InsaneJournal

In truth, Hades had been thinking about proposing to Persephone for quite some time. It was no secret that he’d been head over heels in love with her almost since the first moment they’d met. He’d already been terrible at hiding it at home, but in Vallo, where they didn’t have to worry about gossip or judgement, it was a hundred times more obvious. Even after months of living together, his eyes would still light up every time she would enter the room.

He’d been ready to make her his wife for ages, but he also knew that it wasn’t just about him. Persephone had to want it as well. And while he knew she was happy with their relationship (a fact that still shocked him daily), he was also acutely aware that she had this whole new life ahead of her in Vallo and that marriage may not be in her plans yet. His own fear of rejection kept him from discussing it with her outright, and so he kept his thoughts to himself, waiting for a moment or a sign.

When the children began arriving from the future, Hades noted the way she double checked every room in their home, just to make sure. He began to feel stronger glimmers of hope. And when Rowan finally arrived, there was his sign. A big, neon flashing sign. He and Persephone were a family.

As soon as Rowan had been fed and everything had begun to settle down that first evening, Hades had gone straight to Hera’s room to ask for her blessing. Then came the ring. It couldn’t be any ring. It had to be perfect, and he spent many hours agonizing over it. Once that was completed, he had to come up with a plan. After throwing out approximately six thousand different ideas, Hades finally realized what he should do.

Hazel and Hera were both out for the evening, which left Hades and Persephone with the place to themselves for once. They’d cooked dinner together, and had even done the dishes side by side. He washed, she dried. Shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Hades drained the sink once they were done, and dried his hands on an embroidered dish towel. “How would you feel about dessert in the garden?”

Persephone understood the sadness that most of the Outlander community was feeling in these days following the departure of their future lives. She already missed Rowan fiercely and she’d only known him for a handful of days. But mixed in with that sadness was an optimism that Persephone wasn’t entirely sure how to put into words. She loved Hazel, that much was indisputable. She was sure she would love any of Hades’ children--or hers, as Zagreus had proven-- from other worlds if they came into their lives. There was a hope that came with Rowan, though, that their future could be filled with a family they continued building together. She’d known it was possible. They’d already defied so many expectations in this world by allowing themselves to fall in love so completely with one another, but there may have still been a small part of Persephone that told herself that she wasn’t really allowed to have that future that she knew she wanted even back home.

But here they were, days after meeting just one of their sons. Cooking together, cleaning together, being together. It was so easy, and so right. With Hades was one of the only places where Persephone felt well and truly whole, unmarred by expectation or a past she couldn’t change. She had no doubt that they would meet Rowan again one day and she was so looking forward to it.

So when Hades asked her how she felt about dessert in the garden, she didn’t have to muster up the way the thought of combining three of her favorite things--dessert, gardens, and him--lit up her whole being. She missed Rowan but she was content with where they were now. And where they were now looked really good from where Persephone stood. She smiled as she took him in, sleeves rolled up and so very domestic, and little white flowers dotted her hair.

“I would say I feel pretty good about it,” she replied, taking the towel from him to fold it and lay it over the edge of the sink to dry.

He’d gotten more used to flora spontaneously appearing in her hair, but Hades was never any less charmed by it. Persephone was so open and loving. He never had to guess where he stood with her. She showed him that he was good and deserving of kindness. Their meeting was such a turning point in both their lives. Hades smiled happily and leaned down to kiss her gently.

“Why don’t you go ahead? I’ll get the dessert and meet you out there.”

Persephone’s feet slowly lifted off the floor at his kiss and she stole one more from him before nodding. “Sure. What are we having?” If it was ice cream, she’d have to choose which one she was in the mood for that night. Strawberry, maybe? Yes, definitely strawberry. Her eyes widened with excitement as another thought occurred to her, though, and she asked, “Wait, did you make dessert?” She was usually the one who made desserts in their household and didn’t even remotely mind it, but she found herself excited at the possibility that she might get to share in something that Hades had created himself.

She smiled and floated around behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder. “Actually, just surprise me. I know I’ll love whatever you had in mind.” She pressed her cheek affectionately to his shoulder and moved toward the door to float out to the back garden. It was, unpredictably, her favorite place to be.

Hades did his best to restrain a small chuckle as she talked about dessert. In fact he had made dessert for them earlier. He was more a cook than a baker, but he’d never forgotten just how important it was for her to have handmade things. With that thought ever present, he knew that what he presented her with tonight should be something he’d created.

He waited an extra few minutes after she floated out the door to make sure she didn’t try to pop back in and surprise him. Once he was satisfied that he was alone, he began getting everything ready for her.

A short time later he joined her in the garden. It was an absolutely lovely evening. Chilly, but not too cool. Fall hadn’t even come close to encroaching on the garden, thanks to Persephone’s particular talents. The stars shone brightly above them, and everything felt quiet and still.

“To answer your earlier question,” he said, appearing next to her. “I did make our dessert this evening.” He turned and presented Persephone with a large serving plate. It had delicate floral designs around the edge and was filled with chocolate and pomegranate tartlets. Next to them, balanced perfectly near the edge, was the hair comb that he’d gifted her back in the Underworld. It had appeared on his bedside table that morning, and he took it as yet another sign that what he was planning was right.

A gasp of surprise escaped Persephone’s lips and she couldn’t be certain if it was over the sight of the comb she cherished so much, or the way the desserts looked so delectable, or a combination of both. It was probably both. She picked up the comb and held it to her cheek, not realizing how much she’d missed this small token here. “Where did you find this? Has it been here long?” She wasn’t entirely sure she’d see it again back home, but being reunited with it here made her feel hopeful.

“You’ve been holding out on me!” she teased, holding the comb at her heart and between her hands as she took in the tartlets and their presentation. “Hades, this looks delicious. I don’t know if I can eat them, they look so good. I don’t know how you managed to make these without me noticing, but consider me properly impressed.

Her expression sent a burst of pleasure through Hades, and he knew he would never tire of seeing her face after a surprise. He vowed to himself that throughout their future together he would always strive to keep surprising her.

“It turned up this morning, in fact.” He smiled and set the plate down on the ground. Then he settled himself down next to her. “Another gift from Vallo.” His heart thudded rapidly in his chest as he looked at her. She looked absolutely beautiful in the soft, glowing moonlight. It was taking every ounce of his self control not to propose to her right then. “May I?” He inquired, holding out his hand for the comb. Taking it gently in his fingers, he fixed the comb in her pink hair, off to the side. It sparkled and shone even brighter somehow, as if it knew it were home with her.

“Now,” he continued after giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. “I certainly hope you were joking about not being able to eat these, because I’m not going to eat them all by myself.”

“You know,” Persephone replied, “I think sometimes Vallo gives us very good things. This comb, the dogs, your house, Rowan. It can be unpredictable, and honestly quite terrible, but sometimes it just gives us very nice things. I think maybe it likes us, it’s just not willing to come right out and say it.” She pulled her legs to her and crossed them in front of her as she moved closer to Hades. It wasn’t intentional, really. Hades was her gravitational pull and she couldn’t help but be as close to him as possible when he was in the room. It was lucky for her that he never seemed to mind.

Her eyes closed and she reached up to gently curl her fingers around his arm as he placed the comb in her hair. Her heart swelled at the brush of his fingers over her hair. How was it possible to love another being so very much? “I’ll never let this comb go again, Hades,” she promised quietly. “I’m going to keep it forever.”

He was quite charmed by her suggestion that Vallo liked them. It was a very Persephone perspective on things, and it was just as lovely as she was. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to prove it, but I like that idea all the same.”

He’d been set to dish them each some dessert, but her promise to never let the comb go again struck a chord deep within him. Regardless of plans, he knew this was the correct moment.

“In that case,” Hades looked up at the night sky and inhaled a deep breath to try and calm his currently frantic nerves. Knowledge of their future together in Vallo still couldn’t stop millenia of self-hatred and a fear of rejection from creeping in. Hades looked to Persephone to bolster his courage. “I have something else for you as well.” He slid his right arm into his pocket and pulled out a deep blue colored ring box. “Something that I also hope you’ll keep forever.”

As a King, Hades wasn’t exactly prone to kneeling, but Persephone was already a Queen in his eyes. He shifted himself to one knee while opening the box for her. The ring itself was black gold with a rose at its center. A fine pattern of leaves and vines wove themselves around the band. An almost obscenely large pink diamond sparkled as the head of the rose, while smaller blue topaz stones were inlaid around it.

“Our lives here are vastly different then what we would have been able to have at home. Through every up and down I’ve had here over the last year, the one constant has always been you. Your smile, your laugh, your arms around me at the end of the day. You see me in a way no one else does, and I would love nothing more than to spend every last moment of eternity with you. Persephone, will you marry me?”

It really ought to have come as no surprise the way that the tiny white buds that dotted Persephone’s hair became more flowery and numerous as Hades not only got down onto one knee and proceeded to ask her the thing that she had dreamed about so often since they had begun their lives here in Vallo. It was something she’d never allowed herself to consider back home, even if she’d known how easily she’d begun to fall in love with him. Who wouldn’t fall in love with Hades? He was everything. He was kind, and selfless, and made her feel like he was always there by her side supporting her, even while championing her independence to make choices on her own. He was beautiful and wonderful and…everything.

The flowers spread out from her, punctuating the gardens around them, and popping up around Hades, too. It was no longer a cause for embarrassment when she was with him, another virtue she could attribute to her future husband.

Because what other answer was there to give but yes?

Happy tears welled in her eyes as, without giving it even a second thought, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him as they both tumbled backward. Laughing against his mouth, she said, “Yes. The answer will always be yes.”

Hades never could have imagined this level of happiness for himself. After thousands of years of loneliness and otherness, he’d truly begun to believe that it was all he would ever have. He’d told himself that he was content with it, but he never truly could be. He craved love and it came so easily with Persephone. She made him feel whole in a way he hadn’t even known was possible. As the life of new flowers sprang up around them, Hades caught her softly and cradled her as they fell backward together.

The ring box was still in his hand, but his attention was captured entirely by her kisses. He closed his eyes and returned them. It was easy to get lost in kissing her, but after a few moments managed to pause just long enough to actually slip the ring onto her finger. “To make it official,” he smirked at her before pulling her back down onto the grass with him once more.