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This story was written for Kio. It contains romantic scenes between consenting adult women, and suggestive sexual references. <3

The Next Forever

"Um... excuse me?"

Saku shifted from foot to foot, tugging nervously at the base of the pant-suit jacket she had donned for this occasion, maybe the second or third time she'd worn this or any such garment by choice. She felt so out of place here. Not that anyone was judging her or anything, the few people she'd spoken to in order to find her way to this particular office in the hotel complex had been perfectly polite. It was just... there were still times when she felt like such a stray. Such a mutt. Especially when Steph wasn't around. And for this, Steph most definitely could not be around.

Barely a few seconds had passed since she spoke, but it felt like an eternity before the woman sitting behind the reception desk looked up from the pile of papers she was rather hurriedly sorting through. For a moment a look of frustration flashed over her face as she looked up at the wolf, but just as Saku was about to set herself on the defensive and tell the more smartly and well-fittingly pant-suited shiba inu where she could go with her attitude...

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. My receptionist has gone AWOL and... well, you don't want to hear about that. How can I help you?"

The wolf's eyes widened slightly. She looked down at the desk before her, confirming that it did indeed say 'Planning Office Reception. Please wait here or ring bell for attention' upon a small metal plaque, then back up at the dog.

"I... uh... I've got an appointment to discuss possibly renting a small part of one of your off-site venues for a... a..."

Her voice trailed off, she swallowed thickly as her heart skipped a beat and her head seemed to lose its train of thought entirely, consumed by the enormity of what it was she had been about to say.

"For a private event. The appointment was with... Elsie?"

Any remaining frustration on the shiba inu's face either dissipated naturally or was subsumed by professionalism, and she beamed warmly, reaching out one hand as she straightened up behind the desk.

"Well in that case, you've come to the right place. Pleased to make your acquaintance..."

For a split second the dog's sharp eyes flicked down to the wolf's left hand. Ringless. It was so quick and instinctive an act most probably would have missed it. The wolf didn't.

"...Miss... my apologies, my secretary is supposed to be keeping my schedule. Somewhere."

She gestured at the stack of papers on the desk. Saku smirked despite her nerves.

"It's fine. And... Saku. Please, just call me Saku."

Elsie beamed at the wolf, and gestured with a warm and open arm towards the office door close by.

"Well, please, Saku. Join me in my office, and let's see if we can't figure out a way to make sure whatever event it is you are planning is the most special it can possibly be."

And indeed, over the next hour, they did. Saku was surprised by how easy Elsie was to talk to, particularly after they broke the ice by Saku reminding Elsie of how she had been recommended to her, through their mutual friend Tennessee. As soon as the wolf had seen the red glow spread over the shiba inu's face at the mention of Tenny's name a barrier within her had dropped. She knew the kind of person that Tennessee gravitated towards, and she knew that such a person wouldn't judge her. Wouldn't be angry at her for stating her desires plainly. Thus, she did so.

She told Elsie what she needed. A small, private space for her and her girlfriend's second anniversary. She told Elsie why she needed it to be private, and after she had endured a long and squealing hug from the shiba inu, she had been suddenly inundated with a whole host of new options. A series of venues and event spaces that seemingly were not on the roll for conventional use by private parties, particularly not ones as small as a single pair of people, but ones that the shiba inu now seemed not just eager but giddy at the idea of sharing with her.

And amongst those new venue ideas, all presented with glossy photographs and details that went right down to the table settings and ambient light levels found at various points throughout both day and night, Saku saw it.

Elsie saw Saku see it, and immediately pushed the book forward, opened up to a page that showed a small but elegant function room to the south-western side of one of their more exclusive venues. The room was beautiful. The patio'd balcony beyond, reaching out into gardens of flower beds, well manicured trees and a set of large stone fountains, even more so.

It was private.

It was gorgeous to behold.

And... it was available on the day.

Saku's eyes widened. She had Steph had heard of this place and the restaurant within it. They'd read the menu countless times online and dreamed of one day making a booking. One day trying the eight course taster-menu which it offered. It had always been a dream though, because they could think of no occasion that would deserve such excessive spending for a single meal. No event. No occasion, except perhaps one destined to hopefully change their lives forever.

Her whole body tensed up, and she prepared herself for disappointment of the most devastating kind as she forced herself to ask a question that all her life she had hated to ask of anyone.

"H-how much? Is it... i-is it even close to being in the budget I gave you?"

About ten seconds later, as with purposeful glee to build anticipation Elsie didn't speak but instead wrote the number down on a slip of paper and handed it to the wolf, a joyous howl rang out from the shiba inu's office. Close by, slipping a stick of gum into her muzzle and ensuring that her breath still didn't smell like cigarette smoke, Elsie's secretary jumped at the loudness and shrillness of the cry escaping her boss's office, and rushed to ensure that someone wasn't attacking her employer. As the hare dragged the office door open though, she wasn't met by a scene of violence or carnage.

She was met with Elsie looking over another woman's shoulder, smiling at first as she gently hugged the wolf seemingly wrapped tight around her, muttering giddy thank-yous over and over and over again. The shiba inu frowned however as she saw the hare standing in the doorway, and with a glare shooed her away. As the door slid bashfully shut once more though, the secretary heard Elsie murmur gently and happily to the woman embracing her so very tight.

"This is... this is more than just an anniversary dinner, isn't it, Saku?"

And a few seconds later, either un-prompted or after a response that even the hare's sharp ears couldn't pick up.

"Well, you just take care of your side of things. And... for my part? I'll do everything in my power to make this night one which you and your partner will cherish for the rest of your lives."

***********

In the days and weeks that followed her meeting with Elsie, Saku found herself more nervous and emotional than she had been in... well, maybe ever in the last couple of years of her life. She still wasn't out of control or bursting into tears or anything like that. But, Saku tended to be rather reserved when not with those she trusted most closely. She'd learned it was often easier that way, or at least it had been prior to the life she now shared with her sabretoothed liger lover. The more she planned for her and Steph's upcoming anniversary however, the harder it became to maintain that more detached and passive demeanour in those acts of planning, but also in the time that surrounded them.

She found herself daydreaming at work, staring off into space until Tennessee or one of the other mechanics at the shop gently tapped her on the forehead with the flat side of a wrench and playfully smirked at her as she jumped and blushed brightly.

She found herself worrying about the dumbest things. Things that she had never really had the time or inclination to worry about before as she found herself going shopping not just for smart clothes for the night... but for a dress. The day before she went to her first dress-shop in the entirety of her adult life Saku had spent at least twenty minutes scrubbing underneath the claws upon her hands, determined to get rid of every scrap of muck and grime that could possibly have been hiding within, lest she get a single speck of unwanted dirt upon whatever garment she might have ended up buying the next day.

After all, for what she had planned, it had to be flawless. Perfect.

Everything had to be perfect.

The location.

The transportation to get them there.

The food.

The dress she was going to wear.

And of course, one more vital component that occupied so much of her time both in action and thought, and which came closer than anything else in this whole situation to bringing even the thought of tears to her eyes.

She hadn't cried about it yet, and she didn't plan on doing so. It just wasn't her style. But nonetheless, thinking about... them. About... rings. It was enough to make Saku feel as though she might just, potentially, at some point down the line, become misty-eyed with how scared and overwhelmed and out of her mind happy it made her.

Once again though, she had help. Help from her friends, putting her in contact with just the right people that were able to ensure that not only could she get what it was she was so desperately hopeful for, but on a budget that wouldn't bankrupt herself and the woman that she was trying to marry.

In the middle of the street, walking to meet with Tyra and her father, the elder dragon apparently a skilled goldsmith, the wolf lurched as that thought and those particular words crossed her mind. She'd probably had that thought a dozen times over the last week alone, but this was the first time she had been so actively and consciously aware of it.

The woman she was trying to marry.

To marry.

Oh god. Oh holy fucking god. She was trying to marry Steph.

By the time Saku actually arrived at that meeting with her friend and their father, she was a shaking and red-faced wreck. She was grinning uncontrollably half the time, and looking pale, drawn and terrified the rest. But as Tyra spoke to her, reassured her, and the dragoness' father showed Saku some of the sketches he'd done of possible designs for the two of them, those two extremes evened out into at least something of a happy medium.

Before that meeting was over, in a manner that had become oddly common as she'd been going around the various people assisting her in setting up her plans for that special night still over two months away and yet getting dangerously and wondrously close, Saku had hugged Tyra twice and her father once more than that. It still didn't feel entirely normal for Saku to find herself being so affectionate, but if the choices were either hugging someone or trying to find words to explain how she felt, how grateful and joyous and overwhelmed she was by their support and whatever they were doing to help make this night as perfect as she had hoped and dreamed, then hugging was the choice she would and did take practically every time.

The only time she had to speak, the only times when she had to figure out a way to twist her words into some sort of definitive and decent explanation of her plans, was when addressing Steph herself. When telling the liger as much as she could about their upcoming anniversary, convincing her lover that she wanted to be the one to plan the entire thing, and making it a surprise without making it too much of a surprise as to make Steph suspicious. Because, if Steph asked her even once what she had planned... if Steph asked her outright if there was a particular reason beyond the second anniversary of their relationship why Saku was going to such lengths to keep her in the dark about certain details... the wolf wouldn't be able to lie. Not to Steph. Not about this.

Thankfully though if Steph did have any curiosities they came in the form of questions which Saku had usually planned for, and if the liger was suspicious in any meaningful respect, she didn't voice those suspicions even once to Saku or any of their mutual friends who were playing their part in this increasingly grand and ever-approaching conspiracy.

Thus, all Steph was told ahead of time was to expect dinner and drinks, and to dress fancily. Or, to use Saku's exact words...

"Treat yourself. I promise you, I already have. Buy yourself something to wear... anything you like that'd be good for a classy dinner... so long as it's deserving of being worn by someone as beautiful as you."

Steph chuckled to herself every time she remembered Saku saying that, before, during and after actually buying the dress which she settled upon. And she remembered precisely what she'd said in response too. Curled up on the couch with her girlfriend one evening, rolling over and straddling Saku with a warm purr, and reaching down to slide a hand down the front of the wolf's sweat-pants as she replied.

"If you're gonna be this sappy and smooth a talker on our anniversary itself? I might just wear nothing at all."

***********

Somehow, Saku survived to the night of the anniversary itself.

Despite several near heart-attacks as plans faltered, as circumstances seemed like they might not lead either of them to that perfect night which Saku had been planning for so long now, the wolf made it to the day in question.

She awoke with Steph already clutching at her. Already awake and pressing her naked body to the wolf's own, trembling, beaming, joyously awaiting the moment of the wolf's wakefulness to wish her a happy anniversary in the most emphatically physical and joyous terms.

She floated through the day in a haze of giddiness and terrified nerves, letting Steph take the lead in how they spent the day, both of them having thankfully ended up with a long weekend's worth of days off in perfect unison. Totally by chance of course, certainly not arranged by several visits from Saku to Steph's place of work and several pleading, gracious conversations between her and the liger's boss. Steph was all too happy to take the reins for their activities during the day though. Brunch at a quiet cafe. A walk in the park. Lots of time simply sitting at home talking. Holding one another. Cherishing this time every bit as much as they had cherished their first days together two years before. She took all this on board knowing that it would be Saku's turn to take the lead that evening, and sure enough, at around four that afternoon, the wolf pulled herself reluctantly from Steph's embrace and rose to her feet.

She blushed as she reached out, took Steph's hands in her own, and was so very tempted to let the purring liger drag her back down to the couch. Somehow though the wolf resisted that temptation, and spoke to her lover in a soft, shaky whimper.

"W-we should... we should get ready. For dinner. It..."

She glanced over her shoulder abruptly, looking at her phone on the coffee table as though expecting it to burst into life at any moment.

"It's a little bit of a drive away, where we're going."

Steph rose to her feet at Saku's behest, but pouted playfully as she stepped close and kissed the wolf.

"A drive? So, we can't have drinks over dinner?"

Saku giggled, kissing her girlfriend back and nuzzling gently against her, nose to nose.

"Let's go get dressed. You'll see soon enough."

The liger purred and lingered there against Saku's lean form for a few moments, bodies rather lacking in attire at that moment and on some level neither one of them truly desiring to change that fact. After a short while though, seeing the eager pleading expression upon her girlfriend's face, Steph nodded and pulled back from Saku with one final peck to the wolf's soft, plump lips.

"Okay. I trust you."

She felt Saku's hands still clutched in hers squeeze around her own digits as she said that to the wolf, and beamed as moments later she was dragged back in for another kiss and a tight embrace. Purring and murmuring louder and more giddily, Steph remained there for a little longer still as she repeated herself.

"I trust you, Saku. And... I love you."

They dressed. Or rather, Steph dressed first, then Saku did so afterwards. The liger didn't question why Saku waited until she had left the bedroom before closing the door and beginning to change herself, but stood pacing the downstairs hallway in her vintage violet dress and matching stockings. Steph didn't dislike surprises in the same way she had seen Saku be resistant to them in the past, but it was always hard not to be impatient and over-eager when dressed up or ready to leave for an event that had been so highly built up and yet left as mysterious as tonight.

Upstairs meanwhile, Saku was already dressed. It wasn't that which was delaying her now.

She wasn't having second thoughts, not unless you counted skipping the entirety of the meal and all the grandeur she had planned for tonight and cutting straight to the heart of the matter, but she stood staring not into the mirror, but that which she currently held between it and her face. A long silver link chain, beautifully simple and understated in its elegance, with two objects hanging at its base.

Two rings. Hers set in black titanium, while Steph's was a brighter and vivid rose gold, and featuring a small but beautiful ruby as opposed to a diamond, surrounded on one side by onyx and the other side by lapis lazuli.

A pair of rings that meant everything to her. That symbolised potentially, hopefully the entirety of the rest of Saku's life... and Steph's too, if she was lucky.

The wolf swallowed thickly as she heard Steph's voice call out from beyond the bedroom, and began hurriedly to wrap the chain around her neck, long enough that the rings were hidden in the cleavage of her own midnight blue gown.

"Uh, Saku? Are you ready? I... I think I hear a car pulling up outside? Did you order us a..."

The voice trailed off, only to return a few moments later alongside the sound of feet pounding upon steps.

"Oh my god."

Steph's voice was suddenly overwhelmed by excitement. By giddiness. Just the sound of it made Saku's face split into a grin of her very own as the wolf turned to face the door, barely able to take a single step towards it before the liger burst in.

"Oh my god Saku, did you?! Please, please tell me that's our ride!"

Saku stared, deadpan at her lover, forcing her smile down for just a few seconds.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. What car, Steph?"

She couldn't keep it up for more than a second or two after falling silent though, grinning and nodding even as Steph flung herself forward, not taken in by the teasing in the slightest and wrapped her arms tightly around Saku's waist in a crushing, squeezing hug.

Soon the two of them were downstairs, dresses, jackets, shoes and bags at the ready. One last time Saku closed her eyes, fondled the silver chain around her neck and ran a mental inventory of everything that she had worked so hard to prepare for today as Steph ran out to meet the driver of their car, none other than Saku's own boss standing politely and obediently by the open passenger side door of the vintage 1940s Desoto awaiting their arrival.

By the time Steph had walked several circuits of the beautifully restored vehicle though, Saku had joined her. The liger flung her arms around the wolf in yet another tight hug, but before she could gush too gleefully about how wonderful a surprise this was Saku gently reminded her that this wasn't the actual surprise. Just the car that was going to drive them to the location of the surprise.

They sat in the car together, hand in hand, and with their chauffeur for the night soon slipping the vintage vehicle seamlessly back into gear they set off. Steph could barely stay still within her seat, squirming and giggling with glee as she pressed Saku for information on where it was they were going with merciless abandon. The wolf herself meanwhile just sat there, quietly smiling and just holding onto her lover's paw, barely answering any of Steph's questions with more than a fond...

"Soon. You'll find out, soon."

And she did. It took almost an hour for them to be driven out to the site of Saku's plans, and along the way Steph made no fewer than a dozen guesses as to where they were headed. Despite the place in question being exceptionally high up on their list of ideal food spots though, the liger didn't mention it. Maybe because she thought it was too exclusive. Maybe because she didn't want to suggest a place potentially more delicious than where they might actually be going. As they drew closer though, and closer and closer, Saku could see the cogs turning in her lover's mind. She could see an almost serious, sombre look cross Steph's face as the obvious temptation to ask first crossed her mind, but the sabretoothed feline resisted.

Indeed, it was only when they turned off the road leading out of town, up the verdant suburban lane at the end of which the manor house style hotel which housed the restaurant was located, that Steph turned to her lover once more with bulging eyes and a grin of almost insane glee.

"Y-you... you didn't."

Saku just smiled.

Steph shook her head.

"No way. N-no... you..."

She saw the hotel up ahead, emerging through a line of neatly trimmed trees and lit by the late afternoon sun, beautiful and so familiar based on all the times they had seen its silhouette embossed upon menus they'd checked out with wide eyes and salivating muzzles.

Only this time, it wasn't a picture. It wasn't some symbol upon a PDF menu.

It was real, and they were there.

Soon they were standing out on the gravel path leading up to the restaurant's front door. Shaking and unsteady upon their heels, but too giddy and eager to slow themselves down too much as they approached. All the while Saku was beaming as she watched Steph's face, and all the while Steph was staring. Mouthing silently sometimes, whispering under her breath the rest.

"W-we're here. Oh god. O-oh my god... we're actually eating here?"

She turned to Saku for confirmation, and when Saku nodded she was almost knocked over onto her ass as Steph flung herself at the wolf yet again.

"Saku. O-oh... Saku. This is too much. Y-you're... you're amazing. I love you so much."

They kissed. Of course they kissed. And as Saku growled back to her lover under her breath...

"I love you too. You don't even know, Steph."

...their ears twitched as they heard doors opening up before them.

A third woman stepped out into the afternoon sun, beaming warmly at them with only the slightest and most conspiratorial of nods towards Saku.

Elsie smiled, gestured for them to enter, and addressed both women as they did so.

"Ladies, I will be your personal attendant for the evening. My name is Elsie, and... I hope it's okay for me to say, happy Anniversary to you both."

She gestured, and out of nowhere a suited waiter appeared bearing a silver tray with two flutes of champagne fizzing upon it.

"When we heard from your partner here..."

Again she gestured, addressing Steph and pointing gently to Saku.

"...that this was a special occasion, we thought that we would do everything we could to enhance the night. We love being able to offer visitors and guests to our restaurant the most memorable and hopefully romantic experiences possible, so... unless there are any objections, we've actually set aside a private space for the two of you to enjoy your meal together, without the distractions of the rest of our diners. Space for you to enjoy one another's company, and our nine-course tasting menu."

It couldn't help but make Saku laugh out loud that of everything Elsie had said to Steph so far, most of it pre-planned of course to not raise the liger's suspicions of why they were dining alone, it was that last part which made the big cat's eyes bulge from their sockets most prominently.

"N-nine course?"

Steph was practically drooling. All she had ever read about, indeed as recently as a few weeks ago when she last idly checked to see how many months in advance it would require a booking to get a table here... between three and four being the answer... was an eight course tasting menu.

"Oh, yes. Our chef is just as much of an old romantic at heart as I am. We occasionally break out our nine course menu for special guests, and... well... I can't think of a couple more deserving. Now, if you'll please follow me, I'll take you to your seats."

***********

They were seated. The room around them was beautifully decorated, laid out in such a way that despite theirs being the only occupied table in the whole area it did not appear large and echoing and lonely. The space felt intimate, the other tables laden with arrangements of flowers that were either real, or such convincing fakes that it truly didn't matter. Their table was near the far end of the room, set up so that they were alongside a set of full length windows and close to a pair of doors which led out onto the wooden decked balcony beyond. They could see the grounds of the hotel past that, every bit as beautiful as in the photos which Saku had seen in Elsie's office, only more so with the actual afternoon light falling rich and reddish upon the grass, the trees and the fountains.

The pair sipped on their champagne with one hand, and with the other they held onto their lover. Squeezing. Touching. Beaming as they simply revelled in being here. In being here together, today. Neither of them spoke more than a few words for the first ten or fifteen minutes, just smiling, something bursting out into moments of laughter that were soon joined by their lover, elated and overwhelmed to simply be here together.

After that however, as their champagne was topped up and the amuse bouche of their meal appeared; a bite-size morsel of salmon tartare marinated with a pink grapefruit and coriander dressing, the silence was shattered in the most supremely satisfying way.

They waited for the waiter to move away from the table, and both women attempted to savour even this small first pre-course by taking only half off the individually portioned ceramic spoon.

Their eyes bulged, then grew heavy lidded.

Saku momentarily forgot all her anxiety, all her dignity, and groaned in a manner more suited to the bedroom than the dining room. And Steph... well...

"Ohhh fuck. I... I think I just came a little."

The wolf snorted with laughter, lurching forward and very nearly spilling the second half of her pre-appetiser in her mirth. It wasn't that she disagreed of course, it was more that the exact same thought had crossed her mind mere moments before, but she was still too busy holding the food in her muzzle to say it.

From that point onward they spoke freely as they ate, pausing briefly each time the next course emerged not because they were embarrassed to say anything in front of the waiting staff, but simply because the food they were receiving deserved the respect of their attention and silence. They ate. And they ate and they ate. Each course of the nine was small, but not quite so small as the picture online had made them think. Some were light, others richer, all following one after the other however in a sequence that made perfect sense in terms of a progression of flavours.

At the same time as they ate, the two women found their conversation progressing in a similar manner. Flowing seamlessly as they began to reminisce. As they focused on the true meaning of today, more than just a delicious meal and a wonderful excuse to get dressed up and take a drive in a handsomely vintage car. This was their day. Their anniversary. Two years to the very day of the most important moment in their lives, and thus one well worth considering the path taken to arrive at this point.

They smiled and held hands again as they talked about first meeting. About how they'd ended up as housemates, and the burgeoning relationship that had overwhelmed them. Saku had been so nervous back then, and yet somehow Steph had gotten through to her. Somehow Steph had made her trust. Made her believe in her, in someone in a way she hadn't for quite a long time.

They remembered ren faires and Christmases. They recalled board games and fort-building in the darkness of a power cut, and the visit to the castle which had ended with Steph physically stuck in one of the door-frames thanks to their ridiculously small size. They remembered dates and dinners and movies and all the nights they'd returned home after those dates, blushing as they ate their fourth course in more bashful and intimate silence, considering countless nights and mornings and... hell, basically any time they'd not been able to resist the allure of their partner's heart, mind and of course their beautiful body.

They spoke of how much they were in love.

They smiled. Blushed. Embarrassed and overjoyed to just say it. Not provoked. Not prompted by anything other than the occasion. Just taking the time to say repeatedly and ever more eagerly how much and how deeply they adored one another.

And as course six came to a close, a deconstructed Beef Wellington with butter poached morelles, seared wagu fillet, crisp pastry shards and a rich bernaise sauce, their talking only stopped briefly as Elsie re-entered the room with the waiters to take their plates away.

"Good evening, ladies. I hope your meal has been pleasant so far?"

Saku nodded with true sincerity and gratitude, while Steph murmured contentedly as she stretched in her seat.

"If by pleasant you mean heaven, sure!"

Elsie beamed at them both, looking from Steph to Saku, then back again after hers and the wolf's eyes met for just a split second.

"I'm so glad. Is there anything else I can do for you while you wait for your dessert courses?"

And of course, just as planned, Saku answered.

"Actually... I was wondering. The deck out there, overlooking the garden. Would it be a bother if we ate our dessert courses out there? The evening looks so beautiful, it would be a shame to waste it."

She was right, too. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. A rather warm day now tempered by the evening, but still free from even the slightest breeze. If there was some divinity or fate out there commanding things on a cosmic scale, Saku owed them big for today thus far.

The shiba inu nodded warmly, running her hands oh so briefly down the front of her pant-suit until she reached its pockets. She withdrew a small silver key, moved over to the nearest set of doors and opened them outward. After that, she simply gestured for them to make their way out at their leisure.

"I'll leave you ladies to it. Again, congratulations on your anniversary. On today. Please enjoy the rest of your meal."

The dog left them alone once more, and without any delay both women stepped out from behind their seats and moved towards the door. Both of them had already discarded their heels, not wishing to spoil the incredible evening and the delicious food with sore footpaws, and thus their footsteps were light and almost soundless upon the sturdy and varnished wood. Outside on the balcony there were yet more tables of the same design as within, and while the gentle music being played by a piano somewhere in the more public section of the restaurant still just about reached their ears, it was now competing with the rustling of the trees and the evening birdsong.

Rather than moving to sit down immediately the two women embraced. They cuddled, and indeed for a brief period they even seemed to dance together, rocking gently back and forth cheek to cheek. They did finally move to their new table and sit down though, and before long were enjoying the first of their dessert courses, a plate of varied tastes and textures of dark chocolate pushed to the point of almost a savoury sweetness.

Course seven was incredible, but when they tasted course eight, a sweet and indulgent platter of micro-desserts that somehow complimented one another perfectly no matter the order in which they were consumed, they knew that this whole meal was going to be one they would remember for the rest of their lives.

Saku sighed happily, and sagged in her seat for a moment as she almost forgot about the other reason this day was going to live on. As she did so however her silver chain jingled ever so slightly, and thus she suddenly found herself sitting bolt upright, eyes wide and cheeks flushing as she realised something.

Course eight.

They'd just finished course eight.

Which meant, according to everything she had planned and prepared for... it was almost time.

Saku was seated facing towards the door through which they'd exited onto the balcony, and thus she could see as the waiter came to clear their plates away in preparation for the supposed ninth course. She also saw Elsie standing in the room, looking out to meet her gaze, nodding to say that everything from her end was sorted.

The wolf smiled, and as the waiter withdrew with their plates so too did the shiba inu.

Now it was all down to Saku.

Her stomach lurched, but she drew a deep breath and tried to steady herself, finally rising slowly to her feet.

She took a few steps, then turned back to look at Steph, seat pushed back from the table, legs stretched out, hands upon her dress's belly as she revelled in the meal they had almost concluded. The liger smiled up at her as their eyes met, and though Saku tried to smile back she was too terrified to do so with any genuine warmth. It felt as strained as it looked, and before she'd even stopped trying Saku could feel her fingers already beginning to fumble with the fabric of her dress from sheer nervous energy.

The wolf could see that this nervousness wasn't escaping Steph's notice, and so she did the only thing she could to keep the sabretoothed woman she loved more than anything in this world from asking her what was wrong.

She began to talk herself.

"It's our second anniversary."

Her voice trailed off for a moment, and Steph giggled, nodding as if to congratulate her on that astute observation.

"For two years you've been... everything to me. A friend. A confidante. A support network. Not to mention the most amazing girlfriend. So... t-tonight... I feel like I have to say something."

Steph began to speak.

"Saku, you don't have to sa-..."

She fell quiet though as she saw the shimmering of the evening sunlight upon her lupine lover's face. The tears twinkling and welling up in the corners of Saku's eyes as she stepped closer to Steph and shook her head pleadingly, begging to be allowed to finish before her emotions could take control. She never cried. She never got emotional in this way. And yet right now, she was so close to not being able to form a single coherent word or thought, no matter how many times she'd run through this speech in her mind.

"There's things I want to share with you. T-things... things I could only ever share with you, Steph. Because... how you've made me feel, how I've seen and felt us feeling for each other, these past two years? It's more than I ever hoped for. More than for a lot of my life I thought I ever deserved. W-who... who would have thought that anyone could love a stray like me. But, after I met you... a-after I looked into your eyes, and saw, and heard, and felt how you feel about me, never mind how you made me feel in return..."

Tears were running down her cheeks now. She was crying openly. Weeping for the first time in god only knew how long. And she was terrified because of that. Terrified to let her emotions run so free and open and exposed. But at the same time, she knew she didn't have to worry. After all, Steph was here.

And indeed, Steph was there. Right there. Standing up now, and grasping tightly at Saku's left hand with her own, the other rising up to stroke and wipe the tears from the wolf's cheeks. Saku sniffled, whining as she rubbed herself affectionately against Steph's touch.

"My... m-my name..."

She heard Steph whimper, a shocked, abrupt mini-yelp swiftly cut short but not soon enough. Steph had never pressed. Never pushed. But there had always been this knowledge that as much as Saku was who she said she was in every way, there was also a past version of herself that remained unspoken. A life, and a name that the liger had never heard.

"My name is Saku. But... i-it's also... Shea. Shea Adara Keeley Underwood."

Steph was crying now too, and a brief sob escaped Saku, prompting the liger to launch herself forward and throw both arms tight around the wolf even as she continued to talk.

"But these days... I'm not running from that name. Who it was. What it meant to me. B-because... I don't feel like that person any more. I don't even feel like the person who ran away from it. Because... I've met your family now. I've met you. And... I feel more like an Ulbricht than I ever did an Underwood. I feel like I'm a part of that family. O-of... of your family. And so..."

She shuddered with her whole body, and she knew that Steph had to have felt that intense, overwhelming shudder too.

"And so... I... I want, I'd be so proud, if I could make it official. If I could be a part of your family. A part of your life... b-by... by calling myself your wife. By calling you my wife, Stephanie Ulbricht."

Saku stepped back, out of the liger's grasp, and reached for the chain upon her neck as she dropped to one knee. She was surprised however, eyes widening through the still flowing tears, when she heard Steph cry out in shock. Looking up in that moment, as Steph dropped to her knees with an expression of deep concern, she could almost have laughed.

She'd thought so long about how overwhelming all this would be for her... but it was Steph who looked stunned now. Confused, too. It was Steph, so overwhelmed by all the tenderness and emotion poured upon her in the last minute or so, dropping to her knees now not in proposal, but because she had watched her lover just seem to fall down.

"Saku. C'mon, oh... let's get up. Your dress. Y-your beautiful... b-brand new dress... on the ground, d-dirty..."

Saku shook her head though, and as she unfastened the silver chain and the two rings slid out into the palm of one hand, she squeezed Steph's own with her free paw. She cooed and quietened the liger with a few reassuring words, even leaning forward and pecking her affectionately upon the lips. Only when Steph grew quiet though, the panic leaving her eyes but overwhelmed and over-emotional confusion remaining, did the wolf proceed.

"Stephanie Ulbricht. Light of my life. My love. My everything. Will you marry me?"

A wrenching, wracking sob escaped Steph, and she flung her arms tight around Saku, both women burying their face in the other's neck as they wept and snuffled and cried in pure happiness. And, even then, as she lost all control of herself in sheer rapturous joy...

"Yes."

The word.

The perfect, wondrous, incredible word that Saku had been waiting for all these months of planning, ever since the first day another word... wife, first popped into her head and refused to vacate.

And then, it came again. And again.

Steph was sobbing, but she was laughing now too. Her face was buried in Saku's neck, but not just to stifle her tears. To kiss the wolf's neck. Over and over in rapid succession between a flurry of giddy whimpers.

"Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes yes!"

With that final cry she tore herself back from the wolf's embrace, and stared wild-eyed into Saku's own tear-stained features.

"I'll marry you, Saku. Of course I will! Oh. Oh my wolf. My world. Saku..."

Rings were slipped onto fingers in those moments, and muzzles pressed together in not just a kiss, but five, ten, an endless series of brief, fluttering kisses as they knelt there on their knees and in their beautiful dresses upon the balcony. Crying. Beaming. Laughing. Kissing more and more.

At some point they made their way back up and into their chairs, but dragged them around the table so they were still close enough to embrace. To kiss. To laugh and whimper and weep and whisper to each other in joy as they stared into one another's tearful eyes and manically grinning faces and looked down at one another's ring-bearing, trembling hands.

"M-my wolf... mine..."

Steph mewled softly as she nuzzled at Saku.

"The two of us. T-together... always. For... for always. Now, a-and the next year, and the next, and the next forever!"

Saku whined happily back, not just kissing but lapping at Steph's face with her rough tongue in giddy, impossibly intense elation.

Finally, when their legs were steady enough and their tears more under control, they stood.

They moved to the edge of the balcony, hands in hands, shivering happily as the wolf felt the liger's ring upon her finger and vice versa.

It was sunset.

Two years ago, that very day and at that very time, they'd first told one another they were in love.

And now, two years later, they were engaged. Bound to be wed.

They kissed.

With the sun blazing upon the horizon, lighting them up with an orange fire that still couldn't burn even a fraction as bright as the love they held for one another, they kissed.

***********

Inside the restaurant, Elsie looked out through the balcony window and smiled, wiping a tear from one eye with a silk napkin from a nearby table.

According to the plan, she was meant to go out now. To give them course number nine. A slice of Steph's favourite cake. Because what was better than a proposal... a proposal with cake.

But, even though that was the plan... and even though she wanted to go out and wish them all the congratulations in the world so very badly, she didn't.

She just stood and watched them out there. Together. Kissing. Embracing. So happy. So perfectly content with it just being the two of them.

Smiling, she turned and walked out of the room. She shook her head to the waiters standing by with the cake, and gestured upward with a flick of her head.

"Have the cake sent up to their room. A little pre-emptive I know, but they're in the honeymoon suite tonight. It'll be a nice surprise for them when they get there... but at their own speed."

She took one last look through the door, all the way across the room and to the balcony beyond.

She could just about see them silhouetted against the fading sunlight from where she now stood. Two figures entwined as one. United completely as they held each other.

Elsie really did want to congratulate them, but not now. That was okay though, for soon... soon she'd have her chance.

After all, they'd just gotten engaged. And that meant, sooner or later, they'd need a wedding planner. And as luck would have it... Saku and Steph's friend Tennessee happened to know someone who was rather good at that job.

By Jeeves

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