A/N:

Another old-ish fic of mine that I'd meant to post but never did until now~

This time it's a Valentine's fic for Tally or Sally/Tinny Tim, the pairing together of the orphan girl with the ear on her face and the little orphan robot.

I love kiddy romances – these two are just SO cute! /hearts/ and I do believe this could be the most sickeningly cute thing I've ever written, so a cavity warnin', k? x)

Enjoy~!

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The Most Beautiful Valentine

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sally sighed and cast another longing look at the other 'normal' children at play.

It was recess and she was crouched in the dirt in a remote corner of the Orphanarium courtyard between a few bushes and the old broken teeter totter nobody played on anymore. She didn't usually get this kind of solitude; recess wasn't her least favourite part of the day for nothing. Usually, the other orphans would take advantage of the lack of elder supervision to tease her until she cried, but there were no taunts of "earface!" echoing across the playground today, for it was a special day. A very special day.

That is, special for the other orphans; not Sally.

It was Valentine's Day again and, as with every year, not a single child spared her a glance, so busy their were exchanging and enjoying each other's paper valentines, skipping after each other like lovestruck puppies, giggles and shrieks of "eww cooties!"abounding.

Sally sighed again. She was grateful for the chance to have a recess that she wasn't crying her eyes out by the end of, but at the same time, today was the loneliest she'd ever felt. Never in a gillion years would any of the other children invite her to join in the festivities and that thought alone was enough to rob her of any possible cheer.

She couldn't help but wonder about how different things would be if she was 'normal', if she didn't have the 'deformity' that rested in the middle of her forehead, unavoidable, like a perpetual siren wailing: Ffffrrreeaaakkkk...

Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes when she felt a very sudden, firm tap on her shoulder.

Startled out of her reverie, the little orphan looked around, her eyes wide - was somebody going to tease her today after all ?

"Good day, miss!"

Sally relaxed; her mouth curved into a smile at the sound of the familiar English accent, and her eyes glowed as she recognized her friend - the only true friend she had.

It was Tinny Tim, a fellow orphan that she'd met during a different recess some time ago when he'd been scrounging around near the Orphanarium fence. As he was a robot, he couldn't live in the Orphanarium with her like she had hoped, but they still saw each other from time to time. He was always on the streets - the reason, he explained, was because he had been programmed to be an orphan bot so that human parents could use him as an example of what would happen to children if they didn't go to school and get an education like you were supposed to. Sally thought that that was pretty cruel of his creators - to never have a home! - but Tinny had shrugged it off; he was used to it.

Anyhow, the sight of his brown beret, his dinky buck teeth, his shabby metal body, and his little crutch cheered her up instantly.

"Oh! Hi Tinny!" Brushing the dirt off of her raggedy green dress, she rose from her crouch and hopped to attention at once. "Wanna play?"

He seemed to hesitate.

"Why... yes, of course! In due time," He was holding something behind his back with his good arm, she noticed, "but first, there's one order of business I'd like us to attend to... i-if you don't mind?"

Although his tone was polite and timid as usual, there was something off about him. Being a robot, she couldn't tell much by way of facial expression, but his awkward stance and the way he spoke conveyed an emotion she couldn't identify.

Thoroughly puzzled, Sally shook her head, "Nope. What's wrong, Tinny?"

"T-there's nothing wrong, per se, but, um... well, do you know what today is?" He was studying his footcups.

The small girl didn't have to think twice before she came up with the answer.

"Yeah, it's Valentine's Day!" She frowned, suddenly feeling rather glum. Why was he asking her? Didn't robots have some kind of calendar clock inside them that already told time and date anyways ? And what did he have behind his back that he seemed so ashamed of? He hadn't looked at her once since he'd arrived and she was starting to feel worried for her robot friend. "But... what does that have to do with anything?"

"W-well, that's the crux of the matter, I'm afraid." Curious, Sally leaned a little closer to him to hear better; his voice was so low now, he was almost mumbling, "T-today is the day for the human custom where you... gift each other with paper hearts and flowers, c-correct?"

She nodded, still wondering where he was going with this.

"And it's because you'd like to show that you c-care about s-someone... yes?"

"Mhm," She confirmed. He was so cute when he was nervous... yeah, that was it, he was nervous, she realized. But why?

He made a sound as though he was clearing his throat, though robots never had to do that.

"Ahem, as you well know, we've been friends for a long time and I-"

Wait a minute. They were friends, weren't they? Omigosh! Even if Tinny was a robot, he'd probably been expecting Sally to give him a valentine today, because it was mostly the girl's job to spread valentines, not the boy's, and now he was hurt, but he was too polite to ask her outright why she hadn't delivered so he was gently hinting that they weren't friends anymore and he wouldn't come around ever again so they could play together even if his crutch made him lousy at being 'it' and-!

She was forced to step back as Tinny pulled his arm out from behind him and offered something to her. He was still talking in a voice that sounded like delicate glass that could shatter at any moment.

"...Well, um... er... h-here you are, Miss...!"

It was a valentine - and not like any other valentine. It was shiny, made out of metal, with frilly lace and a couple of wires sticking out of the bottom. It was the oddest valentine she'd ever seen, but also the most beautiful. Sally clutched her hands together in delight and gasped in wonder at the miraculous gift. She stood there for a moment in awe, smiling softly in appreciation of Tinny Tim's thoughtfulness.

In her happiness, she almost forgot to take the valentine. The robot orphan was looking at the ground away from her, as if bracing himself for rejection. She reached out and gingerly accepted the shiny metal valentine from his outstretched hand - it really wasn't as heavy as it looked.

"It's gorgeous, Tinny! Thank you so, so very much!" He straightened up a little and looked at her for the first time; when he spoke, his voice was overflowing with relief.

"Y-you like it?"

"Yes! It's the best valentine I've ever, ever got in my life!" She didn't mention that it was her only valentine. A thought occurred to her and her face fell. "But, I didn't get you anything!"

"That's quite alright, miss! I'm just pleased that you are pleased with the valentine I made for you."

Sally grinned at him and felt him grinning back, though there was no visible change on his metal exterior. She still wanted to give him something... he really did deserve it for being so sweet to her... oh, she was so happy, she could kiss him!

And why not? It was Valentine's Day after all!

Dropping her hands limply to her sides, Sally moved forward until she was so close to him that Tinny Tim's face filled her field of vision.

"Miss...?"

He looked surprised at the sudden intrusion of his personal space, but before he could take a step back, she'd gave him a quick peck on his metal cheek. Standing back, she hugged her valentine, giggling at his wide eyed shock; if robots could blush, she would've bet that his whole face would be a tomato right now. The thought made her smile even more.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Tinny! And y'know what else...?"

"Wot?" His eyes still had a bit of a dreamy, half lidded look to them.

"Yoouu're it!" With a quick jab at his shoulder, Sally took off across the playground.

The little robot momentarily realized what had just happened and began to pursue her, his little frame trembling with the effort of running with a crutch arm. Thankfully, Sally always ran a little slower than she could so as to give him time to catch up, so he did eventually catch her.

They played until the bell that signified the end of recess rang. Then, they parted, Sally hugging Tinny and giving him a last little peck before she skipped inside, still clutching her valentine treasure to her chest.

All in all, it had been Sally (and Tinny's) best Valentine's Day ever.

End.