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The weather in the valley wasn’t always too kind. It was absolutely pouring today, probably barely a week until the end of fall and the first blanket of snow would be falling over Pelican Town. The reasonable part of you knew you maybe shouldn’t be getting caught up with distractions and instead preparing for the harsh season coming up, but at the same time you had other things on your mind at the moment. This was probably the last rainfall you’d be seeing for months, and you were damn well taking advantage of it and doing what has been on your mind for a while now.
You’d learned just about all of the town's little traditions after living here for what felt like most of your life at this point, even if you knew it had really only been a bit over a year. But you suppose that’s what comes with living in such a tight-knit community. Regardless, there was one tradition in particular you had your mind set on right now. While nearly everyone else was cooped up in their homes thanks to the unfavorable weather, here you were trekking across the beach through the pouring rain, praying the rumors you had heard a while back weren't just that.
You finally made it across the small wooden bridge you had repaired months ago and over to the tidal pools. Looking around for a second and becoming extremely hopeful when you caught the glimpse of a figure underneath a nearby palm tree. You made your way over and took notice that it was an old man who appeared to be waiting for something, or maybe someone?
“I can see that sparkle in yer eye,” he said before you could get any word of your own out. So the rumors you had heard were true.
You had learned about this tradition a couple months back. Pelican Town’s residents didn’t propose with ordinary rings like where you had grown up. Instead, you’d need to give the person you want to marry something called a mermaid pendant. You had heard rumors through idle gossip that someone would be at the beach selling them whenever rain fell over the valley and were very grateful they turned out to be right.
“You seem to have someone deep in yer heart,” The man continued, snapping you back to reality. “I’ve got something that will make yer intentions known.”
You simply pulled out a bag with a decently large sum of gold inside, somewhat speechless from the mysterious encounter you were having at the moment. He looked at you for a second before taking the bag and handing you the blue cone-shaped amulet, you just staring down at it, softly glowing in your hand.
“Don't be shy, now. Show that amulet to the one you intend to marry."
“Thank yo-” You finally attempted to get some kind of word out to the man but had looked up to see that he was gone. You looked around the secluded area before simply shrugging off the strange encounter. At least you had finally gotten your hands on what you needed. The corners of your lips tugged up into a timid smile and a small blush crept up your face as you held the amulet to your chest, the realization that you’re actually doing this really setting in now that you actually had the thing. As well as your mind now being flooded with thoughts and images of the guy you actually planned on giving this to.
You and Sebastian had been officially together for a few months now. While you were never much of a believer in the idea of love at first sight, you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t developed a teeny crush on the guy when you had first met him after moving to the valley. He was basically the stereotypical cool bad boy, and you just couldn’t help yourself from feeling drawn in by how mysterious he seemed. Your feelings for him only grew over your time getting to know him, and while he was actually pretty shy (not that you were much better around him), you guys actually became what you could consider close friends pretty quickly, after discovering he was quite a nerd himself and bonding over your mutual interests of comics and Solarion Chronicles.
So you guys eventually getting together just seemed like the natural conclusion. It admittedly did end up taking quite a while for you guys to make things official in any way, both timidly dancing around the mutual feelings that pretty much everyone knew you guys had for each other anyways. Sebastian did end up finally being the one to make a move, to your surprise, after calling you over late one night to finally take you on that motorcycle ride he had promised months prior. He ended up driving you out to a spot with an absolutely gorgeous view of Zuzu City, where you guys finally shared your first kiss after an adorably awkward confession from him. It was probably the best night of your life so far, still feeling your heart flutter and face heat up whenever it happened to cross your mind again.
And now here you were, pendant in hand, planning on asking him to take the next step forward. To spend the rest of his life with you. Some might call you stupid for wanting to pop the question so soon but you didn't care, you two knew just about everything about each other at this point, and you couldn’t really imagine yourself with anyone else ever in your life anymore. You were nervous as all hell of course, the creeping fear of rejection still in the back of your head despite having your mind set. But you did your best to shake it off, deciding that the sooner you did this the better, fearing you’d chicken out if you just kept standing around thinking about it.
You knew Sebastian was just about the only other person in town who’d willingly come out in the rain, saying that he liked how it made everyone else disappear. You’d coincidentally would often find him on one of the farthest docks at the beach during this weather, it becoming a favorite spot for the both of you once you had finally gotten together. All the worries in the world seemed to just melt away for the both of you as you sat cuddled up to him, watching the waves and listening to the raindrops hitting the ocean water. And while Sebastian would often bring an umbrella now just in case, it wasn’t uncommon for you both to simply ignore it, hardly noticing the rain soaking you as you rested your weight against him, sometimes even nearly drifting off from how peaceful it was.
You made your way over to said spot and sat down as you usually would, waiting for your boyfriend to eventually show up, knowing him well enough to know he’d be arriving very soon if he planned on coming out today. You simply watched the light waves and raindrops falling as a million thoughts continued to run through your mind. You were snapped out of your thoughts pretty shortly as you heard footsteps on the dock behind you, turning around to be greeted by exactly who you were expecting.
“Didn’t expect to see you out here right now.” Sebastian smiled as he sat down next to you, you wasting no time yourself and leaning onto his shoulder as you always do.
“I had to pick some things up from Willy,” You lied to hide your true intentions for a bit longer, “figured you’d be coming out in this weather so thought I’d wait for you to hang out for a bit.”
“You know me too well.” He said simply, though you could see the small blush forming on his face as you simply giggled in response. You two fell into a comfortable silence for a bit, just as you would on any day like this. You could feel the nervousness building up in you as you were painfully aware of the pendant in your pocket. You couldn’t tell if you were sweating since, well, you were soaked regardless, but you figured you probably were. Sebastian seemed to notice either your fidgeting or expression or both, and while he didn’t press for details, he wrapped an arm around you and pulled you in closer, simply shooting you a small smile again in an attempt to get you to lighten up as well. You felt your face heating up and your nerves calming down slightly over the gesture. You didn't think you could fall more in love with him at this point but here you were.
While a part of you was perfectly content with just melting into his arms like this, you knew you had something to do, and you weren’t gonna fully relax until you got this off your chest. You were considering all the ways you could actually do this before just eventually thinking screw it, abruptly standing back up, causing Sebastian to look up at you with a look between confusion and slight worry.
“Y,ok? “He asked while getting up as well. You laughed awkwardly in response before outstretching an empty palm out.
“Want to dance?” You asked while averting your gaze slightly. It wasn’t the most unusual request for you to make, it was actually something you both enjoyed while you were alone from time to time, just simply resting against each other and swaying slightly. It was, however, the first time you had asked during a day like this.
Sebastian gave you a puzzled look before finally smiling and taking your hand. “Heh, sure. You’re acting kinda weird today though.” He said somewhat bluntly, though you knew he didn’t mean anything by it, he simply had a habit of sounding so straight-forward at times.
You ignored his comment, seeing as you couldn’t think of a way to respond at the moment, instead choosing to bury your face in his chest in a probably futile effort to hide the massive blush spreading across your cheeks. He slid the arm not holding your hand around your back, pulling you closer as you both fell into the gentle rhythm you always had whenever you did this.
You simply stayed like that for a few minutes, swaying softly as the rain continued to pour down on you both, though neither of you cared about getting soaked as you simply just enjoyed the peacefulness of the beach right now. It felt like you were the only two people left in the world, and you wished you could just stay like this forever, not having to worry about anything and instead just melting into the arms of the man who you loved more than anything.
That last thought reminded you why exactly you were out here again, you gulped as you decided it was now or never.
“Hey, Seb?”
“Hm?” He hummed quizzically, looking back down at you.
“Close your eyes for a sec?” You asked him while taking your hand from his own.
“Uhh, sure.” He did as he was asked despite being very confused now. You fumbled around your pocket for a second, finally taking the pendant back out and setting the hand back in his own.
He opened his eyes back up when he felt something in his hand, taking it back from you to see the small glowing amulet now resting in it. He just stared back at you, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. You could feel the dread and regret start to rise within you as he just looked at you for what felt like forever, neither of you saying anything.
“Y/N, I…” He finally spoke back up, your confidence coming back a bit now.
“I love you Sebby,” you paused for a moment, trying to find the words you needed. “Nobody else gets me like you do, and I, nothing would make me happier than spending the rest of my days with you. Will you marry me?”
Another moment that felt like years passed as again; Sebastian just looking down at you with a shocked face. But before you could begin to regret pouring your heart out like that, he grinned back down at you with the biggest smile you’ve probably ever seen from him and pulled you in as close as he could, you quickly returning the embrace.
“Yes, yes, of course I will.” He beamed, “I love you so much, Y/N.”
He pulled away for a moment to allow you to drape the pendant over his head and around his neck, it continuing to glow softly now right in front of where his heart would be. You pulled him down by the hoodie and dragged him into a kiss. His lips felt like snow, you thought. Soft and cool and drenched from the rain that’s been pouring down on you guys this whole time. It probably should’ve felt gross, but you haven’t felt this good all your life.
You somewhat reluctantly pulled away to give you both a chance to catch your breath. Instead of pulling you back in to continue the kiss, he opted to pull your face back into his chest, you gladly returning the embrace as you melted against him. The weather which hadn't been bothering either of you suddenly took a worse turn, the rain coming down harder and thunder booming in the distance, causing you to jump and cling to Sebastian even harder.
“Maybe we should head back.” He chuckled, looking down at you burying your face into him once again.
“Yeah,” You laughed nervously. “Wanna head back to my place, seeing as it's closer?”
“Sure. Maybe we could start some of that wedding planning while we’re at it” He teased, your face quickly burning up as he just laughed softly. You knew he loved the way you looked whenever he shot a remark like that towards you, but you were too giddy to be upset with him right now.
He took your hand and began leading you back to your farm, you continuing to rest against him as best you could while walking back. The town was still completely empty, everyone else expectedly in their homes due to the now storm approaching. You knew you should have been rushing to get back inside as well, but another idea crossed your mind. Seeing as you weren’t gonna get another opportunity like this maybe ever, you pulled away from Sebastian slightly to drag him back towards you. He sighed and smiled back at you, getting the hint and allowing you to pull him into your own arms, soon falling back into the comfortable rhythm of your guys’ previous dancing on the beach.
Despite the storm looming over you at the moment, the valley has never felt so peaceful.