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"For goodness' sake, Lloyd.” Genis rolled his eyes. “It’s not like she won’t be expecting it.”
“You don’t know that!” Lloyd resumed his pacing around the small hotel room. “What if I screw up and, and look like an idiot?”
“If that were a problem, she wouldn’t have started dating you in the first place.”
“Hey!”
The half-elf shrugged, hiding his smirk behind the pages of the book he was currently attempting to read.
“Well, I mean… I guess it’s not like I haven’t made a fool of myself in front of her before. But… oh, man.” Lloyd came to a halt in front of the window overlooking the dusty road. Visions played out in his head, starting with himself fumbling over his words and ending with the cliff crumbling apart beneath them. Or worse, if she said no… He and Colette had been in a relationship for the last two years, and it had been the best two years of his life. What would he do if he screwed that up? “I don’t know if I can do this. I couldn't even finish the ring in time. What if I just… put it off?"
“Lloyd, the whole reason you brought her to Hima was so you could propose to her up on the mountaintop, you can’t back down now.” Genis set his book aside, giving up on reading for the moment. “You do want to marry her, right?”
Lloyd nodded without hesitation. “Yeah. I mean… yeah, of course I do. Absolutely.”
“Then what’s the big deal? You guys must have talked about it.”
“Well…”
Genis’s eyebrows rose. “Don’t tell me you didn’t talk about it.”
“I mean…” Lloyd waved his arms ineffectually. “We’ve talked about our future and stuff… where we want to live, things like that… so I guess it was always just kind of implied? But…”
“You’re hopeless, Lloyd.” Genis picked up his book again, frowning when he saw he’d lost his page. “If you’re worried about her saying no, she won’t, okay? Trust me. I’m the smartest guy you know.”
Lloyd couldn’t argue with that. He looked back out the window, watching the sand turn a faint purple-red in the light of the setting sun. It was now or never.
He found Colette giving directions to a group of Tethe’allan travelers. Her clumsy, slightly awkward manner had faded over the last few years, and she always greeted people with kind words and a smile as bright as the sun. Usually, Lloyd felt warmed just watching her, but now all he felt was his palms sweating and his heart beating faster. Would he still get to watch her, after today?
When she waved goodbye to the people and caught sight of Lloyd, her smile grew even wider. “Oh, hi Lloyd!”
“Uh, hey Colette.” Lloyd cleared his throat. “Do you, uh… since it’s nice out, do you wanna go for a walk?”
“A walk sounds perfect.” Colette took his hand, still all smiles, and Lloyd cursed himself for not wiping his palm on his pants first, but she didn’t seem to notice. “Where do you want to go?”
Lloyd forced a laugh. “There’s only one path.”
“Oh!” Colette blinked, and then gave a sheepish giggle. “That’s right.”
How was it possible to be so cute? Lloyd blushed, trying to keep it together as he led her along the path up the mountain.
When they reached the top, Colette gasped aloud. “Wow… the sunset looks so pretty from up here!”
Lloyd nodded soundlessly. It did; the sun had painted the sky red and pink on its way down, and the vast expanse of the reunited land stretched out before them. Unfortunately, Lloyd was too nervous to appreciate it. He felt his heart pounding against his ribs so loud he feared Colette could hear it.
“Um… Lloyd?”
Lloyd just about jumped, turning to face her with an anxious smile. “Wh-what is it, Colette?”
“It’s just…” His heart dropped. “You’ve been so quiet. Is something wrong?”
“N-no! Nothing! It’s wrong, I mean, nothing’s wrong.”
“Hmm.” Colette wasn’t buying it.
Lloyd swallowed hard. “Okay, well, actually… I had something I wanted to ask you.”
“Oh!” He had thought maybe she would be expecting it, but she looked genuinely curious. “What is it?”
“Ah…” Somewhere between formulating the question in his mind and actually trying to say the words, his mouth had completely dried up. His pulse was racing and Colette was just standing there, looking at him inquisitively, and his nerve was almost completely gone. He couldn’t speak.
He looked out across the horizon, to where the Tower of Salvation once stood, and then back at Colette, who was waiting patiently. She was always so patient, his Colette.
He reached out and took her hand, and slowly, deliberately, began to write.
It only took her a moment to catch on. “Will… you… marry…” Her voice faded to almost nothing as she mouthed the last word, staring at their hands with wide eyes.
The silence stretching between them was infinite, and Lloyd gripped her hand tight, heart pounding, eyes imploring, urging her to please, please say yes.
Then she flipped his hand over, and began to write three letters, but she had only finished the first one when Lloyd laughed out loud and met her gaze, smile stretching to his ears, eyes brimming with joy. She was looking back at him in just the same way, and he pulled his hand away in order to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her tight against him, spinning them in a teetering circle while Colette laughed breathlessly in his ear.
Lloyd should have known. Genis had, and he was the smartest guy in the whole entire world.