Rose and Moon Wedding

Mishka set up a fun scavenger hunt for Hansel and Goro to follow on their wedding day. These were their clues:

1. “Gleaming pots and blackened pans. Unbuttered toast.”

2. “A hole in a wall overlooks the water. A place a mouse hides.”

3. "A place of rest. Coveted. We once bartered over it over a duel.”

4. “A fight in a tavern. A refusal to set anything on fire. Talk to the man in charge.”

5. “A field full of wine. An excited reunion.”

6. "A clue for Hansel: Black iron gates between us. The place you found me again.”

7. “A row of bushes where a young girl plucked a crown.”

8. “A family, repaired. A mother and a brother find a new hearth.”

9. “A haven. Stolen, then reclaimed. Find the girl hidden between rows of history.”

10. "A bent piece of gold."

11. "A place where danger is not bought and sold, but bartered."

12. “A clue for Goro. A place someone hugged you and told you they would never harm you, because they loved you. A business. Now destroyed.”

13. “Four cats scamper around their new home, a place of kings. Collect all four to claim your reward.”

Note fourteen is divided into four quarters.

MAXWELL'S PART: "hard as a rock,"

MAURICE'S PART: "full of hot liquid."

HANDSOME'S PART: "An erect natural monument,"

QUICKSILVER'S PART: "Once there, a pillar in the center stands proud."

 14. "I actually don't know how you got over here. This is way too dangerous. The kobold leader has the note, if you haven't figured this out already."

15. “A place that is not a trickster’s final resting place.”

16. “A temple to a god as old as oaks. The clerics could have saved him, but his family did not make the trip. Find the man cast in stone outside.”

17. “One last test: Find Old Dave. This one is special. It’s to show you that, no matter how clueless you are, no matter how insane things seem or how tough they are, you will find your way forward together.”

 18. “This isn’t a clue. I just wanted you both to know: Look at all the things you’ve done today. I want you to look at each other, and realize that, Goro: Hansel will go through any amount of bullshit to be with you. And Hansel: This man is yours. You deserve him, and deserve to be loved. You’ve waited long enough. You have earned your way here through strength and cunning. Come join your family and be married, at last.”

Finally, on the drider island, with their family and close friends present, they exchanged rings and read their vows. Hansel went first.

"Goro,

I wish I could've known you sooner. I wish we could have met twenty years ago, and I wish I could have protected you from everything that ever hurt you.

But it's complicated, because then you wouldn't be the person I know now. You wouldn't be the person I fell in love with, and I wouldn't be the person you fell in love with.

But I would love you either way.

'Cause -- I love it when you're sharp, and I love it when you're sweet just as much. I just love you all the time. I think it's just who you are, and who you always would've been. I think any version of me would love any version of you, because I know I'm going to keep loving you no matter how much you might change.

'Cause --

We're gonna be together a long fucking time. And we're gonna change, and we're gonna make each other better. We'll keep trying.

I wish I could've known you sooner, but I'm so ... relieved that I got to you as soon as I did. We got so much time left. sun in my sky, light in my life. I'm so happy I get to call you ishi for the rest of it."

Goro nervously read his vows next, and when finished, was scooped up by Hansel and briefly taken away until he recovered from having too many emotions.

"Hansel,

My skin is made of knives. But when you touch me, I become smooth and soft. I'm not the thorn bush anymore, but the person you lovingly wrap in your coat to carry through the thorn bush. Protecting me from snags, like I'm something valuable.

You make me feel like a piece of buried treasure no one else wanted, 'cause they didn't have the eyes to appraise it. But you do.

You brought light and color to my life. I saw black and shades of gray before, but there's so much more now. I used to think there was hurting, and not hurting. Scared, and less scared. But now I know what people mean when they say joy. What they mean when they say safe.

You pin me down when I'm afraid of floating away, and you pull me up when I think I'm sinking. I couldn't figure out whether to call you my anchor or my life saver, and it finally hit me that you're fuckin' both. You're my balance, my equilibrium. You *are* my sea. You're amazing, and beautiful, and warm, and kind, and violent, and powerful, and you take my breath away.

Sometimes, I just want to look back at every choice I ever made, every step I ever took, and analyze. Figure out how they all led me to you.

But there's no point looking closer. It's done. It's over. I'm with you. All I need to do now is figure out what steps we're gonna take together, so we can stay with each other. This is my vow: to always walk in step with you. To make every choice I have from now on be the one that keeps me next to you.

Ahuv. Ishi."