'La Vita Nuova' - The Wedding

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There are two births; the one when light
First strikes the new awaken'd sense;
The other when two souls unite,
And we must count our life from thence:
When you loved me and I loved you
Then both of us were born anew.

- William Cartwright, 'To Chloe'


The door was very decidedly closed, and Nathan stood on the other side of it, smiling as he heard distinctly feminine giggling from the other side. "If I say 'less talking, more dressing', is one of you going to come out here and hit me?" he called lightly, then laughed as he heard Anna squawk something about him not being allowed in. "I'm not coming in, Anna," he promised her. "Just being a smartass from out here..."

"Yer a smart ass nay matter where ye are," Moira remarked, sucking in just a bit as Anna zipped her up. Stomach was bulging a bit more than it had been when she had tried it on the last time after it had been modified. Thank God her mother hadn't worn pure white. "Is it cheatin' when yer husband's a telepat'?"

"Maybe?" Nathan laughed softly again, letting his forehead rest against the door for a moment. "I'm actually carrying out an experiment. I'm wondering how long it'll take them to come looking for me if I don't get out there... and who'll do it."

"Haroun, Scott, me uncle, Henry, Dr. Connors, jus' ta name a few," came the sing-song response.

"I would very definitely be ganged up upon," Nathan said mock-solemnly. "It would be entertaining. In the scary way." He paused for a moment, listening to Anna murmuring something he couldn't quite catch to Moira. "You're okay?" he asked, a bit more hesitantly. He wasn't sure whether it was her nerves or his, on the link. Or a combination of both.

"I want ta throw up," Moira responded, pausing briefly to beat her cousin over the head with pillow for a smart ass comment about "Think wha' he could be doin' ta ye durin' th' weddin'! Scandalous!". She continued. "I cannae tell if 'tis th' wee bairn, nerves, or a combination o' that an' what I ate for breakfast."

Nathan reached out carefully on the link, wishing he were an empath so that he could actually do something to make her feel better. He had to settle for projecting images, instead. Memory-flashes. The two of them, holding hands, standing outside in the cool air, inhaling the fresh breeze.

She smiled softly and the women in the room giggled again. "Oh, hush ye lot!" she scolded, rolling her eyes at them. They let her alone for a minute and she leaned against the door. "Miss ye."

"Well, another" he paused to check his watch, "twenty minutes, and... well. Another twenty minutes." He caressed the link again as he straightened. #I love you. And if I start staring and drooling as you walk down the aisle don't laugh at me.#

"Twenty minutes, a life time." Moira laughed. #I love ye ta. An' o' course I'll laugh at ye, tha's why ye love me.#


I swear, since seeing Your face,
the whole world is fraud and fantasy
The garden is bewildered as to what is leaf
or blossom. The distracted birds
can't distinguish the birdseed from the snare.

A house of love with no limits,
a presence more beautiful than Venus or the moon,
a beauty whose image fills the mirror of the heart.

- Jalal Al-Din Rumi, 'Divan of Shems of Tabriz'



The figure in white appeared at the end of the aisle, and although there was part of him that registered the reaction of the guests, another part of him that was listening to Alison's song, most of him was watching Moira. Rapt.

I guess I don't need to worry about you running after all, GW thought at him very pointedly. Pity. I'd practiced my tackle.

If he'd been able to take his eyes, or the bulk of his attention, off Moira for a moment, he would have given that the response it deserved.

But he couldn't. She was glowing.

The very conscious effort of putting one foot in front of the other disappeared when Moira took two steps onto the carpet. The link went from warm and glowing softly in her mind to completely, blindingly gorgeous. It was the only way she could describe what was coming across it.

Nathan was beaming very softly from the other end of the aisle and her smile echoed his.

She looked... there weren't even words, Nathan thought in dizzy happiness. 'Beautiful' didn't cut it.

Absolutely radiant. That worked. Nathan just gazed at her, and the world slowly, yet inexorably narrowed to the two of them, and Alison's voice.

The song Alison was singing was coming to her from two directions--around her and through the link. She started focusing all her attention on Nathan, content that the song would never leave her head, at least for the time being.


As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

- Robert Burns, 'A Red, Red Rose'



I vow to you the first cut of my meat, the first sip from my cup, from this day on...

They were old vows. Translated from Gaelic, he knew - Moira had picked them, with his enthusiastic agreement. They were beautiful. They said everything that needed to be said, and when it was his turn his voice came out clear and steady, if softer than he had really intended.

Maybe he had once promised to shout this from the mountaintops, but in the end it was a promise to her. However many hundreds of sets of eyes were watching.

It shall be only your name I cry out in the night...

Moira couldn't help a small smirk at some of the facepalms from the younger crowd. It hadn't been her intent but if she couldn't find amusement...her thoughts trailed off and focused back on Nathan, feeling the caress on the link every time she spoke.

...and into your eyes that I smile each morning.

Mornings waking up to her. Years and years worth of mornings. It was one of the most purely joyous thoughts he'd ever had.

I shall be a shield for your back as you are for mine...

If he was a bit more vehement when it came to that line, he thought Moira would understand. In fact, he suspected many of the people sitting watching would understand, too. And he knew she knew he meant both sides of it. That he had stopped seeing it as a one-way street - that they could be shelter and support for each other.

Nor shall a grievous word be spoken about us...

God help the person that did, though she doubted any existed in this crowd. Moira glanced over at them and smiled gently, remembering something Marie had said to her once, about the Mansion going to war for her. And now for Nathan. Yes, they would--and they had. Between them and Nathan, and the baby, what more could she want?

...for our marriage is sacred between us and no stranger shall hear my grievance.

And that was what it came down to in the end. Trust. It was what he'd been able to give her, back when he'd hardly known the meaning of the word, and what he'd finally been able to accept from her. It was the foundation for everything, and for all their clashes of temper and unintended dips in the lake and shadows of the past, that had never changed. Never would change.

Bedrock. And he had rebuilt his whole life on that unshakeable foundation. His hands tightened on hers, his eyes ever so slightly misty.

Above and beyond this...

Moira blinked back tears of her own, entwining her fingers within his. No words or thoughts could possibly describe this moment, she thought, taking a deep breath as their voices became as one.

I will cherish and honor you through this life and into the next.

Nathan heard the rest of the minister's words, declaring them husband and wife. But between the incandescence of the link and the shining of Moira's eyes as she gazed up at him, the words seemed almost redundant.


Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.

- I Corinthians 13



It was that time. Nathan gave his cane one thoughtful look and then left it where it was, turning and reaching a hand out to Moira as he rose. "I think I owe you a reel," he said with a smile, steadying himself telekinetically. #And yes,# he sent, the smile growing, #I think I can manage it.#

The doctor in Moira wanted to protest but the newly married part of her (her heart skipped a beat) promptly told the other half to stuff it. #Are ye sure?# Still, she had to ask.

#Absolutely sure.# Okay, so it would take a little TK-steadying, but he couldn't think of a better cause in which to do it. #I told you, weeks ago. I was doing this whole getting-better thing just to be able to dance with you at our wedding,# he went on lightly, leading her out onto the dance floor, fully conscious of all the eyes on them. #I've owed you this dance for years, remember.#

#Hmmm, that ye have,# she replied warmly, stepping gracefully into the moves as the music started. It was a miracle she was still able to dance, considering her condition. #Good thin' I know this dance by heart, aye?#

#I'll tell you a secret. I've danced this in my head about three times a day for the last several weeks.# And in his dreams, from time to time, in all the years previous. In the end, he supposed, it was just another pattern. One that felt very, very right.


In that book which is
My memory . . .
On the first page
That is the chapter when
I first met you
Appear the words . . .
Here begins a new life.

- Dante Aligheri, 'La Vita Nuova'