White Dragon Stories

Love

Normally the wedding rings were matching each other, looked the same. This wasn't the case here. At first Hakuryuu had wanted to be the one, who decided one the wedding rings, since his still fiancé had picked the engagement rings. Now he wondered why he had ever thought something like this was a good idea. And why had he thought his fiancé would agree? End of the story was the agreement to make a wedding ring for each other.
How many hours had Hakuryuu put into thinking about how the future wedding ring of his loved one should look like? This was something for all eternity! So it had to look good, represented his feelings, wasn't too flashy or too plain. Hard work! And so much stress combined with self-doubt and self-hate, tears included, that one could wonder, if all this was worth it. For him it was. During this time Hakuryuu had learned a lot about himself and therefore also about what was important to him, what he needed and wanted in a relationship and what marriage meant for him – he had known it before, but he had never actively and consciously thought about it. Maybe it was better for him to stop thinking – overthinking – from time to time? A lot would be so much easier! But was easier always better? Under normal circumstances Hakuryuu would now think about it, however now he did not, because he thought about all the effort he had put into creating his future husband's wedding ring. Although they had agreed to not take a look at the other one's "surprise ring" as Kougyoku's child called the rings before the wedding, they both had done so anyway. It was only natural and logical, since they wanted the rings to match each other, despite being different. They had just made sure that one could still identify the rings as wedding rings and that they belonged together – and both of them were very curious. In a few more hours he was able to look at his "surprise ring" for the rest of his life – hopefully it was a long life.

All his thinking and running up and down in the room was interrupted by someone, who seemingly never heard of something called manners. Without knocking Kougyoku entered the room, her daughter right behind her, looking very stressed and exhausted. She had taken it upon herself to ensure that his wedding was perfect. According to her, Hakuryuu and Judar had more important stuff to handle on their wedding day than to take care of the organization. Also it would only stress the two and therefore they wouldn't be able to fully enjoy the day. Furthermore, Hakuryuu and Judar had done the same for her on her wedding day – alright, Hakuryuu had, Judar had just followed him around. Of course, for Hakuryuu this had been something totally different!

At first both stared at each other in silence, while Kougyoku's daughter was checking the room in search for the "wedding dress". Her mommy had had one and it was so beautiful, either Hakuryuu or Judar also had one and she needed to see if it was as beautiful as her mother's. Probably not. Sadly she couldn't find what she was searching for, which was commented with a disappointed and disapproving mutter. The two adults ignored her.
"Is something wrong, Kougyoku?", Hakuryuu asked with a worried undertone in his calm voice.
Did something happened that could endanger the wedding? Or did she need more servants to help her with the preparations?
"Is something wrong?", Kougyoku repeated, looking as if Hakuryuu had just told her that the wedding was cancelled. "That's what I want to know! Is something wrong? Why aren't you changed yet? Did Judar and you broke up?"
She sounded a bit hysterical.
"No, we have not. Well, at least I haven't broken up with Judar."
But what if Judar didn't want to marry him anymore? In this case Judar had said something, right? Judar had been the one, who had proposed and who couldn't wait for the wedding – it had been Hakuryuu, who had asked for more time before the marriage. Judar wouldn't suddenly break up! And even if, Judar had said so sooner! Yes, Hakuryuu started to panic.
"Then why are neither of you are changed already? What are you waiting for? I have planned everything. I won't accept any delay!"
"So, Judar said nothing about breaking up or not wanting to marry me anymore?"
"No, but he is sitting in his room eating peaches as if this was all none of his business. And isn't ready as well. You should know how long it takes to get changed and that it can't be done in mere minutes. So why aren't you changed yet?"
Judar eating peaches was a good enough reason for him to stay in his normal clothes. Just thinking that he made his wedding clothes dirty made Hakuryuu feel uncomfortable.
"Because I don't want to make the clothes dirty or sweaty. I don't have any words to describe how nervous I am. There are still some hours left until the ceremony, so there is no reason to panic yet", Hakuryuu explained himself to his older sister.
"Two hours. The wedding starts in two hours", Kougyoku stated with such a neutral tone that it could scare one.
"You know that this isn't much time to get changed, do your hair and putting on makeup."
Alright, it was time panic! By now Hakuryuu was a professional at panicking!
"Then... Then... Then I will get ready now and you go and help Judar! He will need all the help he can get! We will be ready in less than two hours! And everything will be fine!"
"Understood! I will send you some servants to help you. Sweetie, we are going", Kougyoku said in a firm voice and was almost out of the room, when her daughter told her she wanted to stay with uncle Hakuryuu and help him with getting "pretty". Kougyoku didn't mind and Hakuryuu was too busy with not losing his head to say anything against his niece staying.

The wedding was split into two parts. The first was the ceremony in itself. Only a handful of people were allowed to attend this part. Those people were Kougyoku, her daughter, her two personal servants, Ka Koubun – although no one knew why he was allowed there, since neither Hakuryuu nor Judar liked or trusted him – and three people of Judar's home village. The second part was the celebration to which not only the kings and queens of the other countries were invited, but also the whole Kou Empire. Today was supposed to be the happiest day in Hakuryuu's and Judar's life, so why not share their happiness with everyone?
On the other hand, Hakuryuu was so "petty" and forbid everyone else in the Empire to marry on the same day as Judar and him for all eternity. Everything had been taken away from him once, so he now tried to keep as many things as possible to himself – even if it was just a day. Both Judar and Kougyoku had laughed about his announcement, but hadn't said anything against it. Kougyoku thought it was cute. Judar probably thought it was cheesy.

Of course, after two hours no one was ready. Luckily, Kougyoku had lied about the time. The fact that Hakuryuu almost had a heart attack, when he realized that he wouldn't be ready on time, was ignored. According to his sister it was his own fault. In the end he hadn't died and this was all that mattered.
The biggest problem they had was to get Judar to wear shoes and to make his hair, which was due to Judar being overprotective over his hair. Besides Hakuryuu no one was allowed to touch his hair and the black-haired Magi himself had no clue how to do his hair. However, an enraged Kougyoku was very convincing.

*

Standing right next to Judar in front of the altar was definitely the best thing that happened to him in the past years. Hakuryuu knew that Judar didn't understand, why this ceremony, this symbolism was so important to him, but kept silent. Without any complains Judar endured the whole procedure. It seemed like he was "sleeping" through until it was time to exchange the rings. A smirk, which was a bit scary, formed itself on his lips. Others may have been scared by it, but Hakuryuu knew what it truly meant. Judar was proud of the ring he had made for Hakuryuu and now he finally could show it to the world. Hakuryuu was really nervous. He must have looked like an idiot, while watching Judar putting the wedding ring on his finger. It was so beautiful! The cold feeling on his finger was great, it had something surreal to it. There were no words to describe what he felt and thought. All Hakuryuu could say for sure was that it felt right! Tenderly he stroke over the ring. His wedding ring! The ring Judar had made for him!
When it was Hakuryuu's turn to put the wedding ring on Judar's finger, he almost missed. His hands were trembling like a leaf, thus it took quite some time until the ring was on Judar's finger. In the end all that matter was that he succeeded and that they were finally wed!
Slowly Judar leaned forward, his hands Hakuryuu's upper arms, to give his newly wed husband a kiss. Out of reflex Hakuryuu hold onto Judar, as if he feared to fall over. Somehow Hakuryuu had expected Judar to be more boisterous. However, thinking about it more carefully, Judar had always been very cautious and tender with Hakuryuu, when he wanted a kiss. Yes, the black-haired Magi was carefree most of the time and wasn't really good at reading the atmosphere and wasn't good with words or feeling, yet every time he approached Hakuryuu for a kiss, a hug or any other intimacy he did it carefully. As if he was afraid to scare Hakuryuu away in case he didn't do so. But was it really that strange? Probably not. Hakuryuu just had been a bit dense in this regard until now. Judar had been there, when Arba had forcefully kissed Hakuryuu. Judar knew about all the physical violence Hakuryuu had to endure in his life. Judar knew about his husband's self-hate, self- doubt and traumata. Judar knew it all and all he wanted was to make Hakuryuu happy. He didn't want Hakuryuu to fear his touches or kisses. So he thought, if he approached his husband slowly Hakuryuu could back away in case it was too much or caused discomfort. Hakuryuu should not associate anything bad with his touches, kisses, hugs and other intimacies.
When Hakuryuu realized how much thought Judar had put into his behavior, when he realized how deeply Judar cared and loved him, he was not able to hold his tears back anymore. No words could describe how wonderful it felt to know that one was loved so much.