In Exchange

"You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate... It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves... You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and... What I'm trying to say, Tristan is... I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I'd know it for myself. My heart... It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it's trying to escape because it doesn't belong to me any more. It belongs to you.

And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange - no gifts.

No goods. No demonstrations of devotion.

Nothing but knowing you loved me too.

Just your heart, in exchange for mine."

~Yvaine, in Stardust

This has quickly become one of my favorite movies. No matter how many times I see it, this scene makes me cry. The honesty in her words, the vulnerability of her need for him... for what would make Him happy... How meek her promise is, as if her love in return is the only thing of value she has to offer Him... In this moment of the movie, my heart stops... as if my breathing will alter his affection for her and banish her back into her loneliness.

I can't get her words out of my mind tonight. I can feel her words all the way to my very core. Perhaps that is my deepest wish... Perhaps it is because all I would have to offer in exchange... That is all any of us have to give to another person, our heart. No promises of obediences, teasing moments of kink, nothing really... means anything in the very end. A girl's heart, offered in exchange for His... is all that matters.

I don't know why, but tonight... this scene... her words... speaks volumes.