Gravity Rises (S3)

CW: Part Twenty-Three

Content warning: The third and final section of this chapter contains references to child abuse and its effects.

Art by GiddyDanish

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

It was strange to have a wedding on the day after two funerals. But that's exactly what Caleb and Yingtai did.

The elders had given their approval — or, at least, enough of a majority had. Caleb would be allowed to leave his prison long enough for this wedding. Yingtai was ready: She had apparently kept a beautiful red wedding dress all this time, and Candy had rarely seen her so happy as when she pulled out that dress and tried it on.

Yingtai also forced Candy into the nicest dress she owned, which was a sea green dress shoved in the corner of her closet. Candy, who was usually adamant about not wearing dresses, didn't even complain this time. After all, it was her parents' wedding, and she wanted to support them.

The wedding was done according to traditional minotaur rites — and Candy, having never been to a wedding at all, had nothing to compare it to. It was outside, over by the trees instead of in an arena. The midmorning sun shone down on Caleb and Yingtai, who stood on a dais above the snow. Strings of blue and purple flowers hung from the tree branches, and more flowers rested around Caleb's hooves and Yingtai's feet. Yingtai wore her beautiful red dress, and Caleb wore a golden tunic. The two outfits looked great together, even though that was coincidental — the tunic had been Andrew's wedding garb, borrowed by Caleb, and it happened to complement the red dress with its golden accents.

Candy stood with the crowd apart from her parents. The Grays were here, and the Pines, and a handful of other humans. But most of the guests were minotaurs, of course. It wasn't the entire village, like had come to Xítway's funeral, but it was still a sizeable number.

Mrs. Gray squeezed Candy's shoulder. Candy tensed — she didn't like being touched without warning — but she tried to relax. Mrs. Gray was just being supportive.

The ceremony began with a traditional prayer, given in the minotaur language. The rest of the ceremony would be in English, though, and Candy was grateful. The officiating minotaur elder started talking about vows, symbolism, commitment, and so on. Candy wasn't sure her parents heard; they were too busy looking lovingly into each other's eyes. Gross.

But also cute. A little bit.

The elder finished his speech, then turned and pulled a long purple ribbon from a tree branch. "Grasp hands," he instructed.

Yingtai and Caleb did so — his left hand, her right.

The elder started wrapping the ribbon around their hands, over and over again. He'd said something about this in his speech: how the binding of their hands represented the binding of their lives. He'd probably explained why the ribbon was purple, too, although Candy honestly hadn't been paying much attention. This whole thing was a bit too overwhelming for that.

As the elder twined the ribbon, Caleb and Yingtai made promises to each other about supporting each other and never forgetting their love. They'd certainly had a thirteen-year trial run for that last part, Candy thought, with their secret meetings. They probably could've just stopped at any time, deciding it was too hard — but they hadn't.

Even though Candy was still mad at them for hiding Caleb from her, she had to admit she was glad that they had stayed committed to each other for all this time.

"Your life is hers. Your life is his. Your life together is yours." This was what the elder said after finishing tying their hands. Caleb and Yingtai turned to face the crowd. They lifted their hands up for everyone to see.