Shadow Slave: A Supreme Bond (Sunphis Wedding One-Shot)

Nephis's silver eyes gleaming with quiet anticipation. A rare smile tugged at her lips—small, almost imperceptible, but real.

"It's time."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, yet it carried through the air, settling over the gathered crowd like the final note of a song. The last echoes of conversation and laughter faded, replaced by an expectant hush. The ceremonies had concluded. Now, only the most important moment remained.

She turned her gaze forward—and met his.

Sunny stood beside her, his face softened by a smile that spoke of a thousand unsaid words. In the flickering glow of countless chandeliers, his dark eyes gleamed—not just with warmth, but with something deeper. Something raw. Something unguarded.

His hand lifted, fingers brushing against hers before closing around them, gentle but certain.

"I will be waiting," he murmured.

Nephis felt her heart stutter—just once, just enough for her to notice.

Leaning in, she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, lingering just long enough for the warmth to seep into his skin. When she pulled away, the corners of her lips curled in the barest hint of amusement.

"Something to hold on to while you wait," she said.

And then she turned, stepping away, leaving him there—silent, unmoving, flustered.

Sunny exhaled, his hand rising to press against the spot where her lips had been. The warmth still lingered, sinking beneath his skin, threading through his veins.

He had waited for this moment for a long, long time. And now that it was here—mere minutes away—every second stretched into infinity.

But soon, the wait would be over. The lingering impatience. The quiet ache of anticipation.

Taking a slow breath, he moved. One step. Then another. And another.

He reached the altar—the place where he would stand, waiting for her to come to him.

A quiet storm of emotions churned in his chest. The chandeliers above cast a soft, ethereal glow over the hall, their golden light brushing against his skin. Around him, the crowd murmured and whispered, their voices rising in a symphony of excitement, of expectation.

But Sunny heard none of it.

His gaze was fixed forward—toward the aisle. Toward the door at the far end.

Any moment now, it would open. Any moment now, she would step through. And with every step she took toward him...

She would be his.

...

Nephis stepped forward, and the world held its breath.

The moment the doors opened, a heavy silence blanketed the hall, swallowing every murmur, every breath, every stray thought. It was as if the universe itself had paused—acknowledging the weight of this moment.

The aisle stretched before her, illuminated by the ethereal glow of candlelight and the soft embrace of moonlight filtering through towering windows. A path so short it should have taken mere moments to cross. And yet, that small distance felt like an eternity. A path measured not in steps, but in the weight of everything it had taken to reach this moment.

The fabric of her dress shimmered under the ethereal glow of moonlight, casting a luminous sheen along the aisle, its edges lined with the gentle flicker of candlelight. The soft rustling of silk whispered through the quiet, blending with the distant murmur of guests—a sound that faded into nothing against the storm of emotions swirling inside her.

And yet, her heart was steady. Too steady. Like the breathless hush before a storm, a fragile moment of calm before the inevitable flood.

The path ahead was a battlefield, and at its end stood Sunny. The weight of memories, the surge of emotions clawing at the edges of her resolve—she had to hold them back.

Because with every step, the dam holding back her emotions began to crack.

At first, it was a single fracture—one small trickle of memory escaping through the fissure. The sight of a malnourished boy standing outside the academy gates, his pale face masked in indifference, his dark eyes watching her with a mixture of wariness and something else. Something uncertain.

Back then, she had not known the weight of that moment. Now, she did.

Her chest tightened. A breath hitched in her throat. But she did not falter. Not yet.

Another step. Another crack.

Each step forward let another fragment of the past escape. Whispers of laughter shared in fleeting moments. The warmth of companionship amid the darkness of their trials. The bittersweet ache of all they had endured. The unspoken words between them that had built a world only they understood.

Regret lurked in the shadows of her heart, an unseen specter. Regret that it had taken this long. That so many years had slipped through their fingers like grains of sand, lost to hesitation, to duty, to war.

But above it all, something greater stirred.

A promise.

A future carved from pain and hardships, tempered by time and bound by something stronger than fate itself. A life waiting just beyond the last few steps, of future that was finally theirs.

And at the end of that path stood Sunny.

Waiting. Watching.

Ready to begin the journey together with her.

Always.

As Nephis reached the halfway point of the aisle, the murmur of the crowd grew louder. Claps, giggles, hushed whispers—excitement buzzed through the air like an electric current. Yet, amidst it all, her silent steps echoed with a weight far greater than the noise around her.

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, drowning out everything else. The cracks in her resolve widened, emotions surging forward like a tide threatening to break free. She was holding on—barely. Holding back the tremors, the tears, the quiet unraveling of her soul. A part of her longed to let go, to surrender to the moment and lay bare every feeling for all to see.

But she did not falter.

Lifting her gaze, she found Sunny.

He stood motionless at the end of the aisle, a pale statue carved by a masterful hand, sculpted in the image of quiet perfection. Moonlight pooled around him, casting an ethereal glow that framed him like something out of a dream. A soft breeze drifted in from the open windows, tousling his dark hair, making him seem almost unreal—as if he belonged not to this world, but to the realm of myths and whispered legends. She could almost imagine flowers surrounding him, swaying gently, as if bowing in reverence to this moment.

It was beautiful. Too beautiful.

It was a dream that she had taken a lifetime to reach.

But what caught her breath was not the sight of him—it was what lay hidden beneath.

Behind the stillness, behind the almost imperceptible smile gracing his lips, Nephis saw it. The same battle she was fighting. The same struggle to hold everything in.

His hands remained at his sides, yet she knew they longed to reach for her, to pull her close, to never let go. His eyes, calm and unwavering, held back a storm of emotions threatening to break through.

And in that moment, Nephis realized—Sunny felt the same.

A warmth bloomed in her chest, soft and tender.

And then... she smiled.

A subtle, knowing curve of her lips.

The storm in her heart did not fade, but something else stood beside it—a quiet amusement, a flicker of challenge. A single thought took root in her mind.

Who would break first?

Nephis had spent her entire life mastering control over her emotions. If there was one thing she was confident in, it was her ability to endure. She would not be the one to falter. No, that honor would belong to Sunny.

The thought of seeing him lose composure—of watching him succumb to the overwhelming tide of feelings, of perhaps even shedding tears for her in front of everyone—was far too tempting to ignore.

She had to see it.

She would see it.

And just as if he had read her mind, a slow, almost imperceptible smile touched Sunny's lips. His brows furrowed ever so slightly, his posture straightened, his entire stance shifting—not in hesitation, but in defiance, as if saying-

Challenge accepted.

Nephis took another step forward, her silver eyes locked onto his, reading every flicker of movement, every tremor of emotion.

She would not miss a single moment. Because this was a battle unlike any they had ever fought before. She was going to win. And when she did...

She would never let him live it down.

...

Step. Step. Step.

The battle had entered its final stage.

Nephis was now only seven steps away.

The moment was so close—so achingly close—that she felt she could reach out and grasp it. And yet, it remained just out of reach, like a dream slipping through her fingers. She had made it this far with a fragile, wavering steadiness, but the cracks in her resolve had grown deeper, the dam of emotions on the verge of collapse.

And the assault was only going to worsen.

Step.

A wave of sadness crashed over her, raw and unrelenting. The memory of a time spent without him. A time when she had barely felt alive.

She had once believed she didn't need anyone. That no one could stand by her side. That she had to walk her path alone, no matter how steep or cruel it became.

She hadn't understood it then.

But now, looking back, all she felt was sorrow—sorrow for the girl who had existed in solitude, who had steeled herself against the world, never realizing how truly alone she was.

Step.

Sadness twisted into fear. A terror so deep, it made her heart clench.

The memory of believing she had lost him.

That fate would rip him away, just as it had taken everyone else she had ever cherished. That the moment she allowed herself to lean on him, he would crumble beneath the weight of her disasters and be swept away—gone forever.

The future without him had been unbearable. Unthinkable.

Step.

The fear turned into something colder. Contempt.

Not for him.

For herself.

The memory surfaced—the moment she had made the hardest decision of her life. A decision she still loathed herself for. A decision that made her feel repulsed by her very existence.

The moment she had cast him away.

The moment she had taken from him what he held most precious... because she had to. Because she had been too weak to do anything else. And for that weakness, she loathed herself.

Step.

And then, the memory that struck next clawed at her soul with merciless fingers.

Anger surged through her veins, hot and all-consuming.

At the accursed spell that had yet again stolen from her what was most precious. At the world that had forced her own hands to break away the dearest part of her soul. At herself, for allowing it to happen.

A searing rage burned inside her, a desperate, helpless fury. She wanted to tear the spell apart, to destroy it, to rip it from existence so that it could never take from her again.

Step.

And yet, what came next was... surprise.

The shock of seeing that precious piece of her soul standing firm, unwavering against the storm.

Even when she knew how deeply she had hurt him. Even when she knew the wounds she had inflicted upon his heart.

He had still remained.

And for the first time, Nephis saw the world for what it truly was.

Step.

A memory that brought Happiness. A warmth unlike anything she had ever known spread through her, flooding every corner of her soul.

Because against all odds, against all the nightmares and tragedies, she had found something she had never dared to hope for.

Someone who could stand beside her. Someone who could bear the weight of her burdens without faltering. Someone she didn't even believe she deserved...

And yet, he had proven time and time again, that he would stay by her side. The he would not break. That he would fight with her as her equal.

She had found a shoulder to lean on. A shoulder to cry on.

And for the first time in her life, she was truly, unshakably happy.

Nephis raised her head.

There he was. Just a single step away. The last step.

And then... her life would change forever.

Bracing her heart, she inhaled slowly, as if gathering all the scattered pieces of herself. Then, with quiet determination, she lifted her foot, and took the final step.

Now, standing before the man she had waited a lifetime for, the man who had been both her strength and her greatest weakness, the other half of her very soul, a final, overwhelming emotion rose from the depths of her being.

It was the culmination of everything—of countless memories, of fleeting glances and whispered words, of laughter and sorrow, of battles fought side by side, of nights spent yearning for a future that had always seemed just out of reach.

Love.

Raw. Absolute. All-consuming.

The most beautiful thing in the world—and the most painful.

Her stomach felt light, her heart weightless, as if it would lift from her chest and soar straight into Sunny's waiting hands, presenting itself to him like a gift wrapped in the colors of every moment they had ever shared.

But it wasn't hers to give anymore.

It had already belonged to him for a long, long time.

This ceremony, this wedding, this grand event—they were mere formality. A mere acknowledgment of a bond that had been forged in fire and shadows, long before this day ever arrived.

And now that the moment had finally come... something within her shattered.

Before she could process it, she was in his arms.

Warm. Safe. Home.

Sunny embraced her tightly, pulling her against him as if he never intended to let go. And for the first time, Nephis felt something trickling onto her shoulder.

Tears.

She looked up to meet his gaze, and the moment she did, a teasing smile made its way onto her lips, followed by a soft chuckle.

Because the cold, unshakable, battle-hardened Sunny—the devil, the nightmare—was crying.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, carving silver trails against his skin, falling freely for the world to see.

A victory.

Nephis let out a breath, her voice laced with rare satisfaction.

"So you ended up crying after all."

She could see his jaw tighten slightly, and before he could protest, she added with a smirk, "You look like a little boy, crying like that."

Sunny didn't reply immediately. He simply stood there, holding her, the weight of everything too immense for words. Then, slowly, he lifted his hand and ran his fingers along her cheek.

His fingers came away wet.

His eyes softened, a teasing glint breaking through the storm of emotions.

"Big words," he murmured, smirking. "From someone bawling like a little girl."

A fleeting shock of horror flickered across Nephis's face. Her hands flew up to her eyes, only to smear her makeup further.

Sunny chuckled—then full-out laughed.

She scowled at him, lips curling into a tiny pout, before realizing how ridiculous they must look. A breathy laugh escaped her, and soon, her shoulders shook with mirth.

As their eyes met once more, the laughter faded into something softer. Warmer.

"Looks like we can call this a draw," she mused, smiling. Sunny held her gaze for a moment before nodding in agreement.

Then, finally—finally—he released her, taking a steady breath.

The moment had passed.

It was time to take their vows.