and her parents’ voices whispering to her before they slowly vanished and thought she could hear them say, “We love you both. Take care of each other.”

She looked ahead to her new life ahead of her with the man she loved by her side.

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