i am the sea.

davy jones is cruel, just as he is devoted. valentine is untrustworthy, just as he is passionate. ( @mctiilda​ )

“Your footing’s off,” Davy Jones barked, his sword whistling through the air to point at the boy that was now on the ground. Valentine’s eyes narrowed up at his father before moving to his feet. They started sparring again, Davy’s peg leg making noticeable thumps as they bantered back and forth. Valentine relied heavily on the rhythmic thumps to plan his next move. Just when Valentine thought he had the upper hand, his father spat, “—You fancy the little hunter girl.”

The sudden accusation threw him off, making it easy to knock Valentine off his feet. The small god was only 13 and didn’t have the opinion of love that he was infamous for now. “What does that have to do with anything?” the boy challenged. Instead of an answer, Davy stepped back, his eyes watching his son steadily.

“Do you fear weakness?”

“No. I’m not weak.”

“Do you fear someone else having power over you?”

“No. I’ll always have control over myself.”

“Do you fear losing?”

“No. I’ll always do whatever it takes to win.”

“Do you fear… love?”

Valentine faltered. He was never asked that question before. He tried to watch his father. He was trying to read him. There was a storm brewing in his father’s eyes. Valentine wondered if he were to say the wrong thing, the storm would be unleashed onto him.

“No. Mama says—”

“Listen here, boy,” Davy started, taking on the voice of a feared captain as opposed to a doting father. Quickly, Valentine shuffled back, his eyes not daring to leave his father’s. When Davy realized what he did, he quickly softened. “Your mother has broken many hearts believing in love. Never has hers been broken. But, mine has. Valentine, you should fear love. Don’t fear life, don’t fear death. Fear love. It’s a curse, a burden… you can lose what means most to you so quickly. If a man loves nothing, then nothing can be taken from him. I never want your heart to break, dear boy. Can you promise me this?”

And just like that, Valentine decided he didn’t have a crush on the hunter with the iconic smirk and red jacket. He decided he’d never have another crush again. “I promise, Father.”

Valentine wasn’t sure why he was thinking about his father in a moment like this. In a moment where he was just a college student as opposed to a heartless god.

He was waiting for Matilda to get out of class. He had even dared to wait in her classroom door, her teacher annoyed as he leaned on the doorframe. What could he do, though, when just as Valentine smiled towards his Heffalump, the bell rang? She leapt with joy, quickly gathering her things and rushing towards him. She was ready to bubble over with stories of her day.

OKAY WOW THIS WAS HELLA RUDE I CAUGHT A LOT OF FEELINGS IN THIS AND I’M SO SORRY VIOLET HAD TO DEAL WITH SHITTY VALENTINE. 

ANYWAY THE POST IS HERE FOR AESTHETIC PURPOSES SO IT’S ALL PRETTY AND CUTE

changing, harsh, and untameable. no flower could withstand the weight of an angry sea. ( @fragilelittleviolet )

Valentine listened as Violet spoke of the latest book she read. The two were in a quaint little coffee shop— This time, Violet chose their date location. There was a soft, muzzled chatter hanging the air. It was just loud enough so that it felt that no one else could hear them, but also quiet enough that it didn't feel crowded or rushed. The god's eyes never left the gentle young woman.

She still had a rosy dust on her cheeks, something that never left as soon as he suggested that they go on a date. Her smile, however, was no longer meek. Instead, it was radiant and adoring. She smiled as if she had nothing to hide any longer. Valentine mused how easy it was for this girl to fall in love. Her eyes lit up when he himself smiled. Feigning interest in this girl was rather easy, all he had to do was speak sweet nothings and talk about the books he’s read. Even if they were spell books, Violet was already interested. So long as they had pages and a binding, she adored them.

They continued to talk. Valentine’s hand outstretched so that Violet could sheepishly fit her hand into his. It was a sweet gesture that almost meant nothing. But, as Valentine watched, she saw her blush grow to become the colour of ripe cherries. His smile grew and Violet bloomed— And that was the moment he realized he had her in the palm of his hand. It was romantic… if not for Valentine’s intentions.

As he walked her back to her dorm, Valentine barely paid attention to the conversation. His mind was elsewhere. A part of him, an unpredictable change in the tide, fancied the idea of caring for someone. Allowing them in, trusting them with his secrets… giving them the power to become his weakness. The more he thought about it, the more he dismissed it. He didn’t want to care for someone. Even someone as delicate as Violet, who couldn’t hurt another being (even Valentine had to admit that). There was always that risk of his heart breaking. And he’d never allow even the possibility of allowing his being to shatter.

Violet had given him a heartfelt hug as he was about to leave. She told him she was glad to have met him and that he took her out. She told him that she had never done this sort of thing before, not without her grandparents’ influence, of course. She bashfully murmured something about meeting her family. Valentine called her his little flower. Finally, she told him good night and closed the door.

matilda briefly wondered if she was making any sense, or if she was just making a complete and total fool of herself — perhaps both? she couldn’t be sure, but she was hoping against the latter. normally, in any similar situation, the small girl may have cried in fear of embarrassing herself. she told him that she was brave now, though, and so brave she would be.

when he finally looked up at her, her heart pounded in her chest. still, no matter how nervous she may have been about how he was going to respond, her eyes, her lips, her soul all still smiled when she made eye contact with him.

at his words, her head tilted slightly to one side. a few loose strands of her hair fell in her face and she blinked, her smile still playing lightly on her lips. his words were vague, and the small heffalump had never done well with vague — heffalumps were nothing if not straightforward, most of the time. she had an idea of what he meant, though, and she could only hope that she was correct.

her smile grew slightly and she reached out to gently touch his hand with her own. “my vally~” she hummed, her voice as soft as the smile that she wore.

If you were to take all the splendours of the sea and only such, you’d have unfathomable riches and wonder. Likewise, if you only took the dangers of the sea and only valued them, no one would even go beyond the shoreline. To marvel at the sea, you had to accept the risk of what lies beneath the waves. The Dalmas were tricky that way-- they all embodied what it meant to love the sea. Valentine, his eyes trailing down to where their hands touched, was never more grateful to another person than he was to her.

Even with his heart out of his chest, it felt like his hand had been enveloped with a soft glow of a warm hearth. Something that felt like home. More like home than the salty aroma of crashing waves. It made him wonder just how much of himself he had given away. Had he found his weakness?

“Your Vally,” he repeated as if saying so would make everything so much more definite. He moved to take her hand in his, instead of the soft, gentle touch. He held hers, his thumb rubbing against her skin as an affectionate gesture. He couldn’t recall the last time he held someone’s hand in the way that he did hers. 

the tiny heffalump looked from valentine’s face, to where his gaze rested on his hands. her head tilted slightly to one side and she let the silence hang over the two of them, waiting until he spoke before looking back to his face. “you’re vally,” she answered softly. “you teach small heffalumps how to carve pumpkins. you go on adventures to find the sea! you teach that same heffalump how to read maps — and help her cook dinner, because she doesn’t really know how~” she scrunched up her nose, smiling softly. “you’re my vally. that’s what you are — to me, at least.”

The god stretched his fingers, unable to look up as Matilda spoke. Instead, he watched his hands move, feeling the power of the sea surge beneath the skin each time his muscles pulled and contracted. Such power was something he was used to, something he thrived to live off. He didn’t need anything else. He could turn his back on earthly things. And yet...

OH MY GOODNESS WINNIE THIS IS SO HSHFHKKHJHGUIH

( @mctiilda )

okay first, i’m going to do a THING, like literally, val and tilly are probably the LAST ones to get their shit together and get married because valentine promised matilda that he wouldn’t make a lifetime promise to be with her until he found it in himself to no longer be a god

and fOR A WHILE, things looked bleak and it was probably super angsty and these kids probably were so sad with each other and val’s eMPTY HABITS UGH VAL U SO PROBLEMATIC

lowkey tho calypso’s iconic line becomes val’s line for a while: “would you love me if i was anything but what i am?”

but one day, val came home with the brightest, most childish, sweetest smile that tilly’s ever seen on him bECAUSE HE LIFTED HIS OWN CURSE AND PUT HIS HEART BACK IN HIS CHEST, and proposed to her right then and there like no hesitation oMG

their baBY BOY is a toddler at this point (i think he was two in the para i wrote if i remember correctly????) and some of the most important decisions to the wedding were made by him (tilly probably brought him to choose a wedding dress and tilly chose the dress by which dress her baby boy smiled the most at)

they have a lighthouse reception omg and the wedding party consists of the dalma-shan family and the hundred acre wood family, like it’S SUCH A STRANGE MASH UP OF PEOPLE BUT EVERYONE GETS ALONG ( @thxliadalma , @illyriadx , @xiacli // @caspiia , @bounceybridget @neat-freak-sable  legit i can’t think of who else is in the hundred acre fam forgive me if i forgot you sorry <3 )

it’s such an adorably small reception, the baby boy is the ring bearer (with weiwei helping him to walk) and adrianna is the flower girl (cUTE LITTLE OTTER CLUTCHES THE BASKET LIKE IT’S HER SPECIAL ROCK OMG)

val and tilly’s vows are both sO EMOTIONAL like tilly talking about being brave and how love can change people and val apologizing for all the shit he put her through and love is his greatest weakness but he wouldn’t change it and aHHHHH

their reception is at in the hundred acre wood and they’re greeted by the heffalump famILY AND TILLY JUST HAPPILY DOES A HEFFALUMP CALL and the baby boy tries but fails and i need that in my life, tilly finally abLE TO AH

literally bolin goes all Uncle Iroh and talks about tea and life lessons during his speech, thalia roasts val because val is a drama queen, illyria forebodes something “falling apart”

it was the cake, the cake fell apart because the baby boy was left unattended for TWO seconds. no one minds, everyone’s got kids, so they eat the cake anyway. 

lumpy and tilly dancing as heffaLUMPS THO THE CUTEST SIGHT EVER OKAY I LOVE HEFFALUMPS

val and tilly follow a map tilly found for their honeymoon on a ship val built (val ends up buildi, while thalia and bolin babysit the baby boy. tilly found it in the library archives and it had a crab on the corner of it and she was like “HEY!!!! CRABS!!!! THE DALMAS ARE ALL ABOUT CRABS!!!!!”