The Wedding

The year went by in a flash. It felt both as if nothing changed between Nela and I, and as if I got to understand her more and more. She was still the cute Nela I knew—but I also got to see the more serious sides of her. Who knew she would be so good at planning the wedding?

I, of course, also tried my hardest. While Nela took over most of the planning, I did make suggestions where she was stumped. While I didn't know much about weddings from my previous life, I was getting better and better at talking to the people here.

After all, I did my job as kind of an assistant teacher pretty well. What started as a little math explanations for the merchant's son quickly turned into some sort of afternoon school, where other parents also let me teach their kids and check their homework. It was a lot of responsibility, but that didn't stop me. And if I didn't know the answer to a question, I was sure to find it out. The library still existed, after all. But I mostly visited it to talk to Ulfret, who made pretty good progress at learning my own language. Even though he clearly wasn't as fast at learning as I had been, which, admittedly, felt pretty nice.

But I knew that these thoughts right now were just a distraction. I was waiting for Nela at the beach. The wait felt agonizing, and yet, I couldn’t be happier. The ocean water lapped at my feet, and the man next to me smiled at me as if he wanted to calm me down. But today, I doubted anything could calm me.

Finally, the music rose, and I straightened up.

Nela was beautiful. Meike had braided her hair in different ways, and put flowers in between each and every one of them. Her dark blue dress looked like the depth of the ocean, and the small glass stones embroidered on it glittered like the waves.

I didn't want to cry. But today, I was the happiest guy on this planet, and I wouldn't let anything or anyone take that from me.

When she saw me, she flashed me that big, bright smile of hers that she finally showed more and more, even when we were outside. There were tears in the corners of her eyes, as well.

I barely could hear the vows. It didn't matter—as long as I said the right words, it was no problem. Our hands were intertwined, and I couldn't imagine ever letting go of her ever again.

"Then, I pronounce you husband and wife."

With those words, we turned to each other, and had our first kiss as a married couple. Around us, I heard the cheers, and the soft rumble of the waves, but it didn't matter. All that mattered were Nela's soft, soft lips.

When I opened my eyes again, she was wiping the tears from her face. She giggled.

"Finally," she whispered, "We did it."

"We really did."

I had a feeling that things would change, gradually, and yet enough for this to feel special. Queen Malevke smiled at us, and gave a slight nod. I still had trouble reading her, but with each and every meeting (and there had been lots of them during the last year) I got better at it. She was truly happy for us.

"Then, let's celebrate!" I squeezed Nela's hand, and turned around to the crowd around us.

*~*

The food was fantastic. There were of course enough things that Nela absolutely loved (though I managed to convince her that really, Fliederbeersuppe on this day would lead to more ruined clothes than enjoyment) but I had also worked hard to recreate some of my favorite dishes. The burger, especially, had found fans all throughout Schmodden, and we served a variety of mini burgers today as well. Who knew that a Labskaus Burger could be this tasty?

During the meal, I was glad to see everyone was enjoying themselves. Sören came more often to the capital than not, and I still didn't understand why he didn't just get a job here if he liked it so much. I was sure it had something to do with his family's politics, or else he and Meike would have been an official couple already.

They were sitting together again, of course, with him whispering something into her ear, which only earned him a glare. But he seemed delighted by it. I shook my head. I still didn't understand those two, but I was happy for them.

And Ulfret? Aside from our language lesson once a week, I didn't see him often. He was usually deep into some book about ancient magic or rituals, or pouring over an artifact that the adventurers brought with them. I didn't really understand, and didn't care enough to follow his explanations. I was just happy that he decided to show up today, even if it was with another book he decided to read during the meal.

I leaned on Nela, who had already finished her food.

"I'm exhausted," I whispered to her.

"Me too."

It was a wonderful day, but the weeks leading up to this had been pure stress. I couldn't even remember the last time we had gamed together—had it been two weeks? Three? I smiled. Time really flew by. But with her by my side, it felt like I could take on the world.

She put a small kiss to my temple.

"I think it's time," she whispered.

I gave her a little, pained smile. "I guess it is."

The music got louder, and I took her hand. Once more, I remembered that disastrous engagement party. All eyes were on us. But I only looked at Nela, and smiled.

Thankfully, we had continued our dance lessons as best as we could. By now, I had the basic patterns down and didn't step on her feet. And if that wasn't enough, there were at least a couple of moves that were a little more impressive, that I managed well enough. I put a hand on her waist, and we started moving.

The rhythm got louder and faster, and I almost made the wrong step—but Nela gently reminded me to go the other way.

"Thanks," I whispered to her.

"Will you ever learn?"

"Probably not."

She laughed. We turned around each other, let go, and got together again. Our hands interlaced. It was the most natural feeling by now. Her hand in mine. Shoulder against shoulder. My smile mirroring her own.

During the last year, I had managed to grow more relaxed. My nightmares had been reduced to- what, once a month at most? And in general, I had less problems to talk to people. There were some that I hung out with and called my friends. We didn't know each other super well yet, but it was more than I had before. Sören, too, if he spared me some time.

They were happy for me. For us. That was what mattered most to me, on this day. Her family was happy for us. But it was our very own happiness that glowed inside of me, that I would take into the future.

It felt like I finally had found my place in the world.