We're Surrounded by Stars

This is one of those newfangled deviations with a little drabble of a story in the description. Scroll down past the italics to read the commentary proper!
----
The rumbling subsided, as did the fierce wail of heat. For a few seconds, a feeling of weightlessness settled into the cabin (and their stomachs) before the artificial gravity kicked in. They were swiftly rooted in their seats, and a small light beeped, letting them know they'd exited the atmosphere safely.

Slowly, Jade opened her eyes. And slowly, she realized that there were stars.

Hillys was a soft blue glow of water and clouds beneath them. Millions of miles in the distance, Solaris beamed his strongest, though he was still unable to pierce their solar radiation shield. But even the pearl-like gleam of their planet, and the brilliant radiance of their sun, were incomparable with the dazzling universe-scape that unfolded before them.

She pointed at a distant, effulgent white dot. "Algenib?" Her finger traced a pattern between the specks. "Omega Dipper? We--we're surrounded by stars, Double H..." Her eyebrows arched, and her jaw dropped into a broad, unpretentious smile.

His grin was smaller, and his expression softer. How many days had it been? Or, no--forget days, how many weeks had it been? When had he seen her last, curled up in the wreckage of her home, lamenting her uselessness, drowning in her own tears? Eventually, yes, she had stood up from that pool of misery, held her shoulders high, and forged on with her work. But the ghost of that sorrow had been haunting the corners of her mouth ever since, even as the final pieces of their plans fell together. Hillys would soon be free. They would be heroes. Celebrations would sound throughout the land. But even in light of this, Jade's mind kept returing to that desecrated lighthouse, and the family she felt she'd failed.

The night before, she'd fallen asleep sitting up in her chair in the hovercraft, her face twitching at a frown even in her sleep. Victory was at their fingertips, but she dreamed of her past failures to spur herself on.

But here there were stars.

She gasped a little as she caught sight of a comet, leaving its misty trail far off in the distance. "It's incredible," she breathed. "It really is. Have you ever seen anything so gorgeous, Double H?"

She turned to him with her entire face aglow. Perhaps it was only Solaris trying to play a trick on them, but at that moment, even her eyes seemed to be full of stars.

How long since that smile had been so sincere?

He shook his head. "Never, Jade."
----
I can't even pretend this isn't totally sappy, haha. I tried not to make it so. I experimented with a ton of different expressions for Double H, trying to find one that wasn't so blatantly mushy. BUT I FAILED.

As the little story implies, this was inspired by Jade's line when you first leave Hillys with the Stellar Motor. I thought it was cute and decided to do a little picture about it... Which quickly evolved into a BIG picture. Holy cheese, this thing took forever, even with copypasta stars. And I originally intended for it to be a Friendship Moment picture, not a Shipping Moment... But that didn't go so well. So I decided to run with it and play it up for all its ooey-gooey, fangirlish glory! I'm one of those people who always kinda figured Double H was hardcore crushing on Jade, but I've generally focused on his puppylike loyalty before as opposed to anything romantic. Guess there's a first time for everything, though.

Beyond Good and Evil and its characters C-inna-circle Michel Ancel (Rayman Origins looks incredible, BTW) and Ubisoft.