Levirate
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, never have, never will. I'm heartbroken.
Besaid island rejoiced when they heard the official news. Gossips had spoken of it for a long time, since the death of the crusader Chappu, bless his soul now resting on the Farplane. The more meddlesome had even tried to arrange something between the couple, and now they toasted each other near the bonfire, congratulating themselves on a match well made.
When the rumor spread and facts confirmed that they chose a traditional wedding over a modern urban wedding, the excited chatter rose. Weavers took their finest fabrics and their best techniques and applied them to costumes that would make the pair a sight to behold. The first to be wed in Besaid since the Eternal Calm and the happy conclusion to a woman's tragic story; all who were moved by such fairy tales cried at the joyous prospect.
No one chose to speak of the problems, though everyone felt the undercurrent of problems even as the smiling couple made their preparations. This was a time for good news, to bring smiles and new lives to the small island. Yet the couple still worried.
Lulu touched up her lips with a small dab of lipstick, and looked at the stranger staring back at her. She felt less like a woman in her wedding garb, and more an actress. Bright paints washed out the person under the bride, and a veil embroidered with flowers and birds covered her unchanged hair, just as her actions today covered her true feelings.
Love and lovers gone, Lulu walked through the marriage with no delusions of her affections. Wakka was her friend, one who knew her far too well for her comfort, but still a person she never dreamed of kindling romance with. Even now she wondered how they would summon enough passion to consummate their marriage, or even if she could change her vision of Wakka from friend to husband.
At least she had no loves living. Chappu and Auron, two different men, as different from each other as they were from Wakka. The dynamic boy, the first to make her smile and laugh. The silent man, the one whose quiet wisdom drew her into hope she could never have. Knowing that those she held romantic love now walked content on the Farplane made her resolve to learn how to love Wakka that much easier.
As a friend, she already did. Days and nights, they could talk and enjoy each other's company. Loyal, generous, cheerful, he would be good in the roles of husband and father, even if he would have his doubts. Even if Wakka didn't attract her like Chappu and Auron, Lulu could learn to enjoy his affections, and his own unique appeal.
She walked out of her room much more comfortable with her decision.
Wakka waited in the town square, the community and his friends as the audience. The priest of the Besaid temple stood in front of him, a strip of silk cloth in his hands. The one used to bind together two lives.
The fire behind them provided faint illumination as the sun went down, and Wakka felt himself choke up. In the pockets of his wedding costume, he fingered the packet of dried flowers with sweaty hands. Purposefully, he avoided looking at anyone in the audience, Rikku in particular. He knew her emotions, her ability to let him go, but only if she knew he felt something for Lu.
Something about the whole setup seemed fake, that he was going through these motions in someone else's body. This should be Chappu, or maybe Sir Auron had he been alive. He should be in the audience, arm around Rikku's waist watching as his woman he'd always thought of as a sister bonded with someone else.
The pressure to be something to the community held him back. Duty to Chappu, and a desire to make his home here made him move on with this game. Even if the old-fashioned folks here could accept an old-fashioned wife, Rikku would hate the settled life as much as Wakka would hate never traveling. No, the world held bigger things for someone like her.
In little isolated moments when Wakka wondered if he only caved in to outside pressures, Lulu's complete confidence pulled him through. He was not naive enough to imagine that she held some idealized romantic love for him, yet she still walked forward to this, optimistic in her authoritative way. Perhaps the fact that he knew she didn't feel like a little girl in love helped him cope with this situation.
His bride walked out of the temple towards the crowd of waiting people, a faint smile across her face. Lu looked beautiful, the crimson of her dress and veil illuminating features normally darkened by her usual attire. Even with the doubts he knew she had, she never wavered or hesitated, and her strength passed to him.
When she reached her place beside him, he looked down on her and smiled. Hands clasped together as the priest began joining their hands with the band of silk. Lulu's grip tightened against Wakka's slippery palm, holding them together.
He closed his eyes, and let the feeling of their hands connecting anchor him, as he meditated on the meanings of the blessings shouldered upon them: love, harmony, prosperity, fertility, and good fortune, among other things.
Their bond gave others a little joy, and in return, they wished nothing but the best for the couple, but Wakka had learned one lesson from the pilgrimage. People made their lives. His and Lu's happiness did not rely on these people who smiled and cried from the sidelines, but on the couple themselves.
When his eyes opened again, their hands had been wrapped to the forearm in the same silk as their wedding costumes, literally one entity. The priest bowed in the prayer motion and stood aside.
"Go ahead." Lulu whispered, her free hand clasping the sachet in her pocket, identical to the one he held. In a silent count, they threw their packets in the fire at the same time, scenting the smoke. In the ring of light, Wakka kissed Lulu, a ceremonial gesture rather than a passionate one, as they retreated back into the temple, hands still bound together in the silk.
If he had not known Chappu to be on the Farplane, he would have said that he felt his brother's spirit watching and smiling as he and Lulu took their first steps into married life. Yuna teared up even as she beamed, surely dreaming of that kid from Zanarkand. Rikku smiled at him and cheered him on, as his old feelings for her battled with the new ones that blossomed for Lulu. Even Kimahri seemed to smile slightly at their bonding, which made Wakka break into the silliest feeling grin he'd ever had.
"Do our best." Wakka's motto for Blitzball repeated in his head, and why not? He and Lu were a team now.