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“Be my Valentine”
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl

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   “Where is that shipment I ordered?  I called for it two weeks ago so it would be here by the fourteenth!  We simply can’t cater this event without it!”

   A cry rang out over the chaos of a busy kitchen, full of steam and hurried footsteps of cooks and bakers as they prepared meals, everything from appetizers to desserts and everything in between.  There were special vegan meals, finely prepared steaks and rotisserie chickens for the meat lovers, and chocolate cakes and cherry pies for those with sweet teeth.

   This banquet for five hundred guests was being prepared by the most famous catering service in Starshine Town.  Its name was “Catering for the Stars” and its owner was the one that this distressed voice belonged to.  His name was Maddox the Cat, and while his business was both booming and prosperous, it was not without occasional chaos, and this was one of those times when it was most inconvenient for him.

   “I can’t believe this!  Those idiots promised me it would be here by the twelfth!” he cried again, walking up and down the lines of cooks, clutching a clipboard to his chest with one arm, and cradling an aching head with the other.  Turning to one of his head chefs, he cried again, “Why is so much conspiring against me to ruin this dinner?  Why?!”

   “I—I…I think you’re overreacting sir,” the chef said, stammering a bit.

   “Overreacting?!  Say that again Benton!  Tell me I’m overreacting!” the brown furred cat cried, “We cannot cater this event without that shipment!  These lazy delivery boys will be the death of it!  The death of me!”

   Chef Benton blushed red, shrinking back from his distressed boss.  More chaos would ensue, were it not for the appearance of another brown furred cat, entering the kitchen from the back door.  She wore a denim blue hat with a pink scarf tied around it, and her flare jeans were the same shade of blue.  She wore an off-white t-shirt with light blue cuffs, collar, and hem, with a purple vest layered on top of this.  Her shoes were grey and pink, and her gloves were light blue, but had black gloves that cut off at the wrists layered on top of them.  Her favorite golden heart charm and a gold cross hung on two different black cords as a necklace to complete her ensemble.

   She ran into the kitchen, up to Chef Benton and Maddox, who was her older half-brother, light on her feet and full of happiness that sparkled in her green eyes and shined brightly with her smile.  Pulling her long brown hair clear from her shoulders, she said, “Not to worry Maddox!  The delivery truck just arrived!”

   A look of relief came to both Chef Benton’s and Maddox’s faces, albeit for totally different reasons.  Fresh off of a sigh, Maddox cried out, “Finally!  Those lazy idiots!  Tell them to hurry up and bring the packages inside!  We have a big order to fill!”  Without another word, Maddox turned around and disappeared into the crowd of busy cooks to attend to his next order of business.

   The younger half-sister he left behind let out a sigh as her smile faded.  Shaking her head she murmured, “He doesn’t need to be so touchy.  They said they would arrive by today, and they did.  He’s gonna give himself a heart attack.”

   Chef Benton, who was now relaxed let out a chuckle and replied, “You know your half-brother Lairen.  He takes his work so seriously a job can become a life or death situation for him.  He doesn’t think clearly when the clock starts to run out of minutes for him to work with.”

   Lairen giggled softly, straightening her hat so it fit better on her ears.  Smiling again, she replied, “Oh you’re right Chef Benton.  I just wish he’d learn to relax.”  Pausing, she giggled again and added, “Last time Auron was here, and Maddox was like this, Auron said Maddox’s aura was just so chaotic.  Auron had to tune Maddox’s aura out.  He said it was driving him crazy.  That can’t be good if he so stressed his aura is affected.”

   The chef paused as he listened to Lairen, having to watch a pot of pasta he was simmering at the same time.  He was fully aware of his young boss’ psychic abilities, as well as those she shared with her friend, the Greywolf named Auron, and the ones that were unique to him.  This wasn’t the first time she had talked about Auron lately, her voice always soft, her eyes always drifting to the ground, or to her hands clasped in front of her.  He had not seen Auron in a long time, and wondered what this meant, trying to connect the dots between the Greywolf’s absence, and Lairen’s shyness when speaking of him to others.

   Chef Benton casually stirred the pasta, glancing at Lairen for a moment, noticing she was still staring shyly at her hands, her eyes half closed, and a somewhat somber look gleaming in what was left of them to gaze with.  Yet while she looked sad, at the same time she appeared blissful, comforted by a fond memory, or a precious dream.

   He recognized that look.  His only daughter had recently gotten engaged, and he remembered when her heart first opened to her love.  Lairen looked just like this; she looked like her heart had finally opened to Auron, and she was absorbing all of it and everything about him slowly but surely, like a blooming plant absorbs both rain and sunshine.  Lairen’s flowering heart it seemed, was almost ready to bloom.

   Turning down the heat on the burner, Chef Benton wiped the sweat from his forehead with a white towel and asked, “Whatever happened to young Auron?  I don’t believe I’ve seen him since that time you mentioned.  What is he up to?  Does he still live in town?”

   A gasp escaped Lairen as his questions woke her up from the musings of her weary mind, a mind full of thought worn down gradually over time.  She felt her psychic powers weren’t as sharp as of late as she was nearly constantly consumed by thoughts of Auron and this love for him blossoming in her heart.  It was…depressing, but it wasn’t Auron that depressed her; it was the simple fact that they had not been together, and she worried if he even remembered her anymore.

   Chef Benton was one of the few people besides Auron, Maddox, and her half-sister Tammy that she confided everything with, things she didn’t even tell her other friends like Camillia the Cat, Ike the Greyfox, and Delilah Lynn.  He was almost like an uncle to her, for he had worked with Maddox since he first opened the business, and so she had known him for a long time, long before she began living with both her half-sister and half-brother and their families at different times, her apathetic father no longer responsible for her care.

   Perhaps it was this bond that encouraged her to speak again.  Raising her head and eyes, Lairen replied, “Auron, he…well, you know he worked delivering pizza right?  Well, a university in Hilltop Plains, where we went to high school, offered him a scholarship of some kind…I think it’s because of his good grades and musical talent, and he’s been there for nearly a year.  We…we don’t talk much anymore.  He never calls, and I just…I don’t call him either.  I don’t know why really.  I…I care about him much more than I ever have, but I…I only began to realize it when he was gone, and it was too late.  Now, I think about him all the time, and how much I love him…and I just don’t know what to do about it, or how to even tell him all of this.  Things used to be so easy.  Now, I’m not sure of anything anymore.  I wonder…if we’re even friends.”

    “Oh dear,” Chef Benton murmured.  Glancing at his pasta, checking to make sure it wasn’t sticking before leaving it to simmer, he placed a hand on Lairen’s shoulder and said, “Go see if you can find a couple of barstools, then we can talk a bit.”

   Lairen nodded gently, and then hurried off into the crowd of bustling chefs.  She returned quickly with two barstools from a utility closet.  Sitting them both on the ground, she quickly sat down on hers, while Chef Benton was a bit slower to sit, positioning himself so he could still attend to his pasta while talking to Lairen.

   After a moment, Chef Benton looked to Lairen and asked, “Now, why would you wonder if you’re even friends?  Even those who do not talk much still care about each other.  What makes you think he no longer cares for you?”

   Letting out a sigh, Lairen said, “Well, he hardly ever answers his phone, and when I do sum up the nerves to call him, he never answers.  If I leave a message, he never calls back.  He doesn’t have texting anymore, so if I text for him to call me, it’s no different than leaving a voice mail.  He won’t return it.  …Of course, he doesn’t return anyone’s calls or messages.  Camillia can’t get in touch with him, and I don’t know anymore of his friends.  He doesn’t check e-mail.  He’s just…cut himself off from everything he left behind, and because his family still lives in Hilltop Plains he has no reason to come back here.  I feel like…if I keep trying to call, I’m just bothering him.  I—I want to tell him I love him, but, man, I’m nowhere close to this.  I just, wish I could see him again, so badly.”

   “Aww Lairen, let me see if I can console you a bit,” Chef Benton answered.  Stirring his pasta, he continued, “Have you seen how your half-brother gets so wound up and manic when he’s pressed for time?  He can be downright impossible to deal with right?”

   Tilting her head to one side in confusion, Lairen answered, “Why, yes, of course.  Maddox can really be a pain.  It’s like he forgets things and gets even more confused.”

   “And what makes you think Auron isn’t simply overwhelmed?  College can’t be an easy thing young miss, especially going from being a pizza delivery guy to having mountains of homework, projects, and papers to write.  He simply feeds off the friends he has right there with him for immediate attention.  He gets overloaded, and so it’s easy for him to forget to call a friend, even if he doesn’t mean to,” Chef Benton explained.

   Lairen lowered her eyes sadly and whispered, “I know.  If he forgot to call me for a long time, while he was still in town, and I’d leave him a message, he’d call back and feel really bad about it.  I know he’s not purposely ignoring me, well, he wasn’t then.  Maybe he’s found friends, and another girl, that because they can be there for him in person, they mean more to him.  I think…I waited too long to talk to him about all of this.  It’s…probably too late.”

   Chef Benton stood up and began to drain his pasta.  He then spooned it onto a plate with a ladle, and passed it down to another chef where it could be prepared further into a pasta dish.  As he waited for another pot of water to boil, he looked to Lairen and replied, “Why Lairen, it’s never too late for love.  Granted, if young Auron has found someone else, you can’t come between them, but that certainly doesn’t mean you can’t tell him how you feel.  I saw how he treated you.  I know he still has a place for you in his heart.  It will do him good to know how much you care for him, even if you two cannot be together.”

   “But I’d hate to make him feel bad about it, or possibly ruin a relationship he might already have!  And besides Chef Benton, how am I supposed to tell him if he doesn’t return calls or messages?  I—I wouldn’t want to tell him something like this over the phone anyway.  I couldn’t do it.  I can barely find the guts to call him in the first place.  I’m so nervous around him now.  It’s hopeless,” Lairen whimpered.

   Placing a hand on Lairen’s drooping shoulder, Chef Benton smiled and said, “It’s never too late, for love.  Just because your heart realized it later than you would have liked, doesn’t mean you can’t have your chance.  What you have to do now is let Auron know you need him.  He hasn’t forgotten about you young miss.  I don’t think there would be a day any more appropriate than the fourteenth for you to reach out to him.  You just need something to get his attention.”

   Lairen looked up at Chef Benton, her eyes sad but hopeful.  She thought for a moment and said, “Maybe I could send him a text.  I know he can receive them, even if he doesn’t have the service.  Maybe if it’s something that really grabs his attention he’ll want to call me.  But…I can’t just text, ‘I love you’ to him.  That would really be weird.”

   “Ha!  And not the right way to say it by any means,” Chef Benton said with a hearty laugh.  He turned to put some dried pasta into the boiling water beside him as he thought for a moment for a reply.  He finally turned back to Lairen and said, “I believe I know exactly what you can text to him young miss.  Considering what time of year this is I doubt very seriously that he’ll be able to ignore it.”

   Her smile strengthening, Lairen asked, “Really?   What do I say?”

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   February fourteenth, Valentine’s Day, fell on a Saturday that year, and so Auron found a little bit of time to relax, though it wasn’t as much as he would have liked.  Relaxation time for him consisted of a five page essay to write and Calculus homework to do, but at least he didn’t have to be in class.

   This afternoon would be spent in his dorm room as he worked on his homework, and scrawled out ideas for a novel that came into his head at the same time.  He was distracted as usual, and bored.  He wanted something to break up the monotony.  He missed the chaos and action of the city.  He missed…someone very special.

   “Ah heck, she’s probably forgotten about me,” Auron growled softly, slamming his pencil down on the desk.  Resting his head on his folded arms, he muttered, “She’s the one girl I actually cared about and really enjoyed spending time with.  We had so much in common, but…I get so busy and mixed up, I forget what day of the week it is.  How am I supposed to remember to call her?  …She must think I don’t give a damn about her.  I really messed up.  She probably never thinks of me.  I don’t blame her.  I’m a horrible friend.  Sure, she doesn’t call much herself, but, I wouldn’t blame her for that either.”

   Auron fell silent.  He growled softly for those few moments, clenching his eyelids shut so tight it began to make his head hurt.  He remembered all the times he spent with Lairen before he had to leave her for school.  It was a beautiful opportunity for him, seeing as his parents spent any money they had to take care of his mentally retarded brother Nathan, and this scholarship was the only chance he had for schooling.  It wasn’t just his straight “A” average that interested the school; his musical talent playing the violin, and his exceptional soccer playing skills, opened numerous doors for him to succeed.

   But it broke his heart to leave Lairen.  He didn’t realize how much he cared about her until it was too late.  Like Lairen, these feelings of love in his heart didn’t begin to bloom until he was nearly one thousand miles away from her and on his lonely mind.  He simply couldn’t tell her something like this over the phone, and even then he never remembered to call her.  He thought maybe his mind avoided it because he couldn’t bare to talk to her without telling her how he felt.  The only time they spoke anymore was the rare time she found the strength to call him and he was there to answer.  When they talked, it was like they were complete strangers, barely a word between them, and plenty of awkward silence. Everything was so messed up.  Auron just wanted to speak his heart, even if she no longer cared to receive him.  Whether he won her heart or lost her, he wanted to be unburdened.

   And yet the thought of not being with her stung so badly he was that much more inclined not to speak.

   “Grr, if I tell her how I feel, I’ll just make her mad,” he thought, “‘Oh yeah?  If you care so much, how come you never call you big jerk?  I don’t even want to know you anymore,’ she’ll say.”  Growling softly, Auron looked up at the ceiling, feeling his heart struggle to beat as he murmured, “Auron, you’re nothing but a fool.  The most beautiful thing to ever happen to you finally comes along, and look at how you treat her?  She’s probably so sick of you now she’s willing to do anything to forget you.”

   He paused, for he could feel the cool air bite bitterly at a trail of water streaking down his furry muzzle.  He quickly rubbed his gloved hand over the streak furiously, only to feel another one trickle down from his other eye.  Frustrated, but so weary he felt no energy to fight them, he again lowered his head and closed his eyes, not crying, but still able to feel the tears fall from his eyes, as if it was his heart weeping as opposed to normal crying.

   “Damn it all Auron.  You love Lairen and you know it.  You’re nothing but a fool.  Go ahead and cry.  It’s not like you can do yourself or her any good anymore,” he whispered softly.

   With a quick sweep of his hand, Auron swiped all of the papers on his desk onto the floor, sending a bunch of pencils, two text books, and his cell phone with them.  He buried his face in his arms and continued to cry, praying his roommate wouldn’t come back and see him like this.  He was lucky.  His roommate was out with friends as he was every weekend.  Auron was the only one who spent his Saturdays doing his homework, and was often alone.  It was time he took to think about Lairen.  It was time he took to punish himself for what he had let go.

   “Sure, she wanted you to follow your heart, but in leaving her I’ve done exactly the opposite.  But, I can’t change it.  It’s too late.  She’s probably found someone that can be there for her.  Lord knows she’s seen I can’t anymore.  I just…I’m a failure,” Auron muttered.

   He looked up, feeling the tears slow down briefly, and glanced at a picture of her that sat on his window sill.  Trying to smile, filled with happiness simply seeing her face, he whispered, “I love you Lairen, and…I’m sorry.  You deserve better than me.  I—I came here because I wanted to better myself, so when I came back you’d have someone better than a stupid pizza guy to call your boyfriend.  You already liked me for who I was.  Why didn’t you say something?  Why did you tell me to leave?  Maybe…I just, feh, what am I thinking?  You could never love a guy like me.  I’m a train wreck.  You could do better than me no matter what I become.”

   Glancing at floor, Auron sighed, his tears dissipating.  He sighed and said, “I love her, and though she probably hates me, and deserves a guy infinitely better than me, I, I still need to tell her how I feel.  I’ve got to let her go someday, since I know she’ll never feel the same, and the only way to do that is to tell her how I feel.  But…how?”

   In answer to his question, his cell phone, still resting on the floor after he knocked it off the desk, began to ring.  His ears twitched, and he refrained from answering it, for he recognized the ringtone as the one he set for text messages, one he hadn’t heard in awhile.  Letting out a sigh, he asked, “Who would be texting me?  I’ve told everyone I know that I had the service cut off to save money.”  Bending over, he picked it up and slowly sat back up.  As the ringtone ended, he finally got a look at the screen.  He felt a wave of conflicting sensations run through him when he saw the name and number of who sent him the text.

   “It’s…Lairen.  She sent me a text…but why?  I told her I couldn’t text back.  Why didn’t she just call me?” Auron asked himself.  He paused for a moment, shaking his head and saying, “Auron you idiot.  She’s probably assumed that it’s impossible to reach you.  Whatever she has to say, she figures a text message is no different than a voicemail.  She knows you’ll forget about it.”

   Auron was silent for a moment.  After scolding himself, he returned his attention to the phone, the backlit screen gone dark after no further activity.  His stomach began ache and his heart began to race.  “Still, what could she have to tell me?” he murmured.

   He pressed a few buttons to open the message, and three simple words came up on the screen.

   “Be my Valentine?”

   A gasp of constricted air escaped Auron to the point where he felt he could choke on it.  His phone fell to the floor as he brought one hand to his chest and the other to his throat, trying to regain regular breathing.  While he was in a bit of pain, he could feel the negativity fade as he began to process what he just read.

   She had asked him to be her Valentine.  Did that mean that…she loved him?

   He jumped to the floor, down on his hands and knees as he recovered his phone.  Calming down, he rose up enough so he could sit on the floor, leaning against the wall underneath his window.  He stared at the three words on his cell phone screen long after the backlit cut off again.  He could feel his heartbeat slow back down, but not to the point where it felt a struggle.  A smile found a way to his face as he continued to take in this euphoria.  He felt the tears return to his eyes, but this time, he didn’t feel the need to hide them, for they weren’t a pain to him, nor something he was ashamed of.

   Wiping a tear from his eyes to clear his vision, he reached up and back and grabbed the picture of Lairen from the window sill above him, bringing it down to his lap.  He looked between the message and the picture briefly and whispered, “Darn it Auron.  You got her all wrong.  She cares about you as much you care about her.  She probably feels just as bad and lonely as you do.  This is it.  You simply have to tell her now.  It won’t do any good to put it off another day.  It’ll just hurt both of us.”

   Before he could begin to dial Lairen’s number, he looked again at the timestamp on the message.  He finally noticed that it was February fourteenth, Valentine’s Day.  His face fell as he slapped his hand to his forehead.  “Aww come on Auron.  Are you honestly this distracted?  Forgetting what day of the week your birthday is on was bad enough.  How could I forget Valentine’s Day?” he moaned.

   He paused and smiled again.  “Lairen didn’t.  She knew this would be the perfect chance to make things right, and I’m gonna prove it to her,” he whispered.

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   Evening had fallen in Starshine Town, which was an hour ahead of Hilltop Plains.  By now, Lairen was already at the big Valentine’s Day Ball that her half-brother Maddox was hired to cater.  Five hundred guests filled the dance floor.  Some were still eating dinner, others were dancing, and others still were socializing with friends.  Everybody who was anybody in Starshine Town was there, and it seemed everyone there had a partner.  Lairen watched almost enviously as she helped serve the food, wondering if her text message would really be enough to speak to Auron’s heart the flood of emotions she was feeling for him that night and always.

   She had a few things to distract her sadness, everything from Maddox complaining about any little thing that went wrong, to keeping up with orders.  She even saw her friend Camillia Starr at the party.  She was with her boyfriend Aranelion Brokenstar, who was a famous musician that lived in town.  His twin brother Elianaron and his date Hannah the Squirrel were there as well.

   When Lairen got a break, she sat down with Camillia and Aranelion at their table.  Elianaron and Hannah were already up dancing, and Aranelion and Camillia planned to join them once Aranelion finished his meal.  Lairen talked to Camillia while she waited, expressing her concern that Auron hadn’t called her yet.  She had sent the message several hours ago, and was worried he would forget about it like he usually did.

   “Aww Lairen, I bet he just needed to finish something up.  You don’t just ignore a message like that.  That was basically code wording for, ‘I love you,’ and I don’t care how busy someone is, you don’t ignore something like that,” Camillia explained.

   “I agree with Camillia,” Aranelion said, taking the last bite of his meal and a swallow of his drink after he spoke.  “Maybe he’s trying to think of how to reply.”

   “Yeah, like how to let me down,” Lairen whimpered.

   “That’s not what I meant,” Aranelion replied sheepishly.

   “I know,” Lairen said, cutting off Camillia before she had the chance to speak.  “I just, I feel like I’m just annoying him with all of these text messages and voicemails.  Obviously he has no time for what he had to leave behind.  He only has time for school.  I’d never come between him and his dreams, but, I can’t forget about him.  I want him to know how I feel, but, what can I do if he won’t answer me?  Even when we do talk on the phone I can never find the guts to tell him so.”

   Camillia took a sip of her drink and replied, “I wouldn’t advise spilling your guts on the phone either.  It’s something you need to say in person.  Now, asking him to be your Valentine through a text is fine.  You aren’t really getting into the true depth of your feelings there.”

   Aranelion added, “It’s innocent.”

   “Exactly!” Camillia replied with a giggle.

   Lairen sighed again.  “I told him I’d root for him.  He’s so smart and talented.  Getting that scholarship was the best thing that could happen to him.  His parents never saved money for him to go to school because they had to pay for healthcare for his brother Nathan.  Auron was fine with that, but always wanted to do more.  I was as happy as he was when he got this chance, but, it’s tearing us apart.  I just wish…I could have fallen in love with him sooner, then I could have told him before he left.  Maybe we’ll never get that chance,” she whimpered.

   Aranelion and Camillia glanced at each other sadly, both of them unsure of what to say to comfort their friend.  Before they could speak, Maddox appeared behind Lairen and said, “Hey sis?  I hate to break up the visit but I really need your help.  Everyone’s almost finished with dinner and there’s a pileup of dishes.  Do you think you could help wash some of them?”

   Lairen looked up at her half-brother, then to Aranelion and Camillia, the look on her face sad and helpless.  Sighing, she stood up and walked off to the kitchen and said, “Of course.  This dance floor is for either couples or waitresses, of which I am obviously the latter.  I’ll see you later Air, Camia, I hope you have a great time.”

   “Aww man, poor Lairen,” Aranelion said.

   Maddox growled softly and said to them, “If that Greywolf doesn’t answer her I’m going to find him and break every bone in his body for hurting my sister.  I don’t care how special he thinks he is.  You don’t diss my sister.  You can’t tell me that fool can’t find the time to call her.  The wretch.”

   He left after this, leaving Aranelion and Camillia to themselves.  Aranelion glanced at the crowd, only to see his twin dancing with Hannah.  Grinning, Aranelion turned to Camillia and asked, “Would you like to dance?”

   Camillia smiled, and taking his hand she replied, “It would be my pleasure.”

   Back in the kitchen, Lairen was washing dishes.  She was alone for the moment, and took advantage of the privacy, letting tears fall from her eyes as she cleaned dishes.  She felt this was Auron telling her he wanted nothing to do with her.  It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, and even now she felt she could not let him go.

   “Why Lairen, why couldn’t you have opened your heart to him before he left?  Now you’ll never have your chance,” she whimpered.

   Then, something rang over the sound of water pouring into the sink.

   In her pants pocket, Lairen’s cell phone began to ring.  She felt shock paralyze her body and hinder her breathing.  Could it really be Auron calling her?

   Nah, it was probably a wrong number.

   But she had to answer it.

   Turning the water off slowly, she pulled off her rubber gloves and pulled the phone out of her pocket.  She didn’t take a chance to look at the number.  She didn’t want whoever it was to hang up, just incase, by some lucky chance, it was that one special voice…

   “H—Hello?” she asked, her throat tightening and her voice disappearing.

   “Lairen?  …It’s me, Auron.”

   “…Auron?  It’s…it’s you?”

   “I—I got your message Lairen.”

   “You, you did?”

   “Yes.  I…I have an answer for you.”

   “What is it?”

   “…Well,”

   “What’s wrong?”

   Lairen was scared when Auron didn’t reply right away.  She could feel her heart racing so fast she felt it would pound its way out of her.  “Auron?” she asked again, “Is everything okay?”

   She still heard no reply, but did hear the door behind her open and the sound of footsteps enter the room.  She sighed, assuming it was Maddox coming to check up on her.  As she turned around she said, “I’m really sorry Maddox, but I’m talking to…”

   Her words stopped immediately.  It was not Maddox who had entered the kitchen.  Instead, it was that all too familiar, and oh so precious face.  A shaky smile was curled on his white furred muzzle; wearing his favorite yellow shirt, black slacks, and a black windbreaker jacket, his entire body appeared to tremble, and yet he smiled, but didn’t speak.

   “Au—Auron…,” Lairen murmured, finding that she too was now shaking.

   Raising a finger to his lips, a soft, “Shh,” escaped him.  He closed his phone and placed it on the counter beside him as he whispered, “I wanted to say, you got my attention Lairen.  As for my answer…I’m asking you a question.”

   “Y—yes…?” Lairen asked.

   Taking her hands in his own, Auron smiled, his blue eyes shining as he replied, “Will you be my valentine Lairen?”

   Lairen gazed at Auron, still suffering from that paralyzed feeling.  She looked at him from the tips of his grey ears, to the royal blue, red and white shoes on his feet.  He was wearing that same outfit of his that she loved.  He was really there, holding her hands, asking her the same question she could only dream he would in the days before.

   This time, she could answer.  Contradictory to what she thought only moments before, she still had her chance.  They, still had their chance.

   “Yes Auron…of course I will,” she whispered, having to try harder than normal to speak, even though they were words she was more than desperate to say.

   The Greywolf smiled, closing his eyes and taking a breath, he replied, “You’ll be mine, and I’ll be yours.  That’s…beautiful to know.”

   She looked up at him and realized what this meant.  She slowly closed her eyes and realized that Auron felt the same way about her that she did about him.  He suffered the same way she did.  They were together, sharing the same feelings, and it wasn’t a dream.

   Before she could answer him, she felt his lips press gently against her own.  She opened her eyes half way, but briefly, for she closed them again, relaxing as she leaned into the kiss.  She felt Auron wrap one arm around her, and place his free hand on the back of her neck to cradle it.  She put her arms around him in return, but out of pure instinct.  She was so lost in the kiss and this overwhelming sense of love she could hardly think straight.

   After several elongated moments, the two pulled out of the kiss with great care and ease, opening their eyes to look at each other once they did so.  Auron grinned and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t call right away.  I quickly finished my essay before taking the train to get here.  I was worried I wouldn’t get here in time.  …I finished my Calculus homework during the trip so…I have the weekend free.  I—I simply had to be here and tell you this in person.  It wouldn’t have worked any other way.”

   “Oh Auron…,” Lairen whimpered, tears pouring into her eyes.

   Pulling Lairen into a warm embrace, Auron replied, “I’m sorry Lairen.  I’d get so mixed up and forget to call you, but you’ve got to understand, I never once forgot about you.  I couldn’t.  You mean too much to me.  There were other times I'd think to call you but wouldn’t because it broke my heart not being able to tell you how I felt.  Now you understand…I’ve cared about you just as much as you have about me.  Now you know…that I love you.”

   Lairen sniffed to try and get control of her tears.  Resting her head on Auron’s chest, she looked up at him and said, “I—I love you too, and I would have told you a long time ago, but, it’s just not something to say over the phone.  Chef Benton suggested sending you the message I did because it was more…”

   “Innocent?” Auron asked with a smile.

   Letting out a laugh, Lairen smiled again, the tears disappearing.  Auron laughed too, and as they pulled out of the hug he added, “Yeah, that’s kind of why I felt the need to come here…that, and I’ve been so desperate to see you, it was driving me mad.”

   “Aww Auron,” Lairen whispered.

   Taking her hands again, Auron replied, “I know you want me to succeed, and I want to go to school so I can be better for myself…and you.  That desire to be better for us both is one of the only reasons I even went.  I want to be able to provide for you, and the kind of money I was making before just couldn’t cut it.  Still, it hurts me when we can’t be together.  I promise…I’m going to figure out something, but until then, you call me whenever you want, and if you can’t reach me, just keep calling, because I do have a problem with remembering to even check my messages.  I’d never ignore you, not in a thousand years.  I was so worried that you were fed up with me.”

   “Aww Auron, I was afraid I was bothering you with all of those messages,” Lairen said.

   “No way Lairen.  Talking to you, or simply looking at your picture, are two of the only things that keep me sane back at the university.  I’m just glad I’m more than halfway done.  Then we can be together again,” Auron said.

   At that moment, Maddox walked into the kitchen and spotted them.  “Oh, so you finally returned my sister’s calls eh?” he asked.

   “Well, yes,” Auron replied sheepishly.

   Giggling, Lairen replied, “It’s okay Maddox.  Auron and I…we’re…alright now.”

   “I’m here to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her,” Auron offered.

   Maddox glanced between them and said, “Alright, fine.  You two go enjoy yourselves.  I’ll get Benton to help me with these dishes.”

   Lairen ran up to Maddox and hugged him.  “Oh thank you so much Maddox!  Thank you!”

   Before she and Auron could leave, Maddox grinned to himself, pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, and added, “By the way Lairen, I think Tammy was wondering if you wanted to come stay with her.  Doesn’t she live near the university?”

   Both Auron and Lairen stopped dead in their tracks.  They looked to each other briefly before looking back to Maddox.  Lairen stepped closer to her half-brother and asked, “I can move back in with Tammy?  For real?”

   Maddox finished rinsing a dish before looking to his half-sister with a smile on his face.  He nodded, and said, “Enjoy yourself, then get home so you can pack.  She said she’d be here to pick you up on Monday.”

   “Aww Maddox!  Oh my gosh…thank you!” Lairen cried, hugging her half-brother even tighter than before.

   “Don’t thank me…thank Tammy!  Well, I guess you could thank me for calling her when I realized that Auron was here and suggested that maybe you could go stay with her for awhile,” Maddox explained.

   “Yeah, you could say that’s worth thanking him for,” Auron said with a laugh.

   Pulling out of the hug, Maddox looked to Lairen again and said, “Seriously, get out there and enjoy yourself!  Go while they’re still serving dessert!”

   Lairen nodded and smiled.  She returned to Auron, hugging him tightly before taking his hand and leading him out of the kitchen.  As he was leaving, Auron said, “Thank you Maddox, really.  I’ll take great care of your sister.”

   Once the couple was gone, Maddox shook his head, grinning as he returned to the dishes.  “You had better Auron.  Lairen’s lost her mother, twin sister, and her father.  Now that she’s given her heart to someone, Tammy and I are going to make sure it’s never broken.  …And yet…somehow I feel, I’ll never have to worry about that.  Her heart is in your hands, and you’ve taken great care of it so far.”

   Taking a break from washing the dishes, Maddox peeked out from behind the kitchen door.  He saw Auron and Lairen dancing with Aranelion and Camillia and Elianaron and Hannah.  Both the Greywolf and the Cat looked happy beyond measure.  On the most romantic night of the year, they had finally found each other.

   Sighing happily, Maddox whispered to himself.

   “Happy Valentine’s Day Auron and Lairen.”

Description
“Be my Valentine”
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl

----------

   “Where is that shipment I ordered?  I called for it two weeks ago so it would be here by the fourteenth!  We simply can’t cater this event without it!”

   A cry rang out over the chaos of a busy kitchen, full of steam and hurried footsteps of cooks and bakers as they prepared meals, everything from appetizers to desserts and everything in between.  There were special vegan meals, finely prepared steaks and rotisserie chickens for the meat lovers, and chocolate cakes and cherry pies for those with sweet teeth.

   This banquet for five hundred guests was being prepared by the most famous catering service in Starshine Town.  Its name was “Catering for the Stars” and its owner was the one that this distressed voice belonged to.  His name was Maddox the Cat, and while his business was both booming and prosperous, it was not without occasional chaos, and this was one of those times when it was most inconvenient for him.

   “I can’t believe this!  Those idiots promised me it would be here by the twelfth!” he cried again, walking up and down the lines of cooks, clutching a clipboard to his chest with one arm, and cradling an aching head with the other.  Turning to one of his head chefs, he cried again, “Why is so much conspiring against me to ruin this dinner?  Why?!”

   “I—I…I think you’re overreacting sir,” the chef said, stammering a bit.

   “Overreacting?!  Say that again Benton!  Tell me I’m overreacting!” the brown furred cat cried, “We cannot cater this event without that shipment!  These lazy delivery boys will be the death of it!  The death of me!”

   Chef Benton blushed red, shrinking back from his distressed boss.  More chaos would ensue, were it not for the appearance of another brown furred cat, entering the kitchen from the back door.  She wore a denim blue hat with a pink scarf tied around it, and her flare jeans were the same shade of blue.  She wore an off-white t-shirt with light blue cuffs, collar, and hem, with a purple vest layered on top of this.  Her shoes were grey and pink, and her gloves were light blue, but had black gloves that cut off at the wrists layered on top of them.  Her favorite golden heart charm and a gold cross hung on two different black cords as a necklace to complete her ensemble.

   She ran into the kitchen, up to Chef Benton and Maddox, who was her older half-brother, light on her feet and full of happiness that sparkled in her green eyes and shined brightly with her smile.  Pulling her long brown hair clear from her shoulders, she said, “Not to worry Maddox!  The delivery truck just arrived!”

   A look of relief came to both Chef Benton’s and Maddox’s faces, albeit for totally different reasons.  Fresh off of a sigh, Maddox cried out, “Finally!  Those lazy idiots!  Tell them to hurry up and bring the packages inside!  We have a big order to fill!”  Without another word, Maddox turned around and disappeared into the crowd of busy cooks to attend to his next order of business.

   The younger half-sister he left behind let out a sigh as her smile faded.  Shaking her head she murmured, “He doesn’t need to be so touchy.  They said they would arrive by today, and they did.  He’s gonna give himself a heart attack.”

   Chef Benton, who was now relaxed let out a chuckle and replied, “You know your half-brother Lairen.  He takes his work so seriously a job can become a life or death situation for him.  He doesn’t think clearly when the clock starts to run out of minutes for him to work with.”

   Lairen giggled softly, straightening her hat so it fit better on her ears.  Smiling again, she replied, “Oh you’re right Chef Benton.  I just wish he’d learn to relax.”  Pausing, she giggled again and added, “Last time Auron was here, and Maddox was like this, Auron said Maddox’s aura was just so chaotic.  Auron had to tune Maddox’s aura out.  He said it was driving him crazy.  That can’t be good if he so stressed his aura is affected.”

   The chef paused as he listened to Lairen, having to watch a pot of pasta he was simmering at the same time.  He was fully aware of his young boss’ psychic abilities, as well as those she shared with her friend, the Greywolf named Auron, and the ones that were unique to him.  This wasn’t the first time she had talked about Auron lately, her voice always soft, her eyes always drifting to the ground, or to her hands clasped in front of her.  He had not seen Auron in a long time, and wondered what this meant, trying to connect the dots between the Greywolf’s absence, and Lairen’s shyness when speaking of him to others.

   Chef Benton casually stirred the pasta, glancing at Lairen for a moment, noticing she was still staring shyly at her hands, her eyes half closed, and a somewhat somber look gleaming in what was left of them to gaze with.  Yet while she looked sad, at the same time she appeared blissful, comforted by a fond memory, or a precious dream.

   He recognized that look.  His only daughter had recently gotten engaged, and he remembered when her heart first opened to her love.  Lairen looked just like this; she looked like her heart had finally opened to Auron, and she was absorbing all of it and everything about him slowly but surely, like a blooming plant absorbs both rain and sunshine.  Lairen’s flowering heart it seemed, was almost ready to bloom.

   Turning down the heat on the burner, Chef Benton wiped the sweat from his forehead with a white towel and asked, “Whatever happened to young Auron?  I don’t believe I’ve seen him since that time you mentioned.  What is he up to?  Does he still live in town?”

   A gasp escaped Lairen as his questions woke her up from the musings of her weary mind, a mind full of thought worn down gradually over time.  She felt her psychic powers weren’t as sharp as of late as she was nearly constantly consumed by thoughts of Auron and this love for him blossoming in her heart.  It was…depressing, but it wasn’t Auron that depressed her; it was the simple fact that they had not been together, and she worried if he even remembered her anymore.

   Chef Benton was one of the few people besides Auron, Maddox, and her half-sister Tammy that she confided everything with, things she didn’t even tell her other friends like Camillia the Cat, Ike the Greyfox, and Delilah Lynn.  He was almost like an uncle to her, for he had worked with Maddox since he first opened the business, and so she had known him for a long time, long before she began living with both her half-sister and half-brother and their families at different times, her apathetic father no longer responsible for her care.

   Perhaps it was this bond that encouraged her to speak again.  Raising her head and eyes, Lairen replied, “Auron, he…well, you know he worked delivering pizza right?  Well, a university in Hilltop Plains, where we went to high school, offered him a scholarship of some kind…I think it’s because of his good grades and musical talent, and he’s been there for nearly a year.  We…we don’t talk much anymore.  He never calls, and I just…I don’t call him either.  I don’t know why really.  I…I care about him much more than I ever have, but I…I only began to realize it when he was gone, and it was too late.  Now, I think about him all the time, and how much I love him…and I just don’t know what to do about it, or how to even tell him all of this.  Things used to be so easy.  Now, I’m not sure of anything anymore.  I wonder…if we’re even friends.”

    “Oh dear,” Chef Benton murmured.  Glancing at his pasta, checking to make sure it wasn’t sticking before leaving it to simmer, he placed a hand on Lairen’s shoulder and said, “Go see if you can find a couple of barstools, then we can talk a bit.”

   Lairen nodded gently, and then hurried off into the crowd of bustling chefs.  She returned quickly with two barstools from a utility closet.  Sitting them both on the ground, she quickly sat down on hers, while Chef Benton was a bit slower to sit, positioning himself so he could still attend to his pasta while talking to Lairen.

   After a moment, Chef Benton looked to Lairen and asked, “Now, why would you wonder if you’re even friends?  Even those who do not talk much still care about each other.  What makes you think he no longer cares for you?”

   Letting out a sigh, Lairen said, “Well, he hardly ever answers his phone, and when I do sum up the nerves to call him, he never answers.  If I leave a message, he never calls back.  He doesn’t have texting anymore, so if I text for him to call me, it’s no different than leaving a voice mail.  He won’t return it.  …Of course, he doesn’t return anyone’s calls or messages.  Camillia can’t get in touch with him, and I don’t know anymore of his friends.  He doesn’t check e-mail.  He’s just…cut himself off from everything he left behind, and because his family still lives in Hilltop Plains he has no reason to come back here.  I feel like…if I keep trying to call, I’m just bothering him.  I—I want to tell him I love him, but, man, I’m nowhere close to this.  I just, wish I could see him again, so badly.”

   “Aww Lairen, let me see if I can console you a bit,” Chef Benton answered.  Stirring his pasta, he continued, “Have you seen how your half-brother gets so wound up and manic when he’s pressed for time?  He can be downright impossible to deal with right?”

   Tilting her head to one side in confusion, Lairen answered, “Why, yes, of course.  Maddox can really be a pain.  It’s like he forgets things and gets even more confused.”

   “And what makes you think Auron isn’t simply overwhelmed?  College can’t be an easy thing young miss, especially going from being a pizza delivery guy to having mountains of homework, projects, and papers to write.  He simply feeds off the friends he has right there with him for immediate attention.  He gets overloaded, and so it’s easy for him to forget to call a friend, even if he doesn’t mean to,” Chef Benton explained.

   Lairen lowered her eyes sadly and whispered, “I know.  If he forgot to call me for a long time, while he was still in town, and I’d leave him a message, he’d call back and feel really bad about it.  I know he’s not purposely ignoring me, well, he wasn’t then.  Maybe he’s found friends, and another girl, that because they can be there for him in person, they mean more to him.  I think…I waited too long to talk to him about all of this.  It’s…probably too late.”

   Chef Benton stood up and began to drain his pasta.  He then spooned it onto a plate with a ladle, and passed it down to another chef where it could be prepared further into a pasta dish.  As he waited for another pot of water to boil, he looked to Lairen and replied, “Why Lairen, it’s never too late for love.  Granted, if young Auron has found someone else, you can’t come between them, but that certainly doesn’t mean you can’t tell him how you feel.  I saw how he treated you.  I know he still has a place for you in his heart.  It will do him good to know how much you care for him, even if you two cannot be together.”

   “But I’d hate to make him feel bad about it, or possibly ruin a relationship he might already have!  And besides Chef Benton, how am I supposed to tell him if he doesn’t return calls or messages?  I—I wouldn’t want to tell him something like this over the phone anyway.  I couldn’t do it.  I can barely find the guts to call him in the first place.  I’m so nervous around him now.  It’s hopeless,” Lairen whimpered.

   Placing a hand on Lairen’s drooping shoulder, Chef Benton smiled and said, “It’s never too late, for love.  Just because your heart realized it later than you would have liked, doesn’t mean you can’t have your chance.  What you have to do now is let Auron know you need him.  He hasn’t forgotten about you young miss.  I don’t think there would be a day any more appropriate than the fourteenth for you to reach out to him.  You just need something to get his attention.”

   Lairen looked up at Chef Benton, her eyes sad but hopeful.  She thought for a moment and said, “Maybe I could send him a text.  I know he can receive them, even if he doesn’t have the service.  Maybe if it’s something that really grabs his attention he’ll want to call me.  But…I can’t just text, ‘I love you’ to him.  That would really be weird.”

   “Ha!  And not the right way to say it by any means,” Chef Benton said with a hearty laugh.  He turned to put some dried pasta into the boiling water beside him as he thought for a moment for a reply.  He finally turned back to Lairen and said, “I believe I know exactly what you can text to him young miss.  Considering what time of year this is I doubt very seriously that he’ll be able to ignore it.”

   Her smile strengthening, Lairen asked, “Really?   What do I say?”

----------

   February fourteenth, Valentine’s Day, fell on a Saturday that year, and so Auron found a little bit of time to relax, though it wasn’t as much as he would have liked.  Relaxation time for him consisted of a five page essay to write and Calculus homework to do, but at least he didn’t have to be in class.

   This afternoon would be spent in his dorm room as he worked on his homework, and scrawled out ideas for a novel that came into his head at the same time.  He was distracted as usual, and bored.  He wanted something to break up the monotony.  He missed the chaos and action of the city.  He missed…someone very special.

   “Ah heck, she’s probably forgotten about me,” Auron growled softly, slamming his pencil down on the desk.  Resting his head on his folded arms, he muttered, “She’s the one girl I actually cared about and really enjoyed spending time with.  We had so much in common, but…I get so busy and mixed up, I forget what day of the week it is.  How am I supposed to remember to call her?  …She must think I don’t give a damn about her.  I really messed up.  She probably never thinks of me.  I don’t blame her.  I’m a horrible friend.  Sure, she doesn’t call much herself, but, I wouldn’t blame her for that either.”

   Auron fell silent.  He growled softly for those few moments, clenching his eyelids shut so tight it began to make his head hurt.  He remembered all the times he spent with Lairen before he had to leave her for school.  It was a beautiful opportunity for him, seeing as his parents spent any money they had to take care of his mentally retarded brother Nathan, and this scholarship was the only chance he had for schooling.  It wasn’t just his straight “A” average that interested the school; his musical talent playing the violin, and his exceptional soccer playing skills, opened numerous doors for him to succeed.

   But it broke his heart to leave Lairen.  He didn’t realize how much he cared about her until it was too late.  Like Lairen, these feelings of love in his heart didn’t begin to bloom until he was nearly one thousand miles away from her and on his lonely mind.  He simply couldn’t tell her something like this over the phone, and even then he never remembered to call her.  He thought maybe his mind avoided it because he couldn’t bare to talk to her without telling her how he felt.  The only time they spoke anymore was the rare time she found the strength to call him and he was there to answer.  When they talked, it was like they were complete strangers, barely a word between them, and plenty of awkward silence. Everything was so messed up.  Auron just wanted to speak his heart, even if she no longer cared to receive him.  Whether he won her heart or lost her, he wanted to be unburdened.

   And yet the thought of not being with her stung so badly he was that much more inclined not to speak.

   “Grr, if I tell her how I feel, I’ll just make her mad,” he thought, “‘Oh yeah?  If you care so much, how come you never call you big jerk?  I don’t even want to know you anymore,’ she’ll say.”  Growling softly, Auron looked up at the ceiling, feeling his heart struggle to beat as he murmured, “Auron, you’re nothing but a fool.  The most beautiful thing to ever happen to you finally comes along, and look at how you treat her?  She’s probably so sick of you now she’s willing to do anything to forget you.”

   He paused, for he could feel the cool air bite bitterly at a trail of water streaking down his furry muzzle.  He quickly rubbed his gloved hand over the streak furiously, only to feel another one trickle down from his other eye.  Frustrated, but so weary he felt no energy to fight them, he again lowered his head and closed his eyes, not crying, but still able to feel the tears fall from his eyes, as if it was his heart weeping as opposed to normal crying.

   “Damn it all Auron.  You love Lairen and you know it.  You’re nothing but a fool.  Go ahead and cry.  It’s not like you can do yourself or her any good anymore,” he whispered softly.

   With a quick sweep of his hand, Auron swiped all of the papers on his desk onto the floor, sending a bunch of pencils, two text books, and his cell phone with them.  He buried his face in his arms and continued to cry, praying his roommate wouldn’t come back and see him like this.  He was lucky.  His roommate was out with friends as he was every weekend.  Auron was the only one who spent his Saturdays doing his homework, and was often alone.  It was time he took to think about Lairen.  It was time he took to punish himself for what he had let go.

   “Sure, she wanted you to follow your heart, but in leaving her I’ve done exactly the opposite.  But, I can’t change it.  It’s too late.  She’s probably found someone that can be there for her.  Lord knows she’s seen I can’t anymore.  I just…I’m a failure,” Auron muttered.

   He looked up, feeling the tears slow down briefly, and glanced at a picture of her that sat on his window sill.  Trying to smile, filled with happiness simply seeing her face, he whispered, “I love you Lairen, and…I’m sorry.  You deserve better than me.  I—I came here because I wanted to better myself, so when I came back you’d have someone better than a stupid pizza guy to call your boyfriend.  You already liked me for who I was.  Why didn’t you say something?  Why did you tell me to leave?  Maybe…I just, feh, what am I thinking?  You could never love a guy like me.  I’m a train wreck.  You could do better than me no matter what I become.”

   Glancing at floor, Auron sighed, his tears dissipating.  He sighed and said, “I love her, and though she probably hates me, and deserves a guy infinitely better than me, I, I still need to tell her how I feel.  I’ve got to let her go someday, since I know she’ll never feel the same, and the only way to do that is to tell her how I feel.  But…how?”

   In answer to his question, his cell phone, still resting on the floor after he knocked it off the desk, began to ring.  His ears twitched, and he refrained from answering it, for he recognized the ringtone as the one he set for text messages, one he hadn’t heard in awhile.  Letting out a sigh, he asked, “Who would be texting me?  I’ve told everyone I know that I had the service cut off to save money.”  Bending over, he picked it up and slowly sat back up.  As the ringtone ended, he finally got a look at the screen.  He felt a wave of conflicting sensations run through him when he saw the name and number of who sent him the text.

   “It’s…Lairen.  She sent me a text…but why?  I told her I couldn’t text back.  Why didn’t she just call me?” Auron asked himself.  He paused for a moment, shaking his head and saying, “Auron you idiot.  She’s probably assumed that it’s impossible to reach you.  Whatever she has to say, she figures a text message is no different than a voicemail.  She knows you’ll forget about it.”

   Auron was silent for a moment.  After scolding himself, he returned his attention to the phone, the backlit screen gone dark after no further activity.  His stomach began ache and his heart began to race.  “Still, what could she have to tell me?” he murmured.

   He pressed a few buttons to open the message, and three simple words came up on the screen.

   “Be my Valentine?”

   A gasp of constricted air escaped Auron to the point where he felt he could choke on it.  His phone fell to the floor as he brought one hand to his chest and the other to his throat, trying to regain regular breathing.  While he was in a bit of pain, he could feel the negativity fade as he began to process what he just read.

   She had asked him to be her Valentine.  Did that mean that…she loved him?

   He jumped to the floor, down on his hands and knees as he recovered his phone.  Calming down, he rose up enough so he could sit on the floor, leaning against the wall underneath his window.  He stared at the three words on his cell phone screen long after the backlit cut off again.  He could feel his heartbeat slow back down, but not to the point where it felt a struggle.  A smile found a way to his face as he continued to take in this euphoria.  He felt the tears return to his eyes, but this time, he didn’t feel the need to hide them, for they weren’t a pain to him, nor something he was ashamed of.

   Wiping a tear from his eyes to clear his vision, he reached up and back and grabbed the picture of Lairen from the window sill above him, bringing it down to his lap.  He looked between the message and the picture briefly and whispered, “Darn it Auron.  You got her all wrong.  She cares about you as much you care about her.  She probably feels just as bad and lonely as you do.  This is it.  You simply have to tell her now.  It won’t do any good to put it off another day.  It’ll just hurt both of us.”

   Before he could begin to dial Lairen’s number, he looked again at the timestamp on the message.  He finally noticed that it was February fourteenth, Valentine’s Day.  His face fell as he slapped his hand to his forehead.  “Aww come on Auron.  Are you honestly this distracted?  Forgetting what day of the week your birthday is on was bad enough.  How could I forget Valentine’s Day?” he moaned.

   He paused and smiled again.  “Lairen didn’t.  She knew this would be the perfect chance to make things right, and I’m gonna prove it to her,” he whispered.

----------

   Evening had fallen in Starshine Town, which was an hour ahead of Hilltop Plains.  By now, Lairen was already at the big Valentine’s Day Ball that her half-brother Maddox was hired to cater.  Five hundred guests filled the dance floor.  Some were still eating dinner, others were dancing, and others still were socializing with friends.  Everybody who was anybody in Starshine Town was there, and it seemed everyone there had a partner.  Lairen watched almost enviously as she helped serve the food, wondering if her text message would really be enough to speak to Auron’s heart the flood of emotions she was feeling for him that night and always.

   She had a few things to distract her sadness, everything from Maddox complaining about any little thing that went wrong, to keeping up with orders.  She even saw her friend Camillia Starr at the party.  She was with her boyfriend Aranelion Brokenstar, who was a famous musician that lived in town.  His twin brother Elianaron and his date Hannah the Squirrel were there as well.

   When Lairen got a break, she sat down with Camillia and Aranelion at their table.  Elianaron and Hannah were already up dancing, and Aranelion and Camillia planned to join them once Aranelion finished his meal.  Lairen talked to Camillia while she waited, expressing her concern that Auron hadn’t called her yet.  She had sent the message several hours ago, and was worried he would forget about it like he usually did.

   “Aww Lairen, I bet he just needed to finish something up.  You don’t just ignore a message like that.  That was basically code wording for, ‘I love you,’ and I don’t care how busy someone is, you don’t ignore something like that,” Camillia explained.

   “I agree with Camillia,” Aranelion said, taking the last bite of his meal and a swallow of his drink after he spoke.  “Maybe he’s trying to think of how to reply.”

   “Yeah, like how to let me down,” Lairen whimpered.

   “That’s not what I meant,” Aranelion replied sheepishly.

   “I know,” Lairen said, cutting off Camillia before she had the chance to speak.  “I just, I feel like I’m just annoying him with all of these text messages and voicemails.  Obviously he has no time for what he had to leave behind.  He only has time for school.  I’d never come between him and his dreams, but, I can’t forget about him.  I want him to know how I feel, but, what can I do if he won’t answer me?  Even when we do talk on the phone I can never find the guts to tell him so.”

   Camillia took a sip of her drink and replied, “I wouldn’t advise spilling your guts on the phone either.  It’s something you need to say in person.  Now, asking him to be your Valentine through a text is fine.  You aren’t really getting into the true depth of your feelings there.”

   Aranelion added, “It’s innocent.”

   “Exactly!” Camillia replied with a giggle.

   Lairen sighed again.  “I told him I’d root for him.  He’s so smart and talented.  Getting that scholarship was the best thing that could happen to him.  His parents never saved money for him to go to school because they had to pay for healthcare for his brother Nathan.  Auron was fine with that, but always wanted to do more.  I was as happy as he was when he got this chance, but, it’s tearing us apart.  I just wish…I could have fallen in love with him sooner, then I could have told him before he left.  Maybe we’ll never get that chance,” she whimpered.

   Aranelion and Camillia glanced at each other sadly, both of them unsure of what to say to comfort their friend.  Before they could speak, Maddox appeared behind Lairen and said, “Hey sis?  I hate to break up the visit but I really need your help.  Everyone’s almost finished with dinner and there’s a pileup of dishes.  Do you think you could help wash some of them?”

   Lairen looked up at her half-brother, then to Aranelion and Camillia, the look on her face sad and helpless.  Sighing, she stood up and walked off to the kitchen and said, “Of course.  This dance floor is for either couples or waitresses, of which I am obviously the latter.  I’ll see you later Air, Camia, I hope you have a great time.”

   “Aww man, poor Lairen,” Aranelion said.

   Maddox growled softly and said to them, “If that Greywolf doesn’t answer her I’m going to find him and break every bone in his body for hurting my sister.  I don’t care how special he thinks he is.  You don’t diss my sister.  You can’t tell me that fool can’t find the time to call her.  The wretch.”

   He left after this, leaving Aranelion and Camillia to themselves.  Aranelion glanced at the crowd, only to see his twin dancing with Hannah.  Grinning, Aranelion turned to Camillia and asked, “Would you like to dance?”

   Camillia smiled, and taking his hand she replied, “It would be my pleasure.”

   Back in the kitchen, Lairen was washing dishes.  She was alone for the moment, and took advantage of the privacy, letting tears fall from her eyes as she cleaned dishes.  She felt this was Auron telling her he wanted nothing to do with her.  It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, and even now she felt she could not let him go.

   “Why Lairen, why couldn’t you have opened your heart to him before he left?  Now you’ll never have your chance,” she whimpered.

   Then, something rang over the sound of water pouring into the sink.

   In her pants pocket, Lairen’s cell phone began to ring.  She felt shock paralyze her body and hinder her breathing.  Could it really be Auron calling her?

   Nah, it was probably a wrong number.

   But she had to answer it.

   Turning the water off slowly, she pulled off her rubber gloves and pulled the phone out of her pocket.  She didn’t take a chance to look at the number.  She didn’t want whoever it was to hang up, just incase, by some lucky chance, it was that one special voice…

   “H—Hello?” she asked, her throat tightening and her voice disappearing.

   “Lairen?  …It’s me, Auron.”

   “…Auron?  It’s…it’s you?”

   “I—I got your message Lairen.”

   “You, you did?”

   “Yes.  I…I have an answer for you.”

   “What is it?”

   “…Well,”

   “What’s wrong?”

   Lairen was scared when Auron didn’t reply right away.  She could feel her heart racing so fast she felt it would pound its way out of her.  “Auron?” she asked again, “Is everything okay?”

   She still heard no reply, but did hear the door behind her open and the sound of footsteps enter the room.  She sighed, assuming it was Maddox coming to check up on her.  As she turned around she said, “I’m really sorry Maddox, but I’m talking to…”

   Her words stopped immediately.  It was not Maddox who had entered the kitchen.  Instead, it was that all too familiar, and oh so precious face.  A shaky smile was curled on his white furred muzzle; wearing his favorite yellow shirt, black slacks, and a black windbreaker jacket, his entire body appeared to tremble, and yet he smiled, but didn’t speak.

   “Au—Auron…,” Lairen murmured, finding that she too was now shaking.

   Raising a finger to his lips, a soft, “Shh,” escaped him.  He closed his phone and placed it on the counter beside him as he whispered, “I wanted to say, you got my attention Lairen.  As for my answer…I’m asking you a question.”

   “Y—yes…?” Lairen asked.

   Taking her hands in his own, Auron smiled, his blue eyes shining as he replied, “Will you be my valentine Lairen?”

   Lairen gazed at Auron, still suffering from that paralyzed feeling.  She looked at him from the tips of his grey ears, to the royal blue, red and white shoes on his feet.  He was wearing that same outfit of his that she loved.  He was really there, holding her hands, asking her the same question she could only dream he would in the days before.

   This time, she could answer.  Contradictory to what she thought only moments before, she still had her chance.  They, still had their chance.

   “Yes Auron…of course I will,” she whispered, having to try harder than normal to speak, even though they were words she was more than desperate to say.

   The Greywolf smiled, closing his eyes and taking a breath, he replied, “You’ll be mine, and I’ll be yours.  That’s…beautiful to know.”

   She looked up at him and realized what this meant.  She slowly closed her eyes and realized that Auron felt the same way about her that she did about him.  He suffered the same way she did.  They were together, sharing the same feelings, and it wasn’t a dream.

   Before she could answer him, she felt his lips press gently against her own.  She opened her eyes half way, but briefly, for she closed them again, relaxing as she leaned into the kiss.  She felt Auron wrap one arm around her, and place his free hand on the back of her neck to cradle it.  She put her arms around him in return, but out of pure instinct.  She was so lost in the kiss and this overwhelming sense of love she could hardly think straight.

   After several elongated moments, the two pulled out of the kiss with great care and ease, opening their eyes to look at each other once they did so.  Auron grinned and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t call right away.  I quickly finished my essay before taking the train to get here.  I was worried I wouldn’t get here in time.  …I finished my Calculus homework during the trip so…I have the weekend free.  I—I simply had to be here and tell you this in person.  It wouldn’t have worked any other way.”

   “Oh Auron…,” Lairen whimpered, tears pouring into her eyes.

   Pulling Lairen into a warm embrace, Auron replied, “I’m sorry Lairen.  I’d get so mixed up and forget to call you, but you’ve got to understand, I never once forgot about you.  I couldn’t.  You mean too much to me.  There were other times I'd think to call you but wouldn’t because it broke my heart not being able to tell you how I felt.  Now you understand…I’ve cared about you just as much as you have about me.  Now you know…that I love you.”

   Lairen sniffed to try and get control of her tears.  Resting her head on Auron’s chest, she looked up at him and said, “I—I love you too, and I would have told you a long time ago, but, it’s just not something to say over the phone.  Chef Benton suggested sending you the message I did because it was more…”

   “Innocent?” Auron asked with a smile.

   Letting out a laugh, Lairen smiled again, the tears disappearing.  Auron laughed too, and as they pulled out of the hug he added, “Yeah, that’s kind of why I felt the need to come here…that, and I’ve been so desperate to see you, it was driving me mad.”

   “Aww Auron,” Lairen whispered.

   Taking her hands again, Auron replied, “I know you want me to succeed, and I want to go to school so I can be better for myself…and you.  That desire to be better for us both is one of the only reasons I even went.  I want to be able to provide for you, and the kind of money I was making before just couldn’t cut it.  Still, it hurts me when we can’t be together.  I promise…I’m going to figure out something, but until then, you call me whenever you want, and if you can’t reach me, just keep calling, because I do have a problem with remembering to even check my messages.  I’d never ignore you, not in a thousand years.  I was so worried that you were fed up with me.”

   “Aww Auron, I was afraid I was bothering you with all of those messages,” Lairen said.

   “No way Lairen.  Talking to you, or simply looking at your picture, are two of the only things that keep me sane back at the university.  I’m just glad I’m more than halfway done.  Then we can be together again,” Auron said.

   At that moment, Maddox walked into the kitchen and spotted them.  “Oh, so you finally returned my sister’s calls eh?” he asked.

   “Well, yes,” Auron replied sheepishly.

   Giggling, Lairen replied, “It’s okay Maddox.  Auron and I…we’re…alright now.”

   “I’m here to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her,” Auron offered.

   Maddox glanced between them and said, “Alright, fine.  You two go enjoy yourselves.  I’ll get Benton to help me with these dishes.”

   Lairen ran up to Maddox and hugged him.  “Oh thank you so much Maddox!  Thank you!”

   Before she and Auron could leave, Maddox grinned to himself, pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, and added, “By the way Lairen, I think Tammy was wondering if you wanted to come stay with her.  Doesn’t she live near the university?”

   Both Auron and Lairen stopped dead in their tracks.  They looked to each other briefly before looking back to Maddox.  Lairen stepped closer to her half-brother and asked, “I can move back in with Tammy?  For real?”

   Maddox finished rinsing a dish before looking to his half-sister with a smile on his face.  He nodded, and said, “Enjoy yourself, then get home so you can pack.  She said she’d be here to pick you up on Monday.”

   “Aww Maddox!  Oh my gosh…thank you!” Lairen cried, hugging her half-brother even tighter than before.

   “Don’t thank me…thank Tammy!  Well, I guess you could thank me for calling her when I realized that Auron was here and suggested that maybe you could go stay with her for awhile,” Maddox explained.

   “Yeah, you could say that’s worth thanking him for,” Auron said with a laugh.

   Pulling out of the hug, Maddox looked to Lairen again and said, “Seriously, get out there and enjoy yourself!  Go while they’re still serving dessert!”

   Lairen nodded and smiled.  She returned to Auron, hugging him tightly before taking his hand and leading him out of the kitchen.  As he was leaving, Auron said, “Thank you Maddox, really.  I’ll take great care of your sister.”

   Once the couple was gone, Maddox shook his head, grinning as he returned to the dishes.  “You had better Auron.  Lairen’s lost her mother, twin sister, and her father.  Now that she’s given her heart to someone, Tammy and I are going to make sure it’s never broken.  …And yet…somehow I feel, I’ll never have to worry about that.  Her heart is in your hands, and you’ve taken great care of it so far.”

   Taking a break from washing the dishes, Maddox peeked out from behind the kitchen door.  He saw Auron and Lairen dancing with Aranelion and Camillia and Elianaron and Hannah.  Both the Greywolf and the Cat looked happy beyond measure.  On the most romantic night of the year, they had finally found each other.

   Sighing happily, Maddox whispered to himself.

   “Happy Valentine’s Day Auron and Lairen.”