The Nocturnal District, it was the first time that Nick had ever been here, but he was quite underwhelmed by what he seen. Though to be fair he hadn't been expecting a bustling city down here which he supposed he should from it's name. Supposedly only vampires knew of this area so it was Judy that brought him here, trusting him not to reveal the location to anyone who may want to use it for malicious means. It went without saying that he wouldn't do such a thing, thoughts of betrayal had long sense left his mind. Not every vampire was evil because they were vampires, Judy had taught him that. That fiery spirited vampiress had shown him the truth of his misconceptions and snatched his heart away while she was at it. It made the vulpine priest smile as he walked with her through the dark of the district.

"Mind your thoughts," she whispered to him softly.

He nodded, that was all she had to say. If she could hear his thoughts, other vampires could as well and he really didn't need to call attention to himself. Especially not when they'd taken great lengths to ensure no one could pick up his scent. Last thing he'd needed was to become lunch for a hungry vampire. He'd of course defend himself and then he'd have the whole district on him in a matter of seconds. Judy had been sure to remind him of that the evening prior and on their way there when she sliced wounds open on herself and rubbed her blood on him. If he smelled like a vampire then he wouldn't be fed on. He just had to be careful of his thoughts or he'd blow the whole thing. So he hid his thoughts the same way he did when he'd been tricking her before. Bringing random things to the front of his mind and letting the truth go to the back.

She stopped to look back at him, narrowing her eyes in concentration just before he felt pressure in his head. He knew she was searching through his mind, looking to make sure his defenses were strong enough before they moved any further. The pressure grew just a slight bit more noticeable until, seemingly satisfied with what she saw she nodded and the pressure withdrew. A smile up at him and a silent communication with her eyes as she fixed his cloak hood to make sure his face was covered then they were walking again. She wore a cloak of her own over the usual dress, hiding her face. He had come to find that even among vampires she liked to remain a secret in their world.

"I have enough trouble from Rogan," she'd explained to him one evening. "I do not need other vampires knowing of me and testing my strength or spreading the word around of my existence. Vampires talk and it will eventually leak to mortals, which will eventually find its way to my family."

And understandably she didn't want what she was getting back to them. It would put them at risk because no doubt they would come searching for her. Rogan would love something like that. He hadn't used her family against her yet, but if they came looking and Rogan knew it, he would for a certainty. That creature was about as vile and evil as a vampire-no, as any creature-could get.

Rogan sadly wasn't the only trouble they faced. Nick, a member of the priest brotherhood had been "missing" for a while now. No doubt the church was looking for him, even if he was suspected dead. They would not just pronounce him dead unless they had proof of the fact. They were likely searching for him even now either for a living fox or a corpse. It worried him, if they questioned Renato Manchas then they may make the connection the rabbit who saved him was a vampire herself. If they found and talked to Miss Jenny then it would be as good as set in stone to them and they would have a name. A lot of the brotherhood behaved rashly with very little information, especially the younger ones of the order. It would get them killed one of these days, who knew how many of their numbers had been dwindled due to exactly that since Nick had been gone.

It hadn't really meant much to him who was still around and who wasn't in a way. He had gotten where he'd made sure all his comrades stayed at arms length and no closer to him. After losing so many and growing colder he blamed the death of those he knew behaved foolishly on their own ignorance. That wasn't to say the vampire that killed them wasn't to blame as well, but they were trained to go against them. Now, being around Judy for so long, falling in love with her, he actually found himself hoping that the numbers weren't very high in the order. He didn't outright wish them dead, that at least was definitely a sin. But those who weren't taken from this world by a vampire, he hoped would listen to reason. Jaden Wolfson might. Maybe. But that was a strong maybe.

Enough about all that though, for now they were safe. Or as safe as one could be in a district full of vampires. Either way he could think about things like that when they returned to the surface. Today marked a holiday known world wide, Valentine's Day. Named after Saint Valentine who started as a priest himself. To hear the church tell it the mammal had made it perfectly clear he wanted nothing to do with slaying. He had simply wanted priesthood so he could legally wed other mammals. No one knew at the time that he would use his authority to also wed interspecies couples, but they found out fast. It had been declared by the church by that point that long ago, an interspecies offspring had become the first vampire. There had been some "unholy taint" when the kit was conceived from two bodies joining that never should have to begin with. Thus the first vampire was born and tainted others as it lived on through the centuries.

Saint Valentine hadn't believed that legend and had wed interspecies couples. He'd been labeled a sinner and traitor by the church and ran out of the order. No one knew what happened to him after that, just that he sustained grave wounds as he fled the city. From flogging and stones being thrown Nick was guessing. Probably had a stab from a spear or sword as he passed by the people back then too. Back when Nick was deep in the order he had seen Saint Valentine in the same light as everyone else in the order and was repulsed that everyone still celebrated the day he was ran out as a day of love.

"To honor his wish," they'd said. "Love for all. At least for one day a year."

Nick had been repulsed, but now.. He seen Saint Valentine as a Martyr. He gave couples the joy of matrimony when they would have been denied by all else. And spending as much time with Judy as he did, falling in love with her, he had come to see that one wasn't automatically a monster because of what they were.

"A monster is not defined by what we are, but by our deeds," she'd said once.

And she was right. She had also pointed out that as a fox he was labeled shifty, sly, and untrustworthy as well. A label didn't make it true as he had come to realize. Which also meant that the church themselves was wrong about many things. It made him wonder just how much of their teachings were fact and how much was taught through assumption. A vampire created from the love of two mammals who happened to be interspecies? It sounded ridiculous now that he really thought on it. But he had been just as blind as the church for a long time, treating Judy like a monster in spite of the many times she'd saved his sorry tail.

All things considered it was understandable why she didn't believe him at first when he came to her and showed her his heart. What had he shown her until then? No trust, intent of betrayal, trickery and he'd really had no way to prove himself. He'd already shown her that hearing his thoughts alone wasn't fool proof. He eventually got through to her, but only after he stepped in the way of an attack meant for her. She'd been faster and knocked him aside, killing the vampire that was fighting them, but the act alone had convinced her. Not mention made her furious with him for "being so stupid". It was that very evening she had confessed to him as well.

"You absolute moron! You can not tell me you love me and then die before I can tell you I feel the same!" she'd shouted.

He would have pointed out that he was in the right position for a fatal strike against their foe had he not been so surprised by her outburst. It seemed she had been just as stunned that it had come flying from her mouth because she stood there staring right back at him wide eyed for a few seconds. He knew she would have been blushing right then if she had the ability when she coughed awkwardly and turned around. That time when he went to her and hugged her from behind, he didn't move away when she tried to shrug him off her like he usually did. That night, he just held her tighter and she eventually let him without a fuss.

They had been like that since. He'd hold her as she slept through the day, they would work together when faced against an enemy, and he'd wake up to her running her fingers through his fur, softly petting him, or holding him. But he had to wonder if there were any lingering doubts in her mind. He caught her staring at him with an unreadable expression from time to time as if she were trying to see through him. It didn't help either that they would often talk about their enemies and time and she'd remind him of the warning she gave months before. "So don't fall in love with me priest".

At the time he'd had no intention of doing so. But it seemed the Creator had other ideas and each time they had that conversation it would hit him just a bit harder than before. Even after Rogan was gone and if they somehow evaded the brotherhood for the rest of his life, they couldn't beat time. It wasn't an enemy that could take solid form and that they could kill. And it was constant, every single second in the flow of time, he was just a little closer to death and they both knew it. Probably she knew it more so than him. What changes could she see in him that he completely missed? So he'd made a decision after carefully weighing it all in his mind. He just had to choose the right time to tell her.

He also really needed to watch where he was walking because one minute he was walking at Judy's side and the next he had tripped over something and was falling. It must have been a relatively long fall too because he blacked out when he made impact with something soft that smelled sweet and somewhat metallic. Unless it was the scent itself that knocked him out, which was also possible. Even laying there unconscious he registered the smell getting stronger the longer he lay there.

Wait he wasn't laying anywhere and he wasn't unconscious. He blinked realizing this and looked around himself, it was mostly dark everywhere he looked, almost too dark even for his own eyes. But he could vaguely make out the shape of walls around him and a look down told him he stood in a bed of roses. Wild growing roses from what he could tell as he bent down to inspect them. The color of them rang a faint bell in his mind as he picked one up and studied it, red and black. There weren't many roses that color as far as he could remember. And only one he knew of that could absorb blood like he noticed this one did when he accidentally picked his thumb pad on a thorn.

"They are Twilight Roses," came a voice from the dark just ahead.

"Who is there?" Nick demanded in response, his attention instantly going where the voice came from.

He went to grab for his sword when he heard the sound of the voice's owner coming closer only to find it missing. A look down at himself also showed all his weapons were now gone and he growled as he turned his eyes back to the mammal approaching. Soon a creature he had never seen before came from the shadows, never seen, but heard plenty about. A small sized mammal, black furred, big earred, with big eyes and a snout tipped with a pink nose and Nick knew when those skinny arms rose he would see wings too. The church had said many times that the taint of the vampire was strongest especially in bats like this mammal was, they were supposed to have gone extinct a long time ago and here he was looking right at one.

"There is no need for weapons son, I mean you no harm. I am Valentine, I was rather hoping you would drop in."

"Saint Valentine?" Nick asked in shock. "The martyr that was ran from the church? That can not be true. He sustained grave injury and was never seen again!"

"It is true my boy. You are correct I had grave injury, I just barely made it here before I passed away. Then the strangest thing happened, where I passed these flowers grew. And these Twilight Roses are not just any flower. They can be used to grant a wish just as long as that wish is selfless."

"A selfless wish. So the legend is true.."

Had he kept his eyes on the old bat, he would have seen him smile his way then look up as if he heard something that Nick hadn't. The movement was what caught the fox's attention again.

"Give that to your lady friend, Nicholas. Now you better get up there, she is calling for you."

This time Nick could hear Judy's voice calling to him as if from a great distance and looked up to call back to her, but saw nothing but darkness above him. He soon found too when he opened his mouth and felt his vocal cords work, that he couldn't hear a sound come from himself and turned back to the bat only to find him gone as if he'd never been there to begin with. Then the ground started to shake like an earth quake had struck the underground district. He didn't get a chance to run for a wall to attempt to climb back up since he suddenly found himself laying on soft roses, the sweet, metallic scent tickling his nose and making him want to sneeze. He came to find quickly that it hadn't been an earth quake like he'd first thought, Judy was shaking him to wake him up. Oh that's right, he had tripped over something and fallen into a hole filled with roses.

"Nick are you alright?" she was asking in worry.

"Yes..yes I am well.." he replied distractedly.

Hours later Nick sat staring at the rose still in his paw. When he had regained his feet outside the hole he had realized he still had it in paw and it made him wonder if that exchange down there had been real. Considering he had woken up from it, it seemed as if it had just been a product of his unconscious mind. But he had woken up with the rose in his paw and the pad of his thumb just slightly stinging from where it had been pricked. Judy had taken his paw in hers upon scenting his blood and swiped her tongue over it then checked him over to be sure he was okay before they were on their way again. She had gotten a few things there, some plain clothes for him to better disguise himself with and some soaps for both of them when they came upon a body of water they could bathe in. Now they were sitting in an old barn house, a cellar just a few paces away that they would be using for shelter when the sun began to rise.

Saint Valentine had said the rose had the gift to grant wishes as long as it was a selfless wish. Nick had also heard that the flower was edible for a vampire, that it would dissolve and have all the consistency and nourishment as blood for a vampire. But these flowers only bloomed one time a year and always in the same place, on Saint Valentine's Day in the place where he passed away. It reminded him a lot of the legend of Markel Poinsett and how Poinsettias came to be. And leave it to a Saint to bestow the gift of a granted wish on the one who devours the flower. Maybe this was how he could convince Judy once and for all that he was telling the truth of how he felt about her.

When he lifted his eyes to her, he found her already looking his way and he didn't need to ask to know she'd heard his every thought already. She offered him a smile that he returned as she moved closer to him and then both looked at the rose he moved around in his fingers slowly. Unsurprisingly it cut him again and the rose absorbed his blood, making the petals grow a darker shade of red until they were almost black. Saint Valentine had told him to give it to his "lady friend" so he turned it one more time, letting it nick him once more before holding it out to her.

"It is supposed to grant a selfless wish. Why not try it?" he asked as she took it and studied it for a moment.

"Does it work?" she replied, looking from the rose to him.

He shrugged. "I only know the legends. Its supposed to be able to feed and sustain a vampire as well. Only one way to find out right?"

That seemed to be enough for her since she tentatively brought the rose to her mouth and nibbled at one of the petals. It seemed to pass though for her eyes got just slightly wider and she took one petal at a time with her teeth and swallowed as if it liquefied in her mouth. After it was gone her eyes shut and he remained quiet, knowing she was making her wish. When violet eyes opened again she lifted her paw into their line of sight and they both watched as a shadow appeared and wrapped around her wrist.

"I do not know what to wish for.. I spent those silent moments trying to think about it. I want to be mortal again, but I can not. Not until Rogan is gone.. And no power on earth can change what he did to me, but even if it could, I would not know /how/ to be mortal. I have spent too much of my existence as I am."

"Why not wish him gone?"

"To do so with a wish...it would seem so..wrong."

Nick thought about what she said for a few silent moments and realized she was right. Even if the wish was made for him to be gone from the world for noble reasons-like ensuring he couldn't do what he did to her to someone else-it could still be seen as great evil to do so with a power meant to be pure.

"I see what you mean. So if you could, when Rogan is gone, would you be mortal again if you had the chance?"

She was silent for a little while, likely thinking about what he had asked her, he could see her frowning in thought. A full minute must have passed by the time she shook her head and turned her gaze back to his own.

"The greatest temptation about mortality is that in comparison, eternity is a long time to be alone."

He knew what was happening, it was an opening, a familiar one to go into the topic they spoke on every night. A reminder that he was mortal and she was not. But this may just be the chance he was looking for.

"Mortal or immortal, I would never wish to leave you lonely," he told her softly.

He willed his eyes to really be the windows into his soul now and show her the sincerity of his words to the fullest. It seemed he had succeeded when her eyes got wider again and she shifted around to face him completely. He did the same, smiling at her without the slightest bit of doubt on his features and their paws met in the middle when she reached for his own.

"Nick...are you really asking-?"

"I am offering," he corrected and rose the paw not in her's to settle against one of her cheeks. "I love you, I do not want to run out of time with you."

She'd tilted her head into his touch when he placed his paw there, her eyes closed. Those same eyes opened back up when she heard the last of what he had to say. He watched her quietly and with a warm smile as she got onto her knees and moved in and she watched him until both sets closed and their lips met for the first time. Neither of them had ever been kissed before in their lives, but had they been able to speak they would have agreed it was the most perfect kiss of their lives. They had just connected together as if they had always been supposed to and had been made to by the Creator. It was breathless and warm, but also chaste while carrying the first hints of fire as well before they pulled back as one and he brought her into a tight hug. She returned the embrace and he felt her begin to pet his ears with one paw, causing a soft rumble started in his chest.

"You know this does not prove the rose works.." she softly joked.

"Does it matter?" he answered, then he was rumbling again when her gentle fingers began to scratch.

~FIN~

AC: That's all folks~! Happy Valentine's Day everyone~! Please remember this is a stand alone one-shot and in no way effects CD. Its an AU of and AU basically.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I wish I did though. :(

Shout Outs: Thank you to TheWyvernsWeaver, Igarniger, Wodahseht and Wartoxdude on DeviantArt with helping me with ideas~ You guys rock!