Sweet as Honey 「Sakata Gintoki x Reader」

Epilogue.

Tears fall from Kagura's eyes as she sits beside Otose on the white chairs.

"Otose-san," Kagura sniffs, the older woman glancing at her with her own eyes threatening to water.

"Can you believe it? Gin-chan and (Name) are actually getting married," she laughs, wiping her tears on her sleeve. Otose huffs, crossing her arms and struggling to hide the smile creeping onto her lips.

"Took them long enough," she mumbles, opening her eyes to look at the front of the room, where a fidgeting Gintoki stands in a suit, his fingers drumming against his pants as he shares a nervous look with Shinpachi, his best man, who simply whispers for him to calm down.

Gintoki whispers frantically back to Shinpachi, clearly panicking, his words not quite loud enough for the audience to hear but his body language showing it all. He only shuts up as the music changes and all eyes turn to the door, Gintoki's mouth falling agape and his eyes threatening to water, his chest tight and warm as he makes eye contact with (Name), whose smile threatens to make his heart leap out of his chest.

The whole time she walks down the aisle, Gintoki can only focus on her eyes; to anyone looking, he truly seemed smitten. Katsura sits behind Otose, Elizabeth beside him. He whispers to the amanto, "Even though I don't like this, I have to admit his eyes look less dead."

He's shushed by Otose's warning glance. As (Name) stands opposite Gintoki, after what seemed like an eternity to him, he can only whisper, "You look beautiful," without his voice threatening to cut out and tears threatening to spill.

(Name) can't say anything, too emotional to do anything more than look into his eyes. The ceremony continues as planned, with no one interrupting once given the chance to do so, and the time finally comes.

"Do you, Sakata Gintoki, take (Name) to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part?" Gintoki smiles at her, his hand reaching for hers.

"I do."

"Do you, (Surname) (Name), take Sakata Gintoki to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part?"

She squeezes his hand, a smile never leaving her lips as she says without hesitating, "I do."

There's a split second of silence where Gintoki can only see (Name), nothing else in his sight, and then he hears it.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Cheers erupt as Gintoki and (Name) share their first of many kisses as a married couple, their smiles never leaving them.

Their celebration drags on for hours afterwards, with people indulging in the food and drink, people congratulating them and people dancing; Gintoki and (Name) included in the latter.

Gintoki laughs as he twirls and twists (Name) to a song of her choice, her giggles sounding like heaven to his ears.

"Sorry in advance if I step on your foot," he jokes with a grin, hearing her laugh in response, "You always do anyways, it's no difference in those shoes."

They laugh, dancing until the end of the song, where Gintoki helps her to stand properly and bows playfully, thanking her for the dance. He glances around and, seeing all those around them distracted, grabs her hand and leads her away, motioning for her to be quiet as he drags her outside with a grin.

He leads her to the balcony, the moonlight shining down on them and lighting up their sparkling eyes. (Name) gives him a questioning look, her smile growing.

"What'd you bring me here for?" Gintoki still holds her hand, their fingers intertwined and swinging sideways almost hypnotically.

"So I could do this," he whispers and kisses her gently, his free hand holding her in place and hers tangling itself in his hair as they share the moonlit moment of peace. When they pull away, (Name) giggles.

"You could do that anywhere."

"Not peacefully, I can't." He grins at her, licking his lips curiously.

"Your lips taste sweet," he comments, making (Name) laugh.

"Well, now I have to find out what taste it is, don't I?" He grins slyly and pecks her lips again.

"So? Did you work it out?" (Name) teases. He hums in thought.

"They're as sweet as honey," he grins. "Is that new lip balm?"

(Name) laughs at him, shoving her forehead against his chest as she laughs. "You're such an idiot, Gintoki."

He laughs with her, arms wrapping around her. "I'm an idiot, yes, but I'm your idiot." He whispers in her ear.

(Name) places one arm over her stomach gently, the other holding Gintoki's hand with a gentle squeeze as she glances down at her small, growing stomach. She looks at the silver-haired man with a small smile, her eyes sparkling.

"Should we announce it tonight?" She asks softly, smiling wider as Gintoki shakes his head gently, his arms tightening around her ever so slightly.

"No. They can find out later," he whispers back and she grins, moving to wrap both arms around him.

"I really love you," (Name) whispers in his ear.

"I really love you," Gintoki whispers against her lips, smiling while he places a short but sweet kiss on her lips.

They slowly begin to sway under the moonlight, arms wrapped around each other as they move, locked in each other's embrace under the moon for the first time as husband and wife.

*

Author's Note:

This marks the end. Thank you to anyone who actually read this story, through its stupidity and all; I really appreciate it.

Honestly I started this story's plan as a "Hey, I'll write this slowly over the next two months since I'm on holidays now," and literally wrote the whole plan within two days and spent about two hours transferring it to here and editing (though I'll have you know my attention span is as long as that of a dog's, so please let me know if I've made a mistake here or there).

I'd also like it known that the ending here was added entirely to satiate a friend's request, and I thought it was cute so why not? Regardless, if you dislike it, feel free to simply pretend it didn't happen.

Also note that I won't be continuing this story, so please don't ask, even though I fully understand that means it was very enjoyable to you.

So as I leave this message at the end of a book I literally speed-ran, I thank you for reading. It means a lot to me.

With that, I say my goodbye.

- Jinsei x

(Book published on the 11th of December, 2019)