Soft
The first time he held her hand was when they were just children. He stood in her home and she wore a black dress, and he wore a black suit, and he reminded her that courage was important. She seemed skeptical back then, but he didn't change his opinion.
The next few times they held hands were blurs. Running around as children, becoming friends. Playing ring around the rosie and tag and exploring Skyloft. They 'fought monsters' hand in hand together.
He could remember, definitively, the next time it happened. It was right after the news came. Pipit's father's loftwing didn't respond to his call—and no one was able to save him in time. They were teenagers, just starting their classes at the academy. She'd found his hiding place by the school bell, and after a few moments of silence she reached out and squeezed his hand. He could remember looking into her bright cerulean eyes with his own shining orbs, and forcing a smile at her.
After that things sort of became awkward between them. By the time they were eighteen, and they had just started dating… well Pipit couldn't believe it took someone asking Karane out for him to run down stairs, take her hand, and ask her to be his instead.
And now he was going on twenty years old, graduated from the academy, and he could hold her hand any time he wanted. And when he looked down at her left hand, in his, he focused on her ring finger and considered how it would look with a diamond wrapped around it. A smile came over his lips. How many more times would he hold this same hand?
He would hold it, someday, to place a ring on it. He would hold it when they stood side by side and swapped vows. If they were blessed with children he would hold her hand when she brought them into the world. He would hold her hand when they took walks together, when she was sick, or when she was scared. And she would always hold his too.
He shook his head and chuckled at her, a little blush on his face at the thought.
"What's so funny, Freckles?" She stopped walking and pulled her hand from his, but he caught it instinctively and held on tighter.
"You have soft hands."