"I do," he murmured, his gaze shifting back to the stone ornament in his hand. His house was filled with dolphins but he could - he would - make space for this. Dolphins were sacred in their time, but now they were just toys for little children, trapped in Sea Worlds and aquariums. They're even hunted in Asia and eaten.
Nothing was sacred anymore. Walls were collapsing in the blink of an eye and there was nothing anyone could hold on to that wouldn't slip through their fingers.
So he would take anything he could get - keep the tangible manifestations of the intangible things he held on to. He couldn't have her - that wasn't their story - but he could be happy with what he did have.