Mari (Soul Eater)

Part Forty-Eight

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry that I took forever making this part! I have been a total slacker on all of my writting and I just started a new book and I'm going to start another, and one more and I really need to finish a few before I start more!

I hope all of you are doing well, and I love all of you!

Stein pulled Mari into the big room with all the people. She could barely catch her breath for a moment as she looked around, seeing all the students much older than she remembered. "Mari," Stein whispered into her ear. "Close your mouth."

Mari blushed and did so, not realizing that she had opened it. There were white roses everywhere, and Mari warmed at the sight of their delicate pedals. There were also silks, hanging from the sealing, and tiny silver flowers in hidden places. Mari looked down, seeing that someone had sprinkled red rose pedals on the isle.

She looked up, meeting Kidd's eyes again, and her heart seemed to stop. No- it seemed to heal. She began to forget everything bad that had happened. Or, it moved to the back of her mind, sitting there to be thought over later.

"Mari," a voice whispered, and Mari looked to her side, meeting a pair of red eyes, startling her for a second. Then she saw that it was Amme.

Mari smiled at the girl, and brushed her hand. She turned back to Kidd, his expression happy, seeing that Mari was happy. Mari and Stein were at the podium a minute later, and Mari stepped up the few stairs that were there. She stood in front of Kidd as the music that had been softly playing, faded and the room became silent.

Mari looked into Kidd's golden eyes, his white suit perfect. Stein went and sat in the front row, an empty seat next to him. Mari stopped for a moment. Where was Bella? She shook her head. She would be here.

Mari met Kidd's eyes again as a man began to speak about love, life, and death. She smiled at Kidd as he took her hands gently, his fingertips soft.

'I think that all of this is sweet.' A voice said in Mari's head.

Mari jumped a little, not hearing from Kyoki for a very, very long time. 'You're still here?' Mari asked.

'It took some time,' the voice said. 'But I finally managed to come back.' She said and Mari pushed her to the back of her mind.

"And so," said the priest who had been droning on. "We come to the vows." He said, gesturing to Kidd and Mari.

Mari fumbled for a second, then pulled the paper with her vows neatly written on it, delicately tucked into the ribbons wrapping around her flowers. She handed the flowers to Ray, who had been standing next to her, trying not to cry, and turned to Kidd.

She looked at her hands as she unfolded the piece of paper. They were trembling a little, and she looked away from the tiny scars marking them. She unfolded the paper and looked at the words. They seemed to be floating around page for a second. She blinked, and then opened her mouth to read.

"There are many things in this world that can break us, and there are many things that can make us heal. There are people that will hurt us, but there are those small rays of sunlight that make it worth living through everything." Mari paused and looked up at Kidd. She turned back to her paper. "And sometimes, we forget the things that make it worth carrying on. I've lost sight of the things that make it worth living, many times, and I thought that it would just be better for me to disappear. But finally, I realized what it was that made me continue on. It wasn't a thing, or a group of friends; it was a single person. You." Mari stopped for a second as she felt tears streak down her cheeks. She turned to Kidd, her eyes saying so much more than the paper she held. That speech was only for the other people in the room. The words that were being held, unsaid, in her eyes, were for Kidd only. "Maybe it took being trapped in a world of nothingness, or forgetting myself, to realize how much I really need you. If I had to choose, between happiness and you, I would choose you, because you are my only happiness. You stood by me in my worst times, my darkest moments, your love never failing. So I am going to make you a promise." Mari looked at her paper, the words there not holding the true emotions she wanted to say. She quietly folded it and set it on the dais.

Kidd's eyes scrunched together for a moment, confused. Mari smiled at him, her tears streaming from her deep, dark eyes. "I promise that I will always love you. I will never leave you when you need me the most, and I will stay with you for as long as I possibly can, because I love, more than anything else." She spoke directly from her heart, her words full of love. Mari collected herself for a moment, then smiled at Kidd.

There was clapping from the watching people, Mari hearing lots of crying. Kidd smiled back at her, holding back tears. He pulled his papers out of his pocket, unfolding the paper with his long, slender fingers. The room became quiet as he gathered himself, looking over the words.

"You never realize just how much you need someone, until they are tore away from you." He said, looking up at Mari for a second. "And you never realize how much you have missed someone until you aren't holding them in your arms at night. When you were torn away from me, Mari, it was as if the other half of me had been ripped away as well." He looked up at her. "You are my one and only, and I wasn't living before I knew you; it was only a bleak existence, where I made friends, felt pain, and there were happy times, but I never loved before you, and I will never love after you." He glanced back down at his paper. "My promise to you, is to love you until I can love no more. And I promise to hold you through the end of the world, and to let you fall. I promise..." he looked up at Mari. "I promise to kiss away all of your scars, wipe away all of your tears, and brush away all of your pain. Because I love you, more than anything else in the world." He finished. There was more clapping and Mari could hear Ray and a few others sobbing.

The priest smiled and gestured to the crowd to be quiet. As the silence fell, he folded his hands, looking to the back of the room. "Bella. May we have the rings?" he asked and everyone turned as there was the sound of small footsteps.

Bella ran up the stairs, holding a small velvet box in her hands. She handed it to the priest and ran to take the seat next to her dad, a tiny smile on his face.

The priest took out the first ring, and turned to Mari. "Do you, Mari Ikiru, take Death the Kidd to be your husband, through all the hardships and grief that life may bring you, until the day you die?"

Mari smiled. "I do." The priest handed Kidd the ring, and Kidd turned to Mari, holding out his hand for hers. She held it out for him, and he slipped the ring onto her finger.

The priest turned to Kidd, pulling out the second ring. "And do you, Death the Kidd, take Mari Ikiru, to be your wife, through the hardships and grief that life may bring you, until the day you die?"

Kidd's smiled. "I do." He said. Mari took the ring from the priest, her hands trembling in the slightest as she took Kidd's hand, slipping the ring onto his finger.

Kidd was going to have to live without Mari someday... soon. What would he do. He would never more on after she died. And she wasn't scared of dying as much as she was afraid of Kidd never forgiving himself for her going insane.

She was brought back into the present as the priest spoke. "You may kiss the bride."

Mari smiled as Kidd stepped forward and let his arms wrap around her waist. He leaned in and let his lips fall on hers, soft and delicate. Mari closed her eyes as Kidd did, and moved her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to herself.

The church exploded in clapping as Kidd and Mari drew away from each other, their foreheads touching.

"I love you." Mari whispered softly.

Kidd kissed her again. "I love you too." He said.