Valentine's… What?

"So Birdy, what are you going to do for that doctor of yours eh?" Zaryanova asked before taking a swing at the pilot in front of her.

Fareeha blocked the pass with her fist, "What are you talking about? And she's… not mine or whatever," she mumbled, her brows pierced in concentration as she tried to predict Zaryanova's next move.

The Russian rolled her eyes, fists up and ready in front of her. "Yea yea right, you know, Valentine's Day- I'm sure Angela will be thrilled."

Clueless and caught off guard, the captain immediately lowered her fists and tilted her head in question, "Valentine's… What? Angela-"

Zaryanova smirked, utilizing the moment to throw a fast punch. The captain just barely reacted quick enough to lift her hands back up again and block the punch with her forearms, "Oh nice one…"

Aleksandra shrugged, grinning all the while, "Does she always get you so distracted?"

Fareeha frowned, "Oh shut up…" she responded as she returned the favor by throwing a hard punch right at Zaryanova's face. Although the angry captain knew she would easily get blocked, she wanted to send a threatening message to her dear, dear friend. "Seriously though, what are you talking abou-"

Before Fareeha could finish her sentence she was interrupted once again. This time by a familiar musical voice coming from behind her, "Captain Amari!"

"Huh?" the captain instantly looked over to find Angela Ziegler briskly walking over with that naturally bright smile of hers, "Captain! I have something for you!"

Without a moment's hesitation Zaryanova punched Fareeha's side, successfully landing a solid hit against the captain's ribs. "Really, you're too easy…" Aleksandra laughed at her.

The captain winced, gritting her teeth as she tried to hide the pain. She turned back to Zaryanova and scowled at her, "Damn it Zarya."

The Russian grinned innocently, "It's sparring, what do you expect? Keep your head in the game."

Angela bit her lip, she hadn't meant to interrupt their session but she was much too excited for this day. "Oh no… sorry about that…" she said softly as she came near.

The captain quickly turned back to Angela and offered her a smile, "Oh ah no not at all, don't worry about it." She turned back to Zaryanova and smirked, "Zarya should thank you, she couldn't have gotten a hit otherwise…"

Zaryanova rolled her eyes, shaking her head before turning to Angela as well, "Anyways, what have you got there Doctor?"

Angela beamed, "I made you both a little something!" she said as she dropped a little pink plastic bag into both of their hands. "Sorry again for interrupting, just wanted to drop these off real quick. Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Ah, thank you Angela and to you as well," Zaryanova responded as she opened the bag. The sides of the bag fell open to reveal chocolates of different sizes. The Russian immediately popped one right in her mouth. "Delicious! You made these?" she asked as she munched away at her sweets.

"That's right! It's nothing too complicated but… I hope you enjoy," Angela smiled.

Zaryanova laughed, "You're much too modest, they taste great!" The Russian proceeded to drop the rest of the chocolates into her mouth.

Angela giggled, "Well thank you I'm glad," she replied before turning to Fareeha, "Oh Captain, can I talk to you later tonight?" she asked.

Captain Amari couldn't help but blush lightly when Angela's eyes met hers, "Oh, u-um yea of course. Sure."

"Wonderful, looking forward to it. For now I've got to drop these off to the others. See you after!" Angela stated before quickly walking away with the rest of the pink and red bags of goodies in her arms.

The captain looked back down at the little pink bag in the palm of her hand, "Valentine's… What?" she asked once again.

Zaryanova looked at Fareeha in disbelief, "I thought you were kidding… Jeez woman, Egypt surely has Valentine's Day too, right? It's like… a global holiday or something… probably… anyways I'm pretty sure the whole world knows what it is. You do something special for that… special someone… something like this."

Fareeha sighed; nodding a bit as the term slowly came back to her. She hadn't thought about this "holiday" in years. Ever since what happened on this date those years ago… this day became utterly meaningless. No, worse than meaningless. "Shit…" she mumbled out loud. The captain slowly untied the string on the bag, letting the sides fall open. Inside hers were several cookies with hearts made of icing on top of them. Fareeha's heart tightened, "Shit…" she could only say again.

Aleksandra began laughing loudly, "You've got nothing do you."

Fareeha looked back up at Zaryanova with an extremely rare (perhaps once in a lifetime) face of desperation, "What do I do?! You have to help me!"

Zaryanova began laughing even more uncontrollably, "What and miss out on watching what happens when Ziegler finds out you didn't do anything for her? Not a chance!"

Amari frowned in frustration and clenched her fist tightly, "Zarya…"

Zaryanova wiped a fake tear from her eye, "Oh man… only kidding little Bird. Besides, I thought you didn't care about her." Aleksandra absolutely loved giving the captain a hard time. Chances to tease Fareeha only came once in a rare while and Aleksandra would never miss these wonderfully amusing opportunities.

Fareeha kept silent, clenching her jaw all the while. Not only was she caught, but utterly torn as well. The war inside her chest began to brew. "...I should just… do something in return… that's all," she finally said.

Zaryanova smirked, "Ah of course, how responsible of the emotionless pilot." The Russian playfully punched her arm, "But sorry, I can't help you… you have to do it yourself. Besides she'll like whatever you do Amari."

Fareeha sighed again, "But what am I supposed to do...?"

Aleksandra shrugged, "Just anything that shows you care. You're going to have to suck it up and let down that wall of yours and just... you know, just show her already." Zaryanova looked at the clock on the wall and chuckled, "Well then, let's end our match early, I think you'll need all the time you can get." Zaryanova winked before walking off, "Good luck Amari."

Fareeha looked back down at the cookies, her chest aching with what felt like… guilt? She wasn't even sure. Blushing ever so lightly, she picked up one of the cookies and popped it in her mouth. She could feel the sugarcoated dessert crumble to pieces; it was entirely delicious. "Shit…" she thought to herself.


"Show that I care huh…" Fareeha said aloud as she sat alone at her desk "…and how the hell do you do that…" The captain sighed again, it seemed as if she couldn't stop. She picked up a pencil and began jotting down potential ideas. "I could get her… flowers? Maybe make her dinner? Um…" She rapidly tapped her pencil on the desk as she thought.

After about a minute her pencil slowed, her expression transformed into something more solemn while she stared at nothing in particular. She felt a dull pain at her ribs where Zaryanova had punched her. She moved her hand up underneath her shirt and used her fingers to trace over an old scar. By no means was it long, but to her it felt wide; she could easily feel her rib bones right underneath it. Even though it had been years since the incident, she still wasn't sure if the pain was really gone. Logically, Fareeha knew it was impossible for there to still be pain, it had been at least 5 years now… the wound has long since healed. But as she pressed on the scar she could surely feel something hurt, as if the bullet was still there. Her brows bent, she could feel anger and disgust build within her. "Today is stupid. It's all pointless."

Fareeha finally removed her hand. She clenched her first and tightened her arm muscles in frustration. When she felt her eyes begin to water she immediately turned off and shut down, making her feelings go away before any tears could possibly escape. "Fuck it, I don't care." She folded her arms on the table and lay her head on them. Her anger resided; she became numb. "How do you even think about someone else on a day like today?" Normally, on this day Fareeha would go drink, work out, be extremely busy- anything to keep her mind off the past.

Fareeha shook her head as she caught sight of the pink bag full of cookies that her precious doctor had made. Her mind wandered to thoughts of Angela, from her smile to her laugh, to intimate moments and conversations. When thinking about Angela, Fareeha couldn't help but smile softly. The captain knew she wanted to do something for her, to make the doctor smile, to show her that she cared. But Fareeha Amari, just didn't know how. She picked up the piece of paper in front of her and crumpled it into a ball before taking out another clean sheet. "How do I show her that I care…?" she thought to herself.

The captain pressed the tip of the pencil on the paper and thought about Angela, scribbling down a few words. However someone suddenly knocked on the door. Caught by surprise, Fareeha immediately stood up and turned around to find Angela Ziegler standing behind her.

"Oh, I probably should have waited but the door was unlocked…" Angela smiled innocently. Although saying this, the doctor had absolutely no intention of waiting either way.

"Oh, Doctor, it's no problem. Um, what did you want to… talk about?" Fareeha asked nervously. Fareeha Amari both loved and hated being around Angela, she couldn't quite understand it herself. It was as if this woman had the ability to make the captain feel everything just all at the same time. It was absolutely confusing and frustrating, yet exciting and something… special. The way Angela could make her feel so comfortable and yet completely nervous. The way she could make her feel so sure and yet not. The way Angela could make Fareeha be her actual (normally hidden) self and yet still, when it came to other things… completely unable to do so. It really is… something.

Angela wrapped her arms around the captain's neck and kissed her cheek, "I just wanted to personally greet you a Happy Valentine's Day," she said before releasing her grip and taking a step back.

Fareeha blushed furiously; she could never grasp how easily the doctor could do these kinds of things. "Ah, thank you Angela… but…" Fareeha rubbed the back of her neck, her expression clearly showing that of concern, "Angela I… should tell you something…"

Angela tilted her head, her smile dissipating and her brows bent in concern, "What's wrong?"

"Well I… don't exactly have something for…"

The doctor interrupted the captain, smiling wildly, "Oh! What's that you're writing there? I see my name!" Before the captain could react, Angela immediately leapt forward and grabbed the piece of paper on Fareeha's desk.

"W-wait a minute don't look at that…" exclaimed Fareeha, even though she knew it was definitely a lost cause.

"Dear Angela,

I care about you, more than you know."

Angela's smile softened, "I love it, thank you Fareeha." The doctor folded the piece of paper and put it in her pocket. She then wrapped her arms back around the captain's neck and hugged her tightly.

Fareeha shook her head, standing completely still like the idiot she is, "But I… didn't get you anything at all."

Angela giggled softly, "You're silly, as if Captain Amari is the Valentine's type anyway. Besides, this note is wonderful. Thank you." Angela Ziegler meant these words with all of her heart. There was a lot about Fareeha she still didn't understand, but she knew the captain well enough to recognize that this note alone was difficult enough for her to show.

The captain's cheeks just couldn't stop burning. She slowly wrapped her arms around the doctor's waist and squeezed her firmly against her. Fareeha took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and softly kissed Angela's forehead, "Ah, Happy Valentine's…"