Here's to Christmas - Skulduggery Pleasant FanFic

Chapter 17: Diamond Heart

They drove silently in the Bentley to the pier in Haggard. The snow had set a layer of black ice on the road, but it didn't bother them as they pulled up at the glistening white pier. Silently, they walked down the pier and cleared a place in the snow to sit, and that's exactly what they did.

"Time?"

"Ten to midnight," Skulduggery confirmed as he consulted his watch. Valkyrie put the present beside her as she sighed.

"How things have changed," she said softly, looking out at the starry night sky. "Am I right? This time last year we were right here on this very spot, and now it's like we never left, but so much has changed."

Skulduggery glanced at her. "Do you think you'll come back?"

"To magic? Skulduggery, darling, I already came back. You're question is, will I stay? And I don't know. It's a huge part of my past, of my life as a whole, but...I don't know. I like my little house. I like my job. I mean, it's hard work, but I do enjoy it."

Skulduggery hesitated. "Would you stay if you were asked to stay?"

Valkyrie huffed. "No one wants me to stay. They're all afraid of me, or they hate me."

Skulduggery shook his head. "That's only what you think."

Valkyrie glanced at his watch again; five to. Almost Christmas. She smiled.

"Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"For...keeping me sane. For keeping me safe. For keeping me alive."

Skulduggery dipped his hat. "Well. Naturally. It was my pleasure."

"Yeah."

"I want you to know it was purely in my own interest."

"Right."

"If you weren't around I'd have no one to make fun of."

"Okay then."

"I need to make fun of people. It's how I get by."

"If you say so."

The clock struck midnight and they exchanged gifts. Skulduggery tilted his head at his large, round present.

"It's very large, Valkyrie."

"It is."

He shook it slightly and there was a muffled rattle inside.

"It's not that heavy."

"It's not."

"It's a very distinctive size."

"Is it now?"

"Valkyrie..."

"Yes Skulduggery?"

"Is it...Is it a hat?"

"Why don't you stop waffling and find out?"

He tore into the wrapping paper and revealed a black hat box, and when he lifted the lid he froze before lifting it up and examining it.

"My God," he said eventually. He turned it over in his hands, scrutinizing the craftsmanship, but it was quite unmistakable. This hat was the work of Ghastly Bespoke.

"Val...when did...how did you..."

"I went over to Ghastly's old shop a few days ago. I remember he said he hat some hats in the back of his store for you, as a surprise, but he never gave them to you...so it's really a gift from Ghastly and not me. I'm just a messenger."