"I love you Alfred!" And that was always followed by a kiss from the young girl. "You shouldn't toss those words around so carelessly honey," her mother always said. They didn't give her enough credit, even for such a young child. But that's what she was.

Young.
Naieve.

She never did realize just how much those words meant to him.
*He never realized how much she meant those words*

It went on this way throughout her childhood until one day when he'd picked her up from school and they were walking home. "Alfred, what do you do when a boy says "I love you" to you?" "Well...Do you...love him back?" She bit her lip in contemplation, her silence beginning to unnerve him when she made a popping sound with her lips and shook her head. "I like him, but it's not the same." He almost sighed out of relief when he caught himself and gave her a pat on the head. "Then don't say it unless you mean it." "Ok," she grinned, suddenly latching onto him with a rather powerful bear hug that caused his step to falter. "I love you Alfred!"

God he wished she'd stop saying it...
*She just wanted to hear him say it back*

He had to admit though. Ryuu picked things up a lot quicker than even he expected. She had a habit of...sharing her wealth of knowledge..."Scheiße," the girl growled, picking herself up from the ground. "Stupid girl! You can't play a boy's game!" "That doesn't explain why they let you play then!" She hit the tree and this time, she didn't hesitate to tackle the boy down into the dirt. Alfred was already sprinting across the field when the boy's mother came for the crying wuss and raised a hand, most likely to slap the belligerent girl when he caught her.
"What's the big idea letting your kid hurt my son?" "What's with letting your SON pick on my GIRL?" The woman stood by watching, completely dumbstruck as the blonde picked up the fuming child screaming curses at the other boys in various languages that she no doubt heard from her aunt, if not her "extended family" as well.

"Saukerl!" "Ryuu!" The authority in his voice scared the girl stiff and he set her down on the bench, kneeling so that he was eye level with her. "They started it!" "But you didn't have to push it." "I was standing up for myself!" "You can't just hurt people like that Ryuu!" "But he hurt me! That lady was gonna hurt me! So why not!" The hurt on her face killed any parental lecture he'd been planning and the tears pricking the edge of her ruby orbs dealt a fatal blow.
Ryuu turned away when he pulled her into a tight hug and squirmed when he stroked her hair. "I'd never let anyone hurt you...I'm your hero, remember?" "Aunt Caligo said heroes don't exist..." "Well she's wrong." He could already tell she didn't believe him but he wouldn't stop trying to convince her. "I'll always be your hero darlin'..." She'd never distrust Caligo, he knew that, and as such, would never fall back on him to save her from anything. "Aishiteru...Alfred...Ich liebe dich..!"

But that didn't mean he wouldn't still be there to catch her.
*I'm still searching for the words to make you to understand...I want
you to be my hero so much that it hurts...!*

Utter chaos and total hell was loose in the room at the Valgus family reunion. The Hyatt ballroom was packed with the latest generation of high-strung people having rather loud conversations and even with such a lively crowd, Alfred was content to hang back by the buffet for a few minutes by himself to catch a breather. "Aunt Caligo!" "Ryuu! You look wonderful kiddo," Caligo grinned, admiring the silk sapphire dress her niece was sporting, she herself in an off white blouse with a black vest, dress pants, and heels. The resemblance between the two was uncanny to others, though Caligo and Ryuu never seemed more different in his eyes. Especially now, with her age truly showing, Caligo looked much older and perhaps wearier than she had been in the past. At the age of 31, Caligo reminisced on Ryuu's childhood. "You were just adorable when you were little...I still remember you trying to pronounce Roderich's name," she chuckled and Ryuu flushed cutely. "How is Mr. Edelstein?" "Ah...well...he's living with my coworker now...and Ms. Hedervary." Red eyes flashed in alarm, the girl's uncanny understanding of her aunt's somber words crashing like glass on a brick wall.

"You just let him leave...? But...I thought you..." "I did...and I still do. But I want him to be happy since I know I won't be around as long as him...I'm ok Ryuu. Honest," Caligo murmured, managing a weak smile for her niece. She took her words for what they were worth. After all, she trusted her aunt. But the news left a scar on her heart, the mental image of her happy childhood tarnished by one less person.

She was unusually silent on the drive home, staring out at the bustling streets as they drove past. "I can't believe it...Aunt Cally...she's never given up on anything before..! And now..." "People change Ryuu...She sees things like an adult." "I'm almost an adult," she muttered. "I mean maturity wise Ryuu..." "I know that Al...She just wants him to be happy! But...I want them to be happy...together." "It's a nice dream," he murmured uneasily. Because now it was just that.

A dream

"Will you leave soon too..? Al...?" He almost ran a red light at the question and her eyes shot up to him, utterly confused as the car came to a violent and sudden stop. "What? Where am I leaving to?" "I don't know! I don't know what you're going to do! Maybe you'll just leave and go somewhere! Anywhere!...That I'm not..." If he were anyone else, he might've been angry at the accusation but instead, he gripped her trembling hand tightly in his and brought it to his lips in a chaste kiss. That typical hero smile of his came out and her eyes twinkled like stars as he held her hand reassuringly.

"I'll never leave you Ryuu. I'm your hero, remember?" "...Alright...I believe you," she sighed, smiling herself now as she allowed her ruby eyes to meet his shimmering blue ones. "I'll never leave you either then!" Such a silly girl. "Pinky swear!" But she still has a lot of growing up to do. "I love you, Alfred F. Jones!"

He secretly wondered if she'd hold out for him.
*She meant this promise to last forever*

Forever never came for her, and soon, before he even knew what had hit him, Alfred F. Jones was burying Ryuu Valgus alongside her parents and aunt, the others all present to say their final farewells. The aged faces of her friends hid behind black veils as they threw in fistfuls of dirt and eventually, he was left standing before the new headstone marking her grave in the same black suit he'd taken her to her senior prom in. "It's a pity...She was a wonderful woman. Although...I always wondered why she never had a family of her own..." "Too much like her aunt...She lost her heart to the wrong man was all..." Not that it mattered now.

As the last of the attendants left, he knelt by the granite marker as he had beside her that day at the park, eyes downcast. He couldn't bear to look at the tombstone..."I thought you said you'd never leave me Ryuu...?" A soft yet distinct clink brought his attention to the small granite dragon carving sitting at the top. There, plain as day was Ryuu's favorite pocket watch draped over it, the metal back scratching softly against the rough stone. Daring to pick up the object, it popped open as easily as the day she'd received it and his heart nearly stopped.
The clock itself had stopped long ago, but it was the opposite side that shocked him. Covering the blank metal plate was a picture of Ryuu and himself from her 21st birthday and engraved into the metal itself were those simple, damnable words he'd die to hear again.

"I love you, Alfred F. Jones. I always have. I always will.
Forever,

Ryuu Matsurine Valgus"

His smile was never sadder or brighter than that day. "I love you too, darling..."