The morning of the 14th had been like any other morning for the young sorceress-turned normal. She showered, got dressed, brushed her teeth and hair, put on a thin layer of
eye makeup, and went out the door, heading for work.
Though the walk was the same, she always took the time to admire the sun as it climbed over the horizon, clawing its way into the sky after a long rest in the darkness. The air smelled of winter, and the streets were steeped with hard-packed slush and ice that had congealed overnight. Not even the gloomy grays and blues of the landscape could make a dent in her soft smile as her bare feet padded delicately over the layer of powder that had accumulated on the sidewalks.
Sunrise was her favorite time of day, and this morning Ariana was not disappointed as the sun’s awakening brought with it rich hues of pink, orange, and red, dispelling the despairing black of night and ushering in a new day filled with possibility.
Like any other workday at the Third International Bank of Saint Canard, she bounced up the steps and watched the floor at her feet as she made her way inside, careful to avoid eye contact for more than a couple of seconds. It wasn’t that she was afraid of other people, it was that she was afraid that other people may become afraid of her.
Before lunchtime she had timidly waited on at least seventy-five customers, most of which had been anxious men. This fact passed over Ariana’s attention, as she hadn’t realized this day in particular was different from the rest.
“I hate Valentine’s Day,” Susan, one of her co-workers, complained in the break room.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Matt agreed with a decisive nod. “It’s just another excuse for people to shell out money to greedy corporations. What better way to say ‘I love you’ than material things?”
“Let me guess, you’re both single,” Kelly observed with a knowing smirk.
“That has nothing to do with it,” Matt said flatly.
“I’m sure it doesn’t.” But Kelly didn’t sound the least bit convinced.
It took her a few minutes to build up the courage before Ariana swallowed a mouthful of orange juice and glanced up at the three faces meekly.
“…What’s Valentine’s Day?”
“What’s Valentine’s Day? What’s Valentine’s Day?! You mean you don’t know?”
Ariana shook her head, feeling her cheeks flush as if she’d said something wrong.
“Valentine’s Day is a holiday that celebrates ‘true love’.” Susan explained wistfully. “You’re supposed to share it with someone you care about, and express your love with something fun like flowers and chocolates.”
“Or diamonds,” Kelly added with a gleam in her eye.
“Really…?” Ariana whispered in surprise.
“Yeah, it’s real special. My boyfriend and I are spending tonight at The Pond.”
Susan gasped. “The Pond?! But that place is booked out for months!”
Kelly smiled smugly. “My man just loves me that much.”
While Kelly continued to brag about her relationship, Ariana became lost in thought. This Valentine’s Day thing sounded so wonderful, she wanted to give it a try…but how should she do it? How could she show the one she loved how she really felt about him?
Before she knew it, it was time to leave for the day, and Ariana’s disposition on the way home was nothing like the one it had been on the way to work. She was growing increasingly anxious and worried, as she still had no idea what she was going to do that evening.
What would be the best way to show Negaduck she cared? Candles and candy? A nice dinner? Poetry and song? This valentines thing was harder than she thought.
Just when she was afraid that she would have to go home empty-handed, a sign in a store window caught her eye.
The smile returned to Ariana’s face immediately.
It was a few minutes before six o’clock when the city’s most feared public enemy graced his latest dingy hideout with his loathsome presence. He’d managed to snag the Heart of Atlantis, a pink-tinted diamond worth a king’s ransom, and, utilizing a few of his ingenious tactics, he’d outrun Darkwing Duck in the process. He couldn’t wait to watch the evening news and hear what the media had to say about his latest robbery.
Grinning deviously to himself, he pushed open the rickety door only to stop dead in his tracks. The sneer fell into a confused, contemptuous frown as he surveyed his lair. Rose petals littered the rotting wooden floor, pink and red heart-shaped cut-outs hung gaily from the moldy ceiling, and in the middle of the room sat a small table set for two. He ripped down the nearest string of paper hearts with a snarl.
“What the heck is going on here??” he exclaimed, his gravelly voice echoing in the dilapidated structure.
Light footsteps met his shout, followed by a voice so gentle it was barely audible. “Do you like it…?”
He turned his head and spied the young blonde woman who’d been staying with him off and on for the past month. Her large, innocent eyes and pale, delicate features had made him gag, and today was no exception. If not for her abilities, he would never have tolerated her presence. She was as useless as he was diabolical.
In her tiny hands was a box tied with a ribbon, and as his dark eyes fell on it he noticed the blush that rose in her cheeks. She was always blushing; it was getting on his nerves.
“Like it?” he sneered. “Oh, it’s great. I’ll bet this took you all day.”
Though his voice was thick with sarcasm, it passed right over Ariana. Her blush only deepened. “Not really…only a couple of hours.” She shifted her weight nervously, then held out the box to him. “I…got something for you.”
Negaduck blinked, then lunged for the box. “Gimme!” Annoying blonde or no, a present was still a present. He yanked off the ribbon in a frenzy and tore open the box, staring at what was inside. It was a pair of large diamond earrings. “What the…? What is this??” he demanded, plucking them up to thrust them in her face.
“I-I think they’re cufflinks…H-Happy Valentine’s Day…” she replied meekly, realizing that maybe she’d made a mistake. Suddenly she felt very foolish and very guilty all at the same time.
Negaduck paused, a twitch in his eye. So that’s what all this nonsense was about. Valentine’s Day. He looked up at her disgustingly loveable face and cringed. If he wanted to keep her wrapped around his finger, he was going to have to keep her happy, even if it meant degrading himself. “This had better be worth it,” he muttered lowly to himself.
“Oh, I adore these,” he said through his teeth, a sickly smile on his crooked bill. “I’ll try them on later.” He tossed them over his shoulder carelessly and sat down at the table. “So what’s on the menu?”
He was already salivating. At least Ariana was a decent cook.
After a quiet dinner, Ariana was cleaning things up while Negaduck was busy in the office corner of the hideout. What exactly he did in there she wasn’t sure, but he liked to spend a lot of time in there alone. Grabbing the last of the utensils, she took a step and felt something hit her foot. Curious, she bent down and scooped up the pair of earrings she’d bought for Negaduck. Her heart sank. He hadn’t liked them, and to Ariana that also translated into him not liking her. The gift hadn’t done its job at all, and in turn she had not done hers. She should have known that she wouldn’t participate correctly in a normal holiday. After all, she wasn’t from this culture; she didn’t belong here.
The burning ache of tears swelled in her throat, and the wetness filming her eyes blurred her vision. Although Negaduck hadn’t expressed such, she just knew he couldn’t feel the same way about her, especially not now that she’d given him the wrong kind of gift. Two small streams trickled down her porcelain cheeks, and she sniffled. This hadn’t been what she’d had in mind at all.
Suddenly there was an uproar of villainous laughter coming from Negaduck’s office. Wondering what he was so happy about, Ariana headed over and peered through the crack in the door. In the criminal’s hands was a large pink diamond, and he was eyeing it greedily.
The young woman wasn’t focused on that, however. What went through her mind when she saw the diamond was completely different from what was going through the public enemy’s.
“Oh!” she breathed in awe as she stepped into the room.
Instantly Negaduck had a death grip on the gem, clutching it against his chest like a dog would a bone.
“I-is that for me…?” she asked, taking a few more steps forward.
Negaduck’s eyes slid to the diamond, as if it took him a while to register what she was talking about. “Uh…”
His mind started to race. What was he supposed to do now? That troublesome girl wasn’t even supposed to have seen this and now she thinks he got it as a…
A sinister smile curled his bill, and the cunning glint in his eye betrayed the fact that a plot had formulated in his brain. If he gave the diamond to the girl, it would be much safer than stashing it somewhere where the cops might find it. And he could also lead her to think that he’d actually gotten her a Valentine’s Day gift. He could kill two birds with one stone…so to speak.
“Well, yeah!” he said with forced cheerfulness. “I wanted to wait for the right moment, but you ruined the surprise!”
Ariana’s heart beat rapidly as she neared his desk, and her breath caught in her throat. He cared for her, he really did. He’d even thought to get her something on this normal celebration of love.
“Oh, Negaduck…” she whispered, reaching out to take the diamond out of the villain’s fingers. She had to tug quite a bit before he finally relinquished his hold on it. “It’s beautiful…” Once again she began to cry, but this time for a different reason. “Thank you so much!”
With the diamond in one hand, she jumped across the table and wrapped her arms around his neck, nearly choking him in her overeager grasp.
“Don’t mention it,” he gasped, although the statement was far from insubstantial. It was then that he noticed the time. “Ah! The news is on!” He wriggled out of her embrace and raced to the set.
Tom Lockjaw’s toothy grin met his anxious eyes, and he stared, transfixed with glee, as the reporter commented on the crime Negaduck had just managed to pull off hours before, causing mayhem and uproar throughout the community – just how he loved it.
He didn’t notice when Ariana had shown up next to him. All he knew was that when it was over, he could hear her irritatingly gentle voice whisper in disbelief, “You stole this…”
“What?” he snapped.
“You stole this…” she repeated, clutching the rose-colored stone in her small fist.
“Yeah, so?” he retorted.
Shaking her blonde head from side to side, she choked on her tears and narrowed her silver eyes.
“I can’t…I can’t take this. You didn’t get it for me, did you? You got it for yourself.”
“Oh, boo-hoo-hoo!” he shouted mockingly. “So what if I did? That’s what I do! I’m a criminal! Or has that escaped your pretty little head?”
“You don’t care at all. You don’t care about anyone but yourself!” she cried, angry tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I have to look out for Number One in this business!” he exclaimed. “Who else is going to?”
“I would,” she answered him firmly. “I have. I did. But you don’t care about that. You don’t care about anything!”
In a fit of anger and hurt, she flung the diamond and the earrings at Negaduck before racing out of the hideout, leaving the public enemy to scream curses at the top of his lungs.
Insomnia plagued Ariana that night. It was well past three in the morning when she heard an odd sound coming from her bedroom window. With a raised eyebrow, she lifted the pane and looked out, but there was nothing out of the ordinary on either side of the street. The chill in the wind made her shiver, so she quickly ducked back inside to shut it out.
When she turned, she nearly ran into somebody, and cried out in fright.
“Hi,” said the someone in a dark voice.
Instantly she relaxed, but her feelings from earlier in the evening returned. “What do you want?” she said evenly, folding her arms across her chest.
“Look, maybe I shouldn’t have given that rock to you, but you were the one who just assumed that it was for you.”
“But I—"
He put a finger to her bill and silenced her. She blinked at him in surprise.
“My turn to talk,” he said curtly. “I don’t do holidays. I don’t do valentines, I don’t do flowers, I don’t do warm fuzzies. I don’t do dating, I don’t do relationships, and most importantly, I don’t do love.”
Again she tried to speak, but he grabbed her hands and lifted both his and hers up so that their wrists were eye-level. She gasped in surprise.
There, glittering in the moonlight on Negaduck’s yellow sleeves, were the earrings Ariana had purchased for him. She grinned exuberantly.
“You do like them!” she cried.
He shrugged. “Well, I like you. And they are real diamonds. How could I pass that up?” His impish smirk made her giggle.
“Well,” she said coyly, stepping closer to him in the dim light, “if you don’t do dating, relationships, or love…how about this?” She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, pressing her bill against his in a tender yet passionate kiss.
When they separated he gave a throaty chuckle and eyed her suggestively. “I could get used to that.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day…” she murmured.
“Right back at you.”