Valkyrie froze. Her parents were here. What was she meant to do?

"Um...wow! Well done mum and dad! You win," exclaimed Valkyrie, sounding extremely nervous. "No one can beat you guys at hide and seek."

"Who are all these people?" Asked Valkyries mum, frowning.

At this, the five men looked at eachother.

"Yes."

"Definitely"

"Or maybe not"

"Probably"

"Let's go."

"Cya"

At this, the five men all jumped out of the window. Valkyrie frowned and turned to her parents.

"And it was all a dream,' she muttered, then jumped out of the window after her friends.

Later that day, Valkyrie sat at the pier, arms crossed around her legs, staring out to sea. Eventually, Skulduggery's Bentley pulled up, and he came and sat beside her. For a while, they simply sat together, not saying anything, but just enjoying each others company.

"You'll probably be pleased to know that Scrutinous visited your parents," said Skulduggery. "They don't remember a thing."

Valkyrie nodded, still hugging her knees to her chest. "That's good,"she said.

"Ghastly told me what happened before I arrived," said Skulduggery softy. "He said that they told you about my feelings for you."

Valkyrie nodded, still staring out to sea. "Yeah." She said, her voice sounding slightly odd. "Was it true?"

Skulduggery nodded and stared at her. "Every word," he said softly.

Valkyrie frowned, then nodded.

"I would understand, of course, if you weren't interested.." Began Skulduggery, sounding nervous.

"Stop talking," muttered Valkyrie.

"Really Val, I want you to know. I don't mind if-"

"No skulduggery. Stop talking."

"But I want you to underst-"

Valkyrie turned to him, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him forward, so they were face to face. "Stop talking. Don't say things like that. I've loved you for months, I just never thought that you could ever possibly like me back. The famous skeleton detective. The great Skulduggery Pleasant. How could he like a kid like me, barely introduced to the world of magic?"

Skulduggery stared at her. He had no facade up, but she could tell from the way he tilted his head that he was starting to smile.

"You...love me?" He asked quietly.

"Of course," replied Valkyrie. "How could I not? You're everything I could ever want, and so much more."

At this, the two detectives hugged each other, and remained that way for a long time.

"There's still the threat of Darquesse. And I'm worried about Lord Vile." Whispered Skulduggery.

"I'm not." Whispered Valkyrie. "For once, I don't care about that. We'll fight, we'll get hurt and we'll get back up again. And we'll do it together."

Skulduggery nodded and took her hand. "Until the end."

Skulduggery hesitated, then before he could change his mind, gently grabbed Valkyrie's face and kissed her.

After a few seconds, Valkyrie leaned away from him, a broad smile forming on her face. She took his hand and leaned against his chest, once again staring out at the sea. "Until the end."