Valentine’s Day. A holiday devoted to love, hearts, passion, and individually wrapped chocolates. Some choose to spend the day around their beloved, holding hands and kissing and just being together. Others, however, are unfortunate, and gloomily call the holiday “Singles Awareness Day”. Either way, the February day is devoted to love.

“Hm… This is the last one.” Alihi mused, walking down one of the many hallways in FEF Castle. In her hand was one red envelope, with a name printed clearly on it: “Zelos”. Inside the envelope was a Valentine’s card, decorated with hearts and sparkles, no different than all the others she had spent the day delivering to her friends. But still, her own heart raced a bit, thinking of giving the final card to the recipient. Each card had a small, personal message from her, and she didn’t know what she was thinking when she wrote the one for Zelos.
She shook her head slowly, keeping her steady walking pace, her green cloak noisily following her movements.
Where is he? I’ve looked in pretty much every room in this freaking castle! The girl stopped in front of another wooden door, one that she didn’t know about. If she had to guess, though, then she’d assume it was someone’s bedroom.
Might as well try it... Nothing to lose, right? She thought to herself. Shaking her head again, she rapped her knuckles against the door.

On the other side of the door, in the bathroom, a young man stood in front of a large vanity, slowly combing his hair. As he finished a stroke through his long, red locks, he turned around, facing another mirror. Glancing into the mirrors to look at his back, the man began to braid the long ponytail, and hummed a catchy, upbeat tune also known as Caramelldansen. However, he flinched slightly at the abrupt knock on the door, slightly messing up his hair. So, he ignored it out of spite until he finished the braid with a small ribbon at the top.
Now, whoever could be knocking on my door on Valentine’s Day? Maybe a beautiful woman enchanted by my looks, come to ask me to take her away to a blissful life of— The thought bubble popped as there was yet another knock on the door. As the man walked over to the door, he grabbed his elegant black coat, wearing it loosely over his white shirt.
The door swung open, hitting the wall with a thud. The man, with his eyes still closed, started spouting off his typical babble. “Ah, Valentine’s Day! The day when couples are most likely to come together, to admit their love for one another, and live in harmonious peace! Have you come to lay claim to the title of suitor to the great Zelos Wilder, dear madam?”

She smiled, relieved that the person opening the door was indeed Zelos.
Looks like I guessed right… Thank goodness.

As his eyes opened, he saw the familiar face of Alihi, the kingdom’s female tactician.
“Oh, well, hello, Princess Alihi!” Zelos embraced her in a hug, lifting her up slightly. A slight blush rose to her cheeks and she prayed that he wouldn’t notice. She shifted slightly, so her hair would cover her now-pink cheeks.
“What brings you to my humble... abode today, milady?” Of course, his ‘abode’ was far from humble, being covered in various expensive furniture, paintings, carpets, the works. The place looked fit for a king, and the man would have it no other way.

“Uhm… I came here to deliver this.” She lifted up her hand, letting him see that she was carrying an envelope addressed to him.

“Oh, look! A Valentine for me? How sweet!” Zelos hugged her even harder, with a strength that seemed like he could throw her across the room if he wanted.

“Ack! T-too tight…” Alihi replied, slowly losing the ability to breathe as he hugged her even tighter than before. But still, she made an effort to hug him back, although that failed rather miserably.

He dropped the valentine, and watched it drift gently to the floor.
“You know, Alihi, it’s really great of you to go out of your way to make this for me, but what about the green bean? He might be crushed if you didn’t give him a valentine.” The man made a hand gesture over to the large table, with two piles of Valentines: one with a myriad of beautifully done ones with all kinds of hand-drawn things, the other with a few valentines, and even more boxes of chocolate.
“You see, the kid has gotten valentines from pretty much everyone, and I’ve gotten a few here and there, along with a little bit of candy from my many admirers. And the kid was really hoping for one from you.” He let go of Alihi, ushering her into the room.

She stepped into the room and looked to where he gestured, her heart and spirits sinking a bit.
How’s this one going to be different…? It’s just a card. Her eyes drifted to the card, removed from the envelope and lying on the floor. She thought of her worry over the message inside, how a few moments ago she was so worried about it.
“You’re not a bad person, Zelos Wilder. I’m glad that I know you. –Alihi” The message ran through her head, repeating itself over and over in different fashions, some mocking, some soft and sweet. She snapped out of her mini-daze, the message completely leaving her mind and a new issue arising quickly to replace it.
“You mean Rei?” Alihi asked in confusion. “I thought I did make him one… Oh, wait. I think I left it back in my room…” She mumbled to herself, a bit embarrassed for forgetting.

“Ah, it’s fine. You know how excitable he is, so he likes valentines.”

“Yeah…” Alihi replied, laughing softly.

Zelos let go of Alihi and bent over, picking up her Valentine.
“You’re not a bad person, Zelos Wilder. I’m glad that I know you...” The man’s voice trailed off a bit as he finished reading it.

She blushed lightly as he read the valentine out loud.
… Oh god, I didn’t even realize how corny it sounded until now… The tactician wanted to slap her forehead and apologize for what she wrote, but that would seem strange, even with her standards.

As he looked up from the valentine, he walked over to the table, opened the drawer, and shoved all of his other valentines inside, placing Alihi’s delicately by itself where the pile used to be.
“There we go!” Zelos spun around and looked at Alihi from across the room, waiting for her to say something.

She was startled, to say the least, and the blush got another shade darker. Questions and statements ran through her mind rapidly as she stared at Zelos.
“… W-why’d you do that?” She asked lamely.

Zelos ran his hand through his hair, letting out a small laugh. “Well, Alihi, yours is special. It’s the only one I’ve seen with something that’s actually heartfelt; something that’s not just the generic valentine, get it? And that means a lot to me.”

The tactician nodded slowly. She had written the personal messages on purpose, so they wouldn’t be the generic “Happy Valentine’s Day!” note that can easily be bought in a huge set from a store. She wanted to get the point out that she cared.
A moment later, she slapped herself on the forehead, realizing how stupid her question actually was.
Except she did so a little bit harder than she expected. “Eh-heh-heh… Sorry for asking such a stupid question. …Ow… That actually hurt…” She stated, her voice getting softer with each sentence. She covered her forehead with her hand, the place she hit already going slightly red.

He walked over to the tactician, watching her slap herself on the head.
Once more, Alihi’s blush turned to a darker shade as Zelos got closer and closer, until he was right in front of her and she was just about ready to run away in embarrassment. She normally was calm and collected, but right now, she felt like a schoolgirl confessing her love. It was strange for her, and she didn’t like it. The lack-of-control over her emotions… it made her nervous.

“Oh, come on, Princess. We can’t have our tactician injuring her head, now can we?” As he finished talking, he was face to face with her, standing a few inches taller. He took her chin in his hand and turned her face towards him, leaning in to kiss her lightly on the forehead.
“There... all better?”

Her black eyes widened as she felt his lips pressed against her forehead. “Uhm… Yeah…” She replied lamely.
“…Hey, Zelos? Can you… not call me ‘Princess’?” The tactician’s eyes avoided Zelos’ as she spoke her request, knowing that he might ask about it.
And if he did, she knew she was going to have to explain herself.

Zelos had a look of confusion dart quickly across his face, leaving the instant it came. Well, that was odd. I mean, it was completely out of the blue...
She continued to avoid his eyes, and instead focused on her feet, as if they were so interesting.
“Well, Alihi, what’s wrong with me calling you ‘Princess’? What, you don’t like being complimented on your looks, habits, and abilities all at the same time?” Zelos smiled at her, and let out a small laugh. “I’m kidding. I can stop if it bothers you, Alihi.” He embraced her in a light hug, walking her over to the door, opening it, and taking the both of them out into the hall.

She let him guide her out into the hallway, not bothering to raise a protest. Then again, she didn’t mind moving around.

“Now,” they started walking, “am I making you feel uncomfortable or something? If so, I mean, that just won’t do.”

“It’s… kind of complicated.” She let out a light sigh. “It’s going to sound stupid, but I don’t mind it at all. Really. It’s just that I don’t know how to respond to it, you know?”
She glanced up at Zelos, and then focused on looking forward. “I mean… it’s really sweet and all, but… I just don’t know.” The tactician shook her head slowly. “I… just don’t know how I feel about it. I mean, I think I like it, but…” There was a brief pause as she formulated what to say. She looked up again at Zelos, the pink tint clear on her cheeks.
“… I don’t know what that means.”

“What it means? Is that all?” He stopped walking, putting his arm around Alihi’s shoulder to bring her to a halt.
“You’re just being indecisive. Let me help you out.”

“... Huh?” Alihi blinked, staring at Zelos with confusion. “What do you--”

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and engaged in a passionate kiss.

The tactician was startled, remaining still for one second, two seconds, three seconds, before her brain began to function normally again and she wrapped her arms around Zelos’ torso, kissing him passionately in return.

The kiss lasted for at least another five seconds. As he slowly removed his lips, he spoke to her. “Did that help?”

She smiled softly, masking the disappointment that the kiss had ended too soon for her liking. “Mm-hm.”

And then, she pulled him into another kiss.