| Fan Fiction |
by Livi
--Harry Emerson Fosdick
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Xiao You stood outside the church and experienced a moment of intense fright at the enormity of what she was going to do. Her heart started to flutter and beat irregularly while her legs felt like blancmange. God, she could not do this! She definitely could not get through everything!
What if Ximen changed his mind five or ten year later? What if he woke up on one faithful morning and realized he didn’t love her? Or what if he had already apprehended he was making a huge terrible mistake right now while standing at the end of the aisle wishing he wasn’t?
“Xiao You, are you ready?” Shancai asked, smoothing the unruly curl lock on her forehead.
Xiao You didn’t turn around. She only started blankly at the door. It seemed her best friend’s question was a million year light away and it took sometimes for her to regain her self-conscious what was the question. “I am so afraid, Shancai.”
Shancai looked at her and asked gently “What are you afraid of? Is it nervous afraid or real one?”
Xiao You’s hands started to tremble as she looked down. “I am just scared that this is the wrong thing, you know…” She heaved. “It’s a big mistake?”
“For you? for him? Or for both of you?” Shancai asked sagaciously. Then she took the bouquet of white roses before held of Xiao You’s cold hands. “Hey… Xiao You… Look at me.”
Gradually Xiao You brought her frightened eyes away from the arched church door and looked into Shancai’s calm eyes.
Shancai saw the fear in her best friend eyes and gave her reassurance smile to her. “Xiao You this is, Ximen you are going to marry. He is the man that you have been in love for so long. And he loves you back. There’s nothing to be scared about.”
Yes. She was marrying Ximen. Xiao You repeated her best friend’s word in her head. She was marrying a man of her dream. Her fantasy star, she had used to call him before, because it had seemed he had been so out of reach. Now here she was standing beyond the door and Ximen was waiting for her.
“Xiao You, I know what you have been through and it had not been an easy road.” Shancai said, her pretty face creased with a smile. “But this is life. And you will live with someone you love.”
Shancai released her fingers and Xiao You looked down at the engagement ring Ximen had given for her. Nevertheless it was not the beauty of the princess cut diamond she saw. Instead it was Ximen’s face he was there. The face of amazing man who had given it to her. She also saw the expression in his eyes when he had presented it to her. After she had agreed to marry him, Ximen had taken her to have dinner at his yacht. The fragrance of sea breeze had been lazy in the warm autumn air. The sky had been velvet, pierced with stars and flooded with pale moonlight. A sense of whispering stillness had pervaded the perfect night, timeless and enchanting. He had stood with his arm around her waist, his head had lifted to the harvest moon. He had murmured words of love huskily as the silence of the night had enfolded them.
It had been one of those golden memories for her. When he had pulled the small, dark blue, velvet box from his pocket and had told her he loved her, the woman she was and the woman she had become.
And since that day, her emotion had been like a roller coaster. Par of her had been worried that if she allowed herself to be too happy it would hurt more when it was taken away. She had been afraid that she had been dreaming and would have woken up in the cold night. There had been moments during their engagement when that fear had risen to the surface. Days when she had been so sure that Ximen would look at her and realize she was not what he wanted. Like the day when Ximen had found out about her and Mike, she had been certain Ximen would leave her then. Or when there was the time when his father had told him who she had been. She had been terrified he would leave her. Then she became so indecisive and he had been so furious. She had been so sure he would realize he made mistake.
Shancai passed Xiao You, her simple bouquet to hold. “This is your moment, Xiao You. Please leave all your worries behind.” She said practically.
“What if he feels that he is making a mistake right now, Shancai?” Xiao You asked. Her lips quivered.
“He loves you, honey.” Shancai said, adjusting the single white rose amidst the copper curls. “Very much. Your sad times are all behind you now. It’s now the future you are going to make with him. No more sad times.”
No more sad times. She kept reiterating those three words in her heart and felt the fear recede as walked all the way down the aisle gracefully. It was such a short distance and yet it felt so far.
She was vaguely aware of the music that heralded her entrance and the faces of close friends and relatives. Ximen’s mother had come from Europe to give the blessing but not his father, however at least he would not do anything to ruin their day. Xiao Qiao, Jing and Mimi who were her bride-maids wearing burgundy had already stood across the best men. Lei, Mei Zhuo, Ching He and A si were besides the groom who was waiting of her to arrive. Nevertheless besides all of them, other people faded into insignificance.
Then Ximen turned to watch her. He was so tall and handsome, very handsome actually. His rugged good looks lent a faintly brooding air to the formal wedding finery which was thrillingly romantic. And he would be hers soon. Ximen was her. The look on his face reduced all the women present in the church to tears even before the service stared.
Shancai was wrong. There would be sad times. Nevertheless there would be also happy times, exciting times. And there will be Ximen. She understood right now what poetry once had written. That love was like a bed of roses, there were many thorns. The path to true happiness lay in learning to avoid the thorns, while enjoying the roses.
Both of them could not change the past, but they could make the future theirs. And she knew that it would be wonderful as long as they stayed together. They belonged to each other. For better, for worse. In sickness and in health. Forsaking all others.
And she believed that he would never let her down.
It meant that when Ximen promised to love her until she died she knew he would keep that promise. Whatever and whenever the obstacles came or what the future held for them, they would face it together. It was the time for doubting that was over.
And when A si, as best man, solemnly passed over the gold band and Ximen slid it on her finger, Xiao You felt a sense of peace.
“And now I announce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Xiao You looked up and saw his gleaming eyes smiled tenderly at her. “I love you Mrs. Ximen. You are my wife now. You will be the mother of my children. The rest of your life starts now and it’s going to start right.”
Xiao You nodded, faintly bewildered nonetheless.
“And I am going to kiss my bride.” He said before his hands cradled her face. His lips were saying more than words.
Gently she released the kiss and looked up at her new husband. She reached up and touched his face. “I love you.”
“You’d better be just me.” He said warningly but his eyes were smiling. “No one else.”
Xiao You shook her head and held up her left hand. “I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He said, leading her towards the car that would take her to their reception. “And I love you too. You know Lei, Mei Zhuo and A si said that I am the luckiest groom?” He asked as he directed his eyes to his best friends who were smiling at them at the corner. “They never thought that I am the first one to tie the knot.” He added mischievously. “Unbelievable.”
“Are you alright with that?” She asked softly.
“Oh, I am perfectly fine.” Ximen answered. His eyes took on their customary glint. “I beat all of them even the greatest Dao Ming Si! The notorious playboy has become the faithful husband.”
“Faithful husband.” She repeated. It was strange how close laughter and tears were, since suddenly she felt as if she wanted to cry.
“Yes and every day I will tell our children our love story and how you saved my life from destruction. I’ll tell them that I am the luckiest man on earth to have such a perfect, beautiful amazing wife.” He whispered, reaching down to hold her hand.
“And I will tell them that how much I love you more than life itself.” Xiao You whispered back, touching his chiseled face with the palm of her hand.
“Have I told you that you are the most beautiful bride in the world?” Ximen asked as he kissed the palm in such a way her legs turned to jelly.
“Yes.” She said gently.
“And I am telling you again now.” His hand traced her face with exquisite gentleness. “You are so beautiful and so sexy. Do you think all brides are supposed to be sexy, darling?”
Xiao You smoothed out her Duchesse ivory silk dress of the elegant and breathtaking but that was deceptively simple she had chosen to be married in. And instead of a veil, a profusion of tiny white rosebuds were threaded through her upswept hair, the same flowers reflected in the posy she carried. She reached up and nuzzled her lips in the deliciously fragrant hollow under his ear. “If you think so.”
“Oh, I think you are the only bride that is so sexy.” He amused before he kissed her. “We are going to be happy, Xiao You. Our happiness would be more than any couple in this world, do you believe that?” He murmured against her lips. “Can you feel it deep inside?”
Xiao You nodded. She could say no more. Her happiness was beyond anything right now. She was in paradise and in bliss. She knew that her new journey began today. She and Ximen would be together like a perfect living jigsaw, completing each other. Replete and content. Two hearts beating as one. And despite all the odds, they had found each other. The dream had become reality. At last, she was home. Both of them were saved.