A Helping Hand

For many people, today was yet another ordinary day. However, for Jack it was the happiest day of his life. Today, Jack was getting married.

Jack's beloved was a woman named Meera, who also happened to be a witch. They had first met when they served in the army. At first they were actually both quite shy. It wasn't until Jack was pressured into talking with her by his friends that they actually properly met. They were both rather embarrassed when they recalled their first encounter.

The two of them had quickly fallen in love and their relationship grew during their time in the army. That period of time had been very stressful as they were on the frontlines of a war. Neither of them knew when they might die so they treasured each and every day that they had with each other. During this time they had grown very close.

Their fear of death was not irrational either as both of them had went through multiple near death experiences during battle. If they had been less fortunate then one or both of them would have died. The fact that they survived was something worth being thankful for. They had survived the march throughout the Kingdom of Dawn, the battle outside the City of Glow where so many had died, and they had survived the final battle at Taquila. They truly had gone through a lot together.

Now that the war was over, they were able to return home for a while. Although they both knew that one day they might have to take up arms again and battle for the survival of mankind, they wanted to treasure the time that they could spend in peace. It wasn't long before they decided to get married.

Their marriage was no simple matter. Despite recent progress, witches were still not fully integrated into society. Centuries of prejudice couldn't change overnight. Still, although such a union was very usual, it wasn't to the point where others would end up scorning him for what he did.

However, Jack's family had been quite apprehensive about the whole thing since it was well known that a witch could not have children. His parents were quite worried about him since they wished for him to have children to continue the family line. Jack didn't care about that. He was in love with Meera and nothing his family said would change that. Ultimately, he told his parents that if they wanted grandchildren then they would have to wait for his brother to get married. Jack's parents reluctantly acceded to Jack's demands and did not oppose his marriage.

Planning the marriage was no small task. Fortunately, both he and Meera were quite well off. Pay for a soldier in the army was quite good and the bonus they had gotten at the end of the war was not insignificant. Meera was paid even better as she was a witch. They had enough money to pay for a rather elaborate marriage ceremony.

There were plenty of people invited to the ceremony. Jack's family, his friends, Meera's family, and her friends all attended. Many of Jack's friends had served with him in the army, and they were quite familiar with Meera already. They had all undergone the same hardsh.i.p.s he had and suffered just as much. The group of friends was smaller than it once was as several of them had died during the war. Lop, Jack's best friend, was one of those who died. Jack wished that Lop could have been here to see this day.

Most of Meera's friends were witches. Since the witches were all given special education, they all ended up learning together with other witches. Naturally, their fellow witches would be their closest friends, especially since they shared something in common. Meera's friends were very pleased to see her get married as they were glad that she was able to find happiness. Many of them had the hopes of getting married one day, and they were quite hopeful about the prospect now.

Now that it was the day of the wedding, Jack became quite nervous. It was going to be the most important day of his life. As he stood there waiting, irrational fears began entering his mind, making him think about all kinds of horrible things that might happen.

Then, all those thoughts disappeared when Meera entered, wearing a beautiful wedding dress. Her beauty was as dazzling as ever and Jack found himself entranced by the sight. All of his worries slipped out of his mind as he beheld the love of his life.

Then, the door opened and they slowly walked down the aisle. Jack could feel that all eyes were on the pair of them as they slowly approached the altar. Finally, they arrived and as he stood there, his heart beat frantically.

The priest officiating the ceremony began reciting all of the things that had to be said and the words simply flowing into Jack's ear on one side and out the other ear. Then, the priest asked them to say their vows, quickly bringing Jack's attention back. As Jack spoke, he could still hardly believe that all of this had happened and that he was finally getting married. Now that he was finally there, everything seemed rather unbelievable. After Meera said her words, the priest declared them husband and wife.

Jack and Meera kissed. Jack was happier than he had ever felt in his life.

The crowd erupted into cheers and then the wedding cake was brought out for everyone to eat. Everyone congratulated the two newlyweds as the celebration began. The party after the wedding was quite lively and everyone had a good time. Finally, as night fell it was time for the final part.

Jack and Meera returned to what was now their home and Jack took Meera into the bed.

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Although Jack and Meera's marriage had not been a large event, news about it had spread because it was unusual. However, it was just something that caused a small amount of curiosity in people, not something that caused great controversy.

Steven had indeed heard that they would be getting married today and he did feel quite glad for them. Of course, it would not be proper for him to attend personally, after all they weren't people that were particularly important. If he had to attend the weddings of every person in the army, he would never have time for anything else.

Still, he couldn't help but think about them. Steven turned to Zero and said, "It would have been nice if we could have gotten married. But there would be too many problems politically. It really is unfortunate."

Zero shrugged. "It really doesn't matter at all. It wouldn't be anything more than a statement. We can still do everything they do anyways." Zero leaned in close to Steven. "In fact, lets get started right now."