Love As Enchanting As Shadows (Book two of Love As Cold As Ice)

Chapter Two: Shade's Speech

"We are gathered here today to honor a loyal panther named Shade." It felt wrong to have North stand up there, but he was the most leader-y person out of the bunch, so I let him introduce the memorial first. Next to me, Jack squeezed my hand with his and I looked over at him. He looked at me, pulled out his collar, and then stuck out his tongue while rolling his eyes back. I muffled a giggle but then composed myself, remembering the purpose of this memorial. I side eyed Jack with a serious expression. He grinned at me, at least knowing that he made me feel better.

"How are you doing?" Jack asked after a short moment and I looked over at him again with an affectionate, yet annoyed sigh.

"You can't seem to stop fidgeting during these events, love." I put a hand on his leg, which was shaking on the ground as we all remained standing over the ice ravine, where it had frozen over. Jack was right. I couldn't even see a hint of Shade's gleaming black hide anymore. The ice had really encased Shade well after a year.

"I get fidgety easily." Jack said, tapping his foot on the ground instead, making sharp little crack noises. "Events like these make me a little anxious, to be honest."

"Oh." I looked up at North, who was still talking. "Well... we'll do something after this, okay? We should honor Shade. He's done so much for me, so it feels only right, you know?"

"I know, love." Jack smiled at me, "Good luck on your speech, by the way. It's a beautiful speech. You should be proud of it."

My hands started to feel clammy again. I had prepared a speech to present in front of the Guardians in honor of Shade. It wasn't a particularly perfect speech, but Jack loved it. I was nervous, naturally, but I held some sort of confidence within me that I knew would be let out if I just let it go.

"Our dear friend, Kiara, has prepared a speech in honor of her panther, Shade. Kiara, would you please come up here to present your speech?" North said, stepping aside and gesturing at the makeshift wooden platform we had made a few days ago. I gulped, picked up the half frozen piece of paper I had scrawled my speech onto, and then walked up to the platform, my heart pounding louder with each step.

For Shade. A voice in my head whispered and I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I saw everyone looking at me and I managed a nervous smile. Jack flashed me a thumbs up and I took in a deep breath, looking out into the crowd. "First off, I'd like to thank everyone for being here." I said.

Toothiana smiled at me, her pearly whites sparkling like snow.

"Um... second off, I'll begin my speech." I looked down at the paper and began. "I've always had trouble feeling loved. My dad, as all of you know, is Pitch Black and he... Well, he wasn't exactly a loving father. In fact, he was never there for most of my life. He never loved me either. He only loved me when he wanted me to be his true weapon. But Shade was always there for me." My nose pinched when tears started to flow in my eyes and I let them fall, not holding them back for once.

Bunny fidgeted with his tie, even though his eyes never left mine. Just like everyone else, he was mesmerized. Waiting for me to say the next line, wondering what my unconscious reaction to that will be.

"He never left, even after I hurt him." Shade's bloody scar flashed in front of my eyes and I closed them, still going through the speech. "I didn't mean to, but I still hurt him. Even after that, he stayed by my side. That is true friendship and true love." I looked up, my tears freezing on my face. "I just want to tell Shade that I am forever grateful for him being a part of my life. I am always going to love him. It doesn't matter where he is or what he looks like. He is an unforgettable soul and he made the ultimate sacrifice by dying for me." I pressed a hand to my chest, "I promise to you, Shade, that by your sacrifice, I will live a good and wonderful life. Thank you for always being there. I probably don't say this enough and I never will, but I love you, Shade." And with that, I walked off the platform, finishing my speech.