Valentines Day

"... then pour the hot chocolate in the mold and let it cool down at room temperature."
Carefully Ayumi followed the written instructions, pouring liquid chocolate into the 3 molds she had prepared beforehand. Two circles and one big heart. The sweet smell of boiling chocolate filled the kitchen completely now, fueling her confidence that the result would be delicious. Smiling she turned to Ai, who herself had just finished making her own chocolate as well.

"Making homemade chocolate sure is a lot of work", Ai noted, taking a glance at the kitchen they had been working in for the past hour. Just cleaning everything would take another hour. "Uhh", Ayumi agreed. "But I bet it will taste delicious!" Ai took a look at the chocolate, slowly solidifying in the molds. "The boys better appreciate it!"
"I'm sure they will!", Ayumi beamed confidently.

Haibara smiled. This was the first time Ayumi was allowed to give out valentines chocolate, and she had insisted to make it herself. Out of solidarity Haibara also never had given away any as well. They quickly had agreed to make it together, it sounded... fun. Fun... Since the defeat of the Black Organisation she had felt much more at ease. It felt like she had finally gotten the normal life she had thought would be impossible for her a few years ago.

"Ai-chan, there is still some chocolate left in the pans", Ayumi noted with a grin on her face. "Ahh, you are right!", Ai replied impishly. "What should we do with it?"
"Well, we wouldn't want the poor Professor to give up on his diet, would we?" "I'll get us two spoons!" The next moment they were scratching the leftover chocolate from their pans, giggling. It was good! Their self-made chocolate really was a success.

Tomorrow was valentines day. The day girls gave chocolate to the ones they loved. Ayumi looked at her own chocolate confidently – the two smaller, circle shaped ones for Mitsuhiko and Genta. And the big hearth for Conan-kun...
Haibara observed her smiling. It wasn't hard to figure out that those small ones were giri-chocos - "friendship chocolates" - while the big one was henki-choco for the one she really loved. It was remarkable how she had kept trying to win Conans heart for the whole past 5 years... and how she slowly made progress with it. Her persistence was finally paying off.

Maybe she had spent a moment too long looking at Ayumi and her chocolate. Because Ayumi had noticed her observing and in turn was taking a closer look at Haibaras chocolates now.
Just like Ayumi she had chosen to make to make smaller, almost circular chocolate to give out to her friends. And one bigger, flower-shaped one.
"Who is this one for?", Ayumi finally asked, unable to keep her curiosity in check. "And why did you make 3 smalls?"
They were best friends, they had shared so many secrets with each other. And Ayumi knew that there were no other she would give a valentines gift to except the three remaining Detective Boys members. And Ai was too strict with the Professor to give him chocolate... beside, it would feel strange to give it to someone who could be - and acted like - your own grandfather.

"Is it... for Mitsuhiko-kun?", Ayumi asked carefully, pointing at the big piece. Haibara had kept surprisingly quiet. She shook her head. She would have let it at that, however Ayumis face showed that she was starting to worry about something. And she knew her well enough to guess what was troubling her. "It is not for Edogawa-san", she said, calming her friend immediately. "And not for Kojima-san either."
"Then... who...?", Ayumi continued after a minute of silence. She just couldn't keep wondering.

"It's a favor for someone from my past", Haibara finally confessed. Ayumi didn't ask any more. Haibara rarely talked about her past, about her family. It had taken her 4 years until she had told her that her parents - and her sister – were already dead. She knew that they had died before Haibara had come to their class and they became friends, but whenever she was mentioning it, Ai seemed to be reminded of painful memories. Despite wondering what exactly was troubling her friend she never asked for more details. And Ai seemed to be gracious for that.

"Well, they seem to have cooled down enough now. I think we can add some decorations and wrap them up now."

The next day, Ayumi had been excited. Her first time giving out chocolate – and she was successful. Ai had been saying the truth: Like announced, she had given 3 equally sized chocolates to the three boys. Which left that big flower-shaped piece in her parcel all day long.
The 5 detective boys had been walking home together, like they always did during the past years. Except that the boys seemed to be in a slightly better mood then normal, carrying their presents in their hand the whole way.

"Well, see you tomorrow!", Genta exclaimed when they reached the point where they usually split up to walk the remaining way at their respective homes. "And thank you for the chocolate!", he grinned. This year he had gotten double the amount that he got before. And with no doubt he would not wait long to eat it once he had arrived at home. "Yes, thank you a lot!", Mitsuhiko agreed happily. "Yeah...", Conan joined... still slightly flustered to carry the heart-shaped piece out in the open, which was so different from the smaller circular shape the other pieces had. "See you!"

They were waving goodbye at each other, but just as she was about to turn away, Ayumi could feel someone grabbing at her arm. She recognized it as Ais hand right away. "Sorry about yesterday", she said in a low voice keeping Ayumi with her while the boys were already out of sight and on their way to their homes. "I... if you have the time, would you like to come with me to deliver that last chocolate?"
Ayumi was looking at her friend, slightly worried. What was happening? On the other hand, was there a better way to find out what was happening than actually walking with her?

She quickly nodded, letting Haibara lead the way they were going. It was not the way to either of their houses, that was for sure! Would she finally show her that friend from her past she made the chocolate for? Why did she never mention him? Where did she know him from? And what was different now? Who was that chocolate for?

The streets were getting narrower, the traffic much quieter, the gardens greener. Where was Ai leading her? "Here", Haibara finally said. Didn't they... just arrive at a small graveyard? Who would she give a chocolate here?
Haibara was studying the names on the grave markings. Obviously she was searching for a special grave on this graveyard. So that flower-shaped chocolate... was for a person who had died? But if that was true, why didn't she know which grave was the right one?

Then Haibara stopped. She took the chocolate and an incense stick from her backpack, lighted the stick and placed it together with the chocolate flower on the grave and kept cowering in front of it in silence. Ayumi crouched down as well, doing a small prayer like her parents had shown her when they visited an old friends grave and waited for Haibara to finish her own memorial service. She dared throwing a quick look at the name on the inscription: Shuiichi Akai

It was long after they had left the graveyard before Ayumi found the courage to inquire. "Who was that?", she finally asked, not really expecting an answer. She had never heard that name, but from the short glance on the years of birth and death on the grave she knew that this man was much older then they were.
Still, if Ai had taken her with her, it means that she wanted to talk about it, right?
Ai had stopped walking, and started glancing into the sky. "Someone I could not forgive in the past", she finally answered cryptically. This didn't explain anything!

"So why the chocolate?", Ayumi continued asking. She was sure that Ai wanted to say more...
"He was my... sisters... boyfriend.", Ai replied, showing why she hated talking about the subject. "She wasn't able to see him often while she was alive and asked me to give him chocolate in her name if I ever met him on valentines day..."
Ai smiled sadly. What a stupid reason. A wish of her dead sister for her dead boyfriend who was using her to get closer to the Black Organisation... and one of the reasons why her sister was killed back then. And yet he was so deeply involved in destroying this organisation which had dominated her entire life up to that point. At the cost of sacrificing his own life. It was his death which had allowed her to finally find peace in her new existence as Ai Haibara.

So, why did she do it? Maybe bringing the chocolate was the last wish of her sister that she finally had the courage to fulfill. Maybe she was finally accepting her death and everything connected with her past self. Or maybe it was a way of thanking the man who made her new life possible. Maybe it was not THAT stupid coming here today.
"Ahh, then that flower was a pink?", Ayumi interrupted her thoughts. "A flower you put on graves to remember the dead!"
"Ye... yes.", she confirmed, realizing that she had kept so many questions open for her young friend. "In some way he is responsible that I met you and the others and could stay with you all those years", she added. "Which was the best thing that happened to me in my whole life"

"Thank you for telling me all of this", Ayumi smiled after giving Ai enough time to reminiscence in nostalgic thoughts. She grabbed her hand reassuringly.
Yes, it was time to get back into reality. "Thank you for coming here with me", Ai finally said, continuing to walk back in the direction of their houses. Like so many times before, just having Ayumi here at her side had helped her to gain the courage to face the past. And allow her to start into her new future.