Title: He Waits
Author: M Kari
Summary: Valentine waits.
Rating: Adult general
Pairing: Valentine/Helena
Spoilers: None.
Word Count: 473
Notes: This is a little something that bit my mind and wouldn't let me go. I need to get back to my paper, so tell the bunnies to please be leaving me alone. Written for justlikerogue's prompt about eight years ago. Unbeta'd, and really rather rough, but I'm going to fail this class if I don't get it off my desktop, so here you go. Feedback is adored.

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He waits.

It's almost painful, this inaction. Valentine longs for her, a longing no Valentine man has ever experienced, he's sure. She invades his dreams and occupies his daytime thoughts with her fleshy, mask-less face and bunny rabbit slippers. Her laughter teases him, tinkling like silver bells just out of earshot. He turns quickly, expecting to see her behind him, but he is invariably disappointed.

He spends his days with his tower, but even she isn't as good of company as before. He can't put his finger on it, but something about her changed when she went away. Or perhaps, he muses, something in him changed. (He dismisses that thought as soon as it surfaces. Valentine men are perfect, so changing would only make him worse.)

He practices juggling, half-showers, full-showers, crosses, and fountains, practicing with balls, clubs, and even small books. (He found a small sphinx once, but it didn't appreciate being tossed about, so he let it go.) He watches the sun go up and down, rising and falling like the balls he can't seem to put away.

News rarely reaches him in his tower, but even he has heard of the White Queen's awakening. He thought of visiting the palace, maybe asking about Helena, but he wasn't sure what he would say. "Why, hello ma'am, just wondering if you had any news of the lass that saved you? Oh, none? Well thanks anyhow, I'll just be on my way then. Good to see you're up and about."

For some reason, he's not sure that would go over well.

So he waits, waits so long that some days he's no longer sure what he's waiting for. Some days he forgets all about Helena, forgets everything but this strange emptiness that he can't get rid of no matter how hard he tries. Other days, her face is crystal clear in his memory, the ache even more poignant for its realism.

Time doesn't flow quite straight, so he can't figure out how long he's been waiting when she finally shows up at his tower door. She's not wearing the bunny slippers, and her hair is longer, but she is still the same girl who pulled at him like none before.

He's always assumed the ache in his heart would disappear with her reappearance, but it doesn't. If anything, it grows, encompassing his whole body, making him one large, vibrating need. He smiles at her, wondering if she can see through him, if she can see that he's not been the same since she left. "Couldn't stay away?"

She rolls her eyes, sticking her tongue out. "Something like that." She reaches for his hand, a look in her eyes he can't read. "Coming?"

At her touch, he trembles, knowing this is what he's been waiting for without even knowing it. "As if I'd let you leave me behind."