Rosto's Girl, who owns Katrina, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Celesto belongs to guestsurprise. I only own Rachel.

Roses And Stars

The brightly colored hearts were hanging in almost every window in the stores in Staybrook and the displays of chocolates, cute stuffed animals, roses, heart-shaped containers filled with chocolates, and everything that had to do with Valentine's Day greeted the eyes as customers went inside to browse the displays and pick out special gifts for their loved ones.

Katrina, however, avoided the aisles with the Valentine's Day items, trying to avoid having an awful memory play in her mind that always reared its ugly head at her. A few years back, she had been stood up on Valentine's Day by a guy who decided to be a total jerk to her and now, that memory always made Valentine's Day hard for her, making her glad it was only for a short while that the stores had the displays up.

But on the flip side, Katrina dreamed of having a guy treat her like she was all the mattered to him, holding her tenderly and making her feel special. She then thought about Celesto, whom she became engaged to during the Christmas season the year before. He definitely treated her right and she had no complaints. "Maybe he'll give me a rose this year," she said to herself hopefully, but trying not to get her hopes too high.

She got the few items she needed and headed back for the Grant Mansion and saw Rachel stringing another red heart garland over some of the furniture in the living room before she stepped back a bit.

Suddenly, Rook came running in and swept Rachel up in his arms so fast she let out a surprised cry and instinctively clung to him before realizing it was him and let out a sigh. "You silly cat, trying to give me a heart attack," she said with a smile.

Rook grinned, giving her a mischievous look. "I'd settle for making your heart skip a beat," he said before he playfully put her in a fireman's carry and ran upstairs with the owner of the Grant Mansion laughing and crying out in mock-protest.

"Rook Blonko! You put me down this instant!" She laughed out.

"Never," he said playfully with a grin before gently swinging her down and into a dancing dip. "You've got my heart throbbing, my love."

"As you have mine," Rachel said as she and Rook kissed deeply.

Katrina quietly sighed. That was exactly how she wanted to be treated, especially on Valentine's Day, which was the next day, but she decided that if Celesto only gave her a rose, she wouldn't mind that so much because it would be a good memory for her at least.

What she didn't know was that she'd get more than just a rose the next day.

The first thing she noticed was that her alarm hadn't gone off and she checked it to see that her alarm was off. "That's weird. I know I set it last night," she said to herself before checking her phone and seeing she had a message from Magister Tennyson, who let her know that she was needed at the Grant Mansion for the whole day instead of at HQ. That puzzled her and she was about to call him back when she saw something near her feet and saw it was a cute, stuffed monkey that held a red heart in his hands and she picked it up, wondering if maybe one of the children had left it in her room by mistake, but then saw a red string tied to one of the stuffed animal's arms and she got out of bed, quickly dressing into her jeans and favorite t-shirt before following the string, seeing that it was strung in various easy-to-reach places and she began carefully winding it in her hand, finding a chocolate taped to the string a moment later. She ate it before seeing it continued and began following it again.

More chocolates had been taped to the string and instead of eating them, she carefully untaped them from the string and held them in her hand as she came to the end of the string and saw it was tied around the doorknob to Celesto's room. Curious, she knocked first, but was curious when she didn't get an answer and so carefully opened the door. "Celesto?" She called as she began untying the string from around the door handle. Suddenly, a familiar sweet scent came to her and she lifted her head to find a dozen red roses in a vase on the nightstand by the bed. A small envelope with her name on it made her curiosity grow and she set the stuffed animal and chocolates on a table nearby and went over to the flowers and opened the envelope.

"Your Valentine is right behind you," the card read and she turned around to see Celesto standing behind her and he moved towards her, bending down a bit before picking her up bridal style and placing her on the bed. She grew a bit nervous, but then felt him gently squeeze her shoulder, a silent message to trust him. She watched him sit beside her before he took her right hand and to her surprise, held it to his face and closed his eyes, giving a loving sigh before his eyes opened again and she felt like she couldn't move.

Celesto's green eyes were filled with love and he then got up and moved to the other side of the bed, laying down beside her and propping his head up with one arm while his free hand began gently tracing her face before his fingers ever so gently traced her lips before he leaned his head closer and gently kissed her.

She couldn't help but return the kiss and then felt Celesto gently pull her closer to him, rolling onto his back and holding her to him so that she was laying on his chest. Katrina suddenly hugged him hard and his hold tightened a little on her, but remained gentle as he deepened the kiss. "Katrina," he said after they parted for air.

A little dizzy, she took a few deep breaths and felt him gently stroke her head. "Are you feeling alright, my dear?" He asked her.

She nodded. "You sure can make me dizzy with your kisses, Celesto," she said with a smile.

"Then I know I'll make you light headed with this," he said as he suddenly turned them so that he was gently pinning her to the bed. Knowing that he'd never hurt her, she looked up at him curiously and was surprised when he gave her a French kiss. She honestly didn't think Celestialsapiens could do that. Celesto chuckled a little at sensing her surprise. "Looks like I surprised you," he said with a gentle, teasing tone of voice before playfully wiggling his fingers into her ribs, which made her giggle a bit before his fingers gently slid down her sides from her ribs to her stomach before tickling her like crazy.

Laughs poured out of Katrina as she squirmed around, turning on her side, but then felt Celesto pull her gently back to where her back was to his chest and he continued tickling her.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She couldn't stop laughing and what was worse was that the mischievous Celestialsapien was now tickling her shoulder blades, which made her squeak and she tried to scrunch her arms back, but that proved futile as Celesto just kept tickling her and holding her in a gentle hold that allowed her to move, but not to get away from him.

The alien then paused in the tickle torture and sat up, gently lifting Katrina up so that she was sitting in his lap and one arm wrapped around her to hold her to him while his free hand went back to tickling her stomach.

"NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" She begged him as she continued laughing.

Celesto chuckled. "You know I can't resist tickling you, Katrina," he said in a loving voice as he finally showed some mercy and stopped tickling her. Giving him a half-heated glare, she gave his shoulder a push and he lightly tickled her ear in return, making her grin. "And you like it when I make you laugh, right?"

Knowing that he just tickled her because he wanted to hear her laugh and make her feel better, Katrina sighed with a smile before looking up at him and seeing him again move them so that they were side by side and he held her close. She couldn't help it and kissed him happily, making him smile as he returned the kiss, feeling her snuggle into him.

She gently broke away and just lay in his arms before smelling chocolate and looking to see Celesto had opened a box of chocolates and she recognized them instantly as her favorites. "How did you know?" She asked curiously.

"I have my ways, my rose," he chuckled gently.

Smiling at the pet name, she accepted a chocolate and ate it. "You spoke to Magister Tennyson, didn't you?" She asked. "And you turned off my alarm."

His right arm gently tightened around her in response and she giggled, snuggling into his embrace. "Thank you, Celesto," she said. "Honestly, I didn't expect all this."

The Celestialsapien looked at her in surprise. "Why not?" He asked her curiously.

"Well…,"

Before she could even begin to explain, Celesto placed a finger on her lips. "You've never been treated like you're the only thing that matters, right?" He asked softly.

She shook her head in response. "I got stood up on Valentine's Day a few years ago," she told him.

"Ah, that explains why you were looking a little jealous of how Rook was treating Rachel yesterday," he said.

She was surprised. "You saw me?" She asked.

He nodded. "Also, I had spoken to Magister Tennyson last week and asked him to give you today off," he said.

Katrina smiled. "And you just made today very special for me too," she said.

"Oh, the day's not over yet, my rose," he said.

She tilted her head curiously. "What brought that pet name on?" She asked curiously.

"Because you are lovely like a rose, Katrina," Celesto said with sincerity.

The young woman smiled again and leaned her head on his shoulder. "And you are truly the best thing that ever happened to me," she said honestly.

That earned her another deep kiss from him as for the rest of the day, Celesto made her feel special and loved.

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GoldGuardian2418