Now we are One

Hope

No one had to say it, but they all knew it; the dinner party was awkward as hell.

About half the wedding guests were not old enough to legally drink alcohol, and half of the ones who were barely had any experience with it anyway. Many of the underage human Garde were sneaking drinks frequently, and some people, such as Adam, were looking very uncomfortable, glancing around wondering whether he was doing anything right. The Garde seemed relatively relaxed, chatting amongst themselves and enjoying their meals more than anything. None of them had had a proper meal with each other since Chicago. Six and Sam were not paying attention to anything or anyone else. They exchanged smiles, whispers, and kisses. They fed each other from their forks and never stopped laughing. They were in their own little bubble, both pair of eyes not moving from the other's face.

Finally, the time had arrived for John's best man speech. He gathers himself quickly, then stands up and cleares his throat. That doesn't work, so he tries tapping his fork against the side of his glass gently, the "classic way to start a speech" as Ella put it. The room grows silent and all eyes focus on John. Still getting accustomed to all the attention, the blonde boy's face tinges pink before starting.

"Ok, so, um... Well, thank you all for coming, and I hope you have had a good time so far... I'd like to say a few words before we part ways."

On John's right, Sam sits next to Six and Ella. On his other side, Nine is seated next to Marina and Adam. Ella and Nine refused to sit at the tables for guests, so they dragged Adam along with them to the front long table. The tables are draped in pastel colored tablecloths and each round table has four chairs, facing the bride and groom.

"When I first met Sam Goode, I thought he was the skinniest, dorkiest, most geeky teenager I had ever met in my entire life. In fact, I remember he used to have posters from NASA magazines hung up in his room. That, and he wouldn't stop drawing little UFOs and bug-eyed nudes in class."

Sam shrinks in his seat before going pink. "Stop him, please," he whispers to Six. She snickers and squeezes his arm.

"Definitely not," she replies.

John laughs softly before continuing. "But I'm not here to embarrass him. Although I could, I have plenty of stories. Seeing Sam's heart eyes for Six in her bathing suit, pointing a gun at me the first time we met, him setting the James' house on fire-"

"Hey!"

"-and saving my ass pretty much since I met him. That's one of the most amazing things about Sam. He always surprises me, no matter how much I think I can't be surprised. When it comes to battles, Sam can kick some serious ass. He won't give up, and he'll pester you with determination and hope so much you'll want to kill him. He'll never give up on you.; he never gave up on me." John aimed a smile to his best friend, along with a pair of unmistakable heart eyes. "Without Sam, probably half of us would be dead. I would have died a long time ago, and the world would be in ruins. No one else in this universe deserves this happiness more than Sam." John began to speak more to Six and Sam directly. "When I say you two deserve each other, I mean it. I really do. Our lives weren't meant to be like this, our worlds weren't meant to collide in such a violent way. That's why this wedding means so much more than a wedding. It shows adaption at it's finest; it represents that happiness is always there. That there is hope no matter what. My Cepan, Henri, used to say this quote all the time. It was, in fact, one of his last words. He would say to me: 'When you have lost hope, you have lost everything. When you think all is lost, when all is dire and bleak, there is always hope.' I used to think of watching Henri die when I heard the word hope. But now, I've seen what Sam has done; what he is willing to do, and that's changed. Now, I think of Sam. I think of how far he's come, how far we've all come. I think of what we've built, how incredible this all is. They thought they took everything from us, but truthfully, as long as we have hope,we'll never lose. This wedding, I realize, is the first symbol of hope."

The room is completely silent. Every pair of eyes in the room is filled with something wistful, something different. They're filled with hope.

There is the sound of a scraping chair to John's right. Sam stands up, taking his best friend into a tight embrace. The room erupts immediately in cheering; Daniela, Malcolm, Nigel, and a couple other human Garde stand, whistling. Sam eventually sits back down, and Ella reaches around Nine to high five John's hand behind his back.

"So this goes to Samuel Goode and Maren Elizabeth Goode; may you live the life that you earned. To the bride and groom!" John raises his glass and the rest of the room follows suit.

Departing went quickly. The guests trickled out of the door, not before each giving their congratulations to the newly wedded couple. Sam and Six stand next to the doorway, leaning against each other and holding hands. They thank each person to come congratulate them, seeing them leave in small carpool groups or couples. The last ones to leave are Sam's parents.

Malcolm lingers. "Don't stay out too late, yeah?" Sam refrains from rolling his eyes and instead reassures his dad.

"Yeah, of course. We'll be fine."

"Ok. I trust you." Malcolm's hand on his son's shoulder moves to pull him in for a quick hug. Then he turns and begins to walk out the door to his car.

"We're so proud of you, honey. See you later," Sam's mom hugs him as well, before following her husband.

"Thanks mom. See you later," Sam whispers. Six kisses him.

The Garde, plus Sam and Adam, remain.

"So, where'd you learn to make a speech like that, Johnny?" Nine breaks the silence.

"Eh, I made it up mostly. I knew part of what I was going to say, but then I just improvised," John replies with a shrug.

"It was really beautiful." There's awe in Marina's voice.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah, there were tears and happiness and sparkles, we get it. You ready for the real fun to begin?" Nine says with a hint of that spark or excitement in his eyes from years ago.

They split up between cars. Marina had picked up Adam and Ella with her car, so the same group filed in like in the morning. Sam and Six drove alone, which left Nine and John. Nine had ridden over in his own car, which sat parked outside. Nine stands next to the passenger's seat, holding the door open.

"Ready, Johnny?"

"You realize I can just fly there-"

"Get your ass in the damn car."