#schwanheldbulge

The first roadblock of marriage we ran into was thewedding itself. Manabu was as baffled at my description of the ceremony as Iwas at his.

“Haven’t you seen it in movies?” I’d asked. “Women inwhite gowns, men in suits. Feed each other cake and champagne and throw thebouquet and all that.”

“I’ve seen it,” he’d said at length. “But I thought itwas all kind of romanticized for the sake of the movie. People actually haveweddings like that? It’s supposed to be all quiet and staring.”

Neither of us felt too torn-up about the matter, moreconfused than anything. The main trouble was that we weren’t sure how the otherceremony worked. Manabu seemed to struggle envisioning himself in something soextravagant, even when I suggested we could tone things down. As for myself, Iwas a bit worried about making a mistake in the rigid, formal ceremony Manabudescribed.

The people of Tabito held a long-standing tradition ofweddings based on those from old-Earth Japan, along with the many other thingsthey’d carried over when settling the planet. In the end, with more of hisfamily attending than mine, we decided on the Tabito tradition. Plus, Mrs.Yuuki offered to make dinner for everyone, and I couldn’t turn down an offerlike that.

As we flipped through invitations, trying to find a nicecardstock that wasn’t too flashy, Manabu said, “But I want the dance. We canhave the dance, right?”

My look to him was as blank as the cards. “Whatdance?”

“You said your weddings had a dance.” His cheekstinged red. “Formal kimonos aren’t hard to move in, so we can dance together,and I can do that dance with my dad first, so he can give me to you like yousaid. I think it would be fun.”

I decided not to mention that it was usually fathershanding their daughters off during the ceremony. He must have gotten confused,but the idea made him so giddy that I could do nothing but call Mrs. Yuuki forhelp. Kanna, she corrected me “or Mom if you’d like.”

She seemed equally thrilled about the idea, sayingshe’d take care of it.

She kept her word. In a field, a short way from theceremony I’d stumbled through, was a wooden deck laid into the ground. Paperlanterns and small lights covered the area in a star-like glow. Manabu’s eyesseemed to reflect all of it. His cheeks must have ached from the smile he’dworn all day.

His first dance with his father was, well, adorablehonestly. I never thought I’d call Captain Yuuki cute, but he spent the wholetime flustered, his brows pinched and his eyes down on their feet as though hewas worried he would step on Manabu’s toes. I couldn’t hear them from where Isat, but Manabu seemed to be speaking gentle comforts or encouragements to hisfather, while the captain muttered something in reply.

When the song came to an end and I had to come up andoffer my hand, Wataru frowned at it, still distressed. It was just like whenI’d asked permission for Manabu’s hand in marriage. I might as well havepunched the captain with how dazed he became. Mrs. Yuuki had to talk him intoan uneasy ascension at the time, but now he pulled Manabu’s hand toward mine asthough moving through water.

He seemed to want to say something, his mouth openingand closing a few times. As our song began, he managed a quiet, “Take care notto step on his feet.”

I gave him a nod. “Of course, sir.”

Manabu’s brows shot up. “You didn’t call him captainfor once. You’re getting better.”

“It was a struggle.”

“I didn’t have any trouble switching over for you.”

“I know. It was a bit disconcerting.”

We’d practiced the dance so often that I needn’t havestared at his feet. Manabu had insisted on nightly practices, humming the songhe’d picked until I heard it in my sleep. A nice tune, though. Sleepy, almost.

As always, he giggled when we got to the twirl, and asalways he pressed up to the tips of his toes and kissed the tip of my nose whenI pulled him back in. My burning face only made him laugh harder.

My eyes narrowed with the message that he wasn’tsupposed to do that in front of everyone.

His gleaming eyes returned that he knew and didn’tcare.