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.
When he looked back at Matilda, his expression was soft. “And what of you, Tilly? Do you still belong to you?” The question wasn’t condescending. His tone, unusually gentle, was meant to show that the choice was always hers to make. He wasn’t the most honourable person, he’d understand if she didn’t want to be his. No matter what, at least now she knew that he was always going to be hers.
as a small heffalump, she had hardly ever left heffalump hollow. she had always been afraid. she’d always been fearful of anything outside of what she knew --- even the rest of the very wood that she’d grown up in had seemed terrifying to her. now, though? she no longer felt afraid. loving valentine was like going on the adventure to find the sea every day, and she lived for it. it was something that she had once been fearful of, something outside of what she knew, and she was no longer afraid.
she looked down at their hands, heartbeat quickening when he took her hand in his. the touch made her feel warm and light, and she squeezed his hand gently. finally lifting her gaze, once again, she looked at his face, and a smile broke out on her lips.
at his question, she paused. not because she didn’t know the answer --- she knew the answer very well. no, she paused because she had never been asked such a question, and she wanted to answer it perfectly.
looking back down at their hands, she placed her free hand over his. “i am to you as you are to me,” she said softly, a soft smile adorning her lips. “as you are mine, i am yours.” she looked up at him again, expression soft. “i’m yours, vally. as long as you'll have me, i’m yours.”