After a particularly long delay, it was finally time for Nate and Shuixing's wedding. It would have been much sooner, but there were plenty of delays. There was an annoying amount of paperwork from the Chinese bureaucracy to fill out, which made it rather hard for the papers that Nate had to sign because he can't read Chinese. Then there was a lengthy debate of how the ceremonies will go, honoring both Nate's Christian and Shuixing's Buddhist upbringings. And finally, there was the matter of Blueberry and Meryl giving birth and having to recover before they can travel with their new sons. Of these delays, only the last one did Shuixing see as necessary.
As for the matter of whether the Buddhist or Christian wedding should go first, the couple decided to go with the Buddhist wedding. It was mainly for the simple reason that the Buddhist ceremony was shorter. It wasn't that Buddhist weddings are any less sacred, but they aren't as filled with ceremony as weddings in the West. It mainly consisted of Nate and Shuixing going to the Buddhist shrine with their families as witnesses. Mostly, they just had to listen to the monks chant sacred texts. All Nate and Shuixing had to do was a brief exchange of vows.
Nate: "Towards my wife I undertake to love and respect her, be kind and considerate, be faithful, delegate domestic management, provide gifts to please her."
Shuixing: "Towards my husband I undertake to perform my household duties efficiently, be hospitable to my in-laws and friends of my husband, be faithful, protect and invest our earnings, discharge my responsibilities lovingly and conscientiously."
Overall, the ceremony only took about half an hour. At this point, the two water buffalo were officially married, considering their matrimonial paperwork was completed. Though there was still the Christian ceremony to observe. Fortunately, the minister promised not to make any long-winded speeches. He was quite aware the newlyweds would be wanting to head on to their honeymoon.
Fortunately, the weather was sunny, but not unbearably hot. The wedding was held on a pavilion not too far away from the Buddhist temple so the couple could head right over. Nate was grateful he wouldn't have to stand at the altar for too long. The rented tux he wore was designed for Animalians, but it still got a little too hot the longer he wore it.
When Shuixing walked up the alley, even those who had already seen her in her dress said she was beautiful. Shuixing wasn't wearing a traditional wedding dress, not by Western standards. In several Asian communities, especially Chinese, white is considered an unlucky color associated with death. As such, it was considered particularly unlucky for brides to be wearing white. Instead, Shuixing was wearing a dharka of the more traditional Buddhist style. She had considered wearing black, but that might be unlucky too. Instead, she went with a deep blue dharka with red trim for luck.
As promised, the reverend's speech was brief, mostly about how love can form in the unlikeliest of places, such as a martial arts tournament, and between the most unlikely of people, such as a farmboy from Wisconsin and a water buffalo from China. But such love is all the more precious for forming in such rare circumstances. The Good Lord encourages all to not shun what is different, but to find how they are alike and embrace them.
Nate and Shuixing's vow were more personal and heartfelt in this ceremony:
Nate: "Shuixing, I wouldn't have expected my life to turn out like this. I thought I would be such a simple farmer who'd just tend to his father's farm until it's time to eventually pass it down to my own son. But you have broadened my horizons. You helped my father find love again and restart his life, to have a proper family. Even my aunt has benefited from your presence. Now she has her own family and a renewed vigor for life. You're not just the woman I fell in love with, you're a beacon of hope."
Shuixing: "Not as long ago as it seems, I didn't dare to have hope for myself. I thought myself as ugly and unloved by all except for my sisters. I was given a new life and a better body, but still I wasn't sure if I could be truly loved. But when I met you, you didn't care how much different you were from me. You saw me for the woman I was. I didn't expect our relationship to grow beyond that, but I have watched it bloom into something beautiful. You too have given me hope and I am more than content to spend the rest of my life with you."
As soon as he kissed the bride, the ceremony as complete. The newlyweds were congratulated by their family member, but they mostly wanted some alone time now. It was easy enough to arrange for a honeymoon at Mieni Atoll, with all the perks that came with it. But first, there was one wedding gift they needed to receive.
It wasn't much of a surprise for Nate to go around the part of the Five Elements' house that he was kept away from to see some young cherry trees waiting for him. The real surprise was how many of them there were. Nate had expected at most two trees, not eight. "You didn't have to get that many," said Nate.
"Well, 8 is a lucky number in China," said Muxing, "Not to mention it increases your odds for having a good crop. These are wild cherry trees, which are pretty hardy and adapt well to temperate climates. They'll produce beautiful blossoms in the spring and edible fruits later in the year. It may take a few years before they're at full fruit-bearing capacity. It'll also be best to plant them in autumn when they're in a dormant state and can extend their roots through the winter."
"You've really put a lot of research into this," said Nate.
"Anything for our new brother-in-law," said Tuxing, "You two better head on to your honeymoon. We'll make sure your bed will be ready for you when you get back." Nate felt a touch of embarrassment about it. Nate and Shuixing hadn't really considered their living arrangements beyond him moving to Heiya Island. It wasn't like they were planning to start a family soon, so it seemed Nate will be just be moving in to live with Shuixing and her sisters. But Nate didn't mind that.
After that, the two water buffaloes boarded a plane that will take them to Mieni Atoll. The archipelago will be a little crowded, with pandemic restrictions lifting and the IAC having events there. But Nate and Shuixing were sure that they'd have enough alone time to really enjoy their honeymoon.