Chapter 19: Death and Life

Love and friendship.

Of the measures of my life of which I"m proudest, the friendships I have formed over the years run a close second only to the love I share with Ginny. My grief and sense of loss at Dare's passing were deep and difficult to put aside. Dare had not been a pet, she had been a companion and fellow adventurer, the first and truest member of the Legion of Light. And my friend.

But it was time to take Ginny's hand and announce to the world our love and commitment, a day I had been hoping and planning for since that day all those years ago at the rock and gem shop's counter. The day whose anniversary we had selected as our wedding day. So I tucked a piece of Dare in my soul to accompany the one I'd always had in my heart and I moved on.

I woke up on my wedding day with a light heart and a smile. I had spent the night at home on Earth. The wedding rehearsal and dinner the night before had gone smoothly. Hardly surprising when the majority of the wedding party were Legionnaires with their thoughts lightly meshed together.

To say that I had over committed myself with chores on my wedding day would be an understatement. Fortunately Con had anticipated several of the problems and had prepared a few things in advance to make my big day a little less burdensome.

I had committed to jumping almost 100 people from Chocowinity, as well as my five guests from Taluat. Getting them to Angel's Camp was not the big deal, but our parents had been worried that returning them to the proper locations would be a big distraction for Ginny and I.

Con's solution was 'disposable' jump bracelets. These were single use devices that simply dissolved into dust after they had discharged their single store of Light energy.

Then there was Legion Air.

Yes, we had finally named our first cruiser Kes. Her twin, which we kept at the Montecristo station, we named Aya. Our first ship, the mighty PSP, we named Beloth. We did wind up with our own 'Legion Air', and that did please my Mother to no end.

We started out with a plan to reconfigure Beloth to carry our 100 people, but we chose a simpler strategy. The morning of the wedding, with the Chocowinity guests gathered in the driveway leading up to Grandpa A.J.'s house, I simply reached out and jumped them as a group onto the green of the third hole of the Greenhorn Creek golf course. This green was directly behind Grandma and Grandpa Carson and Cyrus and Felicia's houses, and we ushered them through their two back yards into a fleet of waiting buses to make the short drive to the bridal green where we were having the ceremony. As each of them boarded the bus, a disposable jump bracelet was slipped onto their wrist. They had received instructions on using it back in Chocowinity.

Finally I jumped to the shrine on Taluat and found my five guests dressed in their Earth finery and waiting. I jumped them directly into Grandpa and Grandma Carson' house where Mike was waiting. I slipped one of the dark blue disposable bracelets on Master Lev's wrist, and followed with the wrists of the other four.

"Obviously when the time comes for the guests to go home I will be busy being the groom. These bracelets are your way back home." I said, touching Lev's bracelet.

"When the time comes and you are inside and safe from observation, grab the bracelet with your free hand and think 'home'." I explained. "Once you have made this jump the bracelet will dissolve into dust.

You have met the Legionnaires. Eru will be with you during the ceremony, and one or another of them will be with you at all times to act as translator. Enjoy this day with me, and thank you."

My transportation duties done, I ran upstairs to the room that had been set aside for the use of the groom's party, and Con and Arden helped me get into my tux. I was wearing a traditional gray cutaway jacket, trousers, shirt and tie that had once belonged to my Great Grand-Uncle Lowell, who was the only McKesson before me who was tall and slender enough to match my frame. Con was wearing Grandpa A.J.'s matching tux, and Arden, Dad, Cyrus and Fred also wore matching tuxes, all loaned to us from various McKesson Clansmen. Con made a final adjustment to my boutonnière and slid his hands up to my shoulders and gave me a brilliant smile.

"I have never felt so human as I do today. Thank you again Dave for the honor of being your Best Man!"

"Constantine, this is the way it should be. You are closer to me than anyone in all the worlds, except for Ginny and my parents, and of course they have different parts to play in today's events. I only pay you the honor you deserve."

With a round of smiles and handshakes everyone headed downstairs except Dad and I. I waited, knowing he would have thought long and hard about what he would say to me when this time came.

"Son, your life has led you along paths no one before you has traveled, and to places no other man before you has been. I cannot compare our lives and offer you counsel based on what I know about life. The only counsel I can offer is based on what I know of you."

Dad stopped then and hugged me. I hugged him back. You are never to old to hug your Dad.

"Son, you have never failed to make me proud. No father could be prouder of their son than I am of you. People offer you their loyalty because you are a man worthy of it. People trust in you because you are trustworthy. You have vision and a sense of purpose and the will to accomplish the goals your vision and purpose set you. That you have a heart that loves so deeply and so completely is what your Mom and I consider our greatest accomplishment as parents. We both love you very much!"

When he stopped, it was my turn to hug him.

With dried eyes and wide smiles we made our way downstairs and into the waiting limousine that drove us the short drive through the resort to the club house and the bridal green.

There had been some debate as to who would perform the service. Both Uncle Ambrose and Grandpa A.J. had often performed weddings back in Chocowinity, a traditional aspect of their respective positions as ship's Captain and head of the McKesson Clan. The minister at Ginny's church on the other hand had been the family's spiritual advisor and a family friend since before Ginny's birth, and had been looking forward to the day he would perform her wedding ceremony since the day he had baptized her as a baby. In the end it was decided that Ambrose would give an introductory speech as part of the ceremony and leave the rest in the good hands of Reverend Spencer.

Between the McKesson and Parkin contingents, along with a good number of our friends and former classmates and their families from Angel's Camp, we had a very large guest list, or at least I considered 500 people to be huge. The wedding planner that Mom had introduced Ginny to had been ecstatic, especially when Grandpa A.J. quietly told her that money was no object.

A string quartet, friends of Mom and Grandma Carson from San Francisco, were playing classical music near the raised platform where the ceremony was going to take place. People were in their seats and looking expectant as Con and I found our places.

The quartet shifted music, and the procession started.

Arden escorted Alicia, Cyrus escorted Felicia, Fred escorted Chet's sister Gloria and Dad escorted Sarah Granger. As the bridesmaids and groomsmen got themselves arranged, the music shifted again and I looked up to catch that first glimpse of my Blossom. I cheated a little and used my Light-boosted vision to zoom in on her at the back of the 'aisle'.

I can only describe my goddess as shimmering in white lace and beads and flowers, whose angelic face shone like the sun, framed by the gentle swirl of the golden sunrise that was her hair. Beyond that initial impression, her walk up the aisle is something of a blur to me. It was as if I blinked, and suddenly she was before me, and I was transfixed by her eyes and her smile.

Reverend Spencer gave a brief prayer and welcomed us all, then introduced Uncle Ambrose, who stood and walked over to stand before us. He smiled and winked before turning to speak to the crowd.

"Victor Hugo once said 'There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.'

"It is not Grand Spectacle that brings us here today. It is Grand Souls. These two young people have grand souls, and grand hearts! It is their love that brings us here today. Dave McKesson and Virginia Parkin's love for each other and our love of them. Someone dear to Dave's heart once said to him

'Always remember. Love is the purest feeling, the wisest thought and the strongest reason. Always!'"

I looked at Ginny. She too saw my memories of those words in my thoughts.

"For their love, of each other, of life, of their family and friends. For their love of all of us gathered here to celebrate with them, Always remember!"

Ginny and I both were in tears when Ambrose finished. The audience applauded him, and Ginny and I both hugged him.

"Thank you for remembering Beloth." I whispered.

He looked me in the eye and gave a small nod as we separated. I saw tears in his eyes as well.

The ceremony continued on, again blurry and indistinct in my memory, except for the beauty of Ginny's eyes and smile before me. We did not follow the current conceit of writing our own vows, instead before we exchanged vows we addressed the crowd, to quote together, in the perfect unison only two tightly linked minds can, a few words from Kahlil Gibran's 'The Prophet', often used in wedding ceremonies.

"Remember that love gives nothing but from itself. Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love. And think not that you can direct the course of love. For love, if it finds you worthy, will direct your course."

I scanned the crowd as we spoke the words, finding faces I was looking for, trying to catch their gaze for just a second before moving on. Borthun and Yela, Eru and the rest of the Legionnaires who weren't standing beside me. Mom, Grandpa A.J., Grandma and Grandpa Carson and Uncle Aaron.