The sky over Domino was a dismal grey, mirrored by the drifts of dirty snow that piled up in the gutters. But despite the lack of romantic atmosphere, there was a palpable feeling of excitement in the air. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day. A small grin of anticipation lit Mai's face. She wondered just what Joey would come up with this year.
It had been almost four years since she'd returned to Domino for the first time since Battle City and just over three years since she and Joey had been dating. In that time she'd learned just how…unique Valentine's Day could be when sharing it with someone like Joey. Mai'd been through the whole fancy French restaurant and expensive wine deal before. She'd received hundreds of red roses, enough chocolates to supply an army, and so many sonnets she could have wallpapered the Empire State Building with them. Her first Valentine's Day with Joey, she had been expecting more of the same, except that she knew—but would never say—that the roses would be from the grocery store, not the florist, and the chocolates would be clearance from the drugstore. She just hoped there wasn't a poem because she hated to think what Joey could do to the English language.
That first Valentine's Day, they'd gone to see some sappy chick-flick that Mai only remembered because Joey had been bawling at the end. When they left the theater, he'd claimed he had an allergic reaction to the popcorn. Mai didn't bother to point out that he'd never had a problem with popcorn before. She just put her arm around him and kept her grin to herself. After a moment, Joey spoke. "Hey Mai?" She turned to look at him. "I sorta got ya something. It's not much but…" Mai braced herself for five-dollar flowers that would wilt before the weekend was over. Instead, she was surprised when the blond boy pressed a cd case into her hand with an embarrassed smile.
She stared at it. It was one of those writable cds in a clear red case. Her name was scrawled on the front in black sharpie. She turned to Joey. "What is it?"
His face fell a little. "It's…well, it's a bunch of songs that make me think of you, Mai." He looked down as his cheeks turned bright pink.
Mai smiled. "It's great, Joey."
"Really?" Joey's head whipped up hopefully.
"Definitely." She leaned over and they shared their very first Valentine's kiss.
And she did love it, even though she knew perfectly well that he had downloaded all those songs illegally. It was sweet, and though she had laughed the first time she had played it and heard "Miss Independent", she had grown to love the playlist. She hummed her favorite tune now as she walked down the sidewalk on her way to the little where Joey had told her to meet him. She wondered what exactly the blond had in mind for tonight.
She remembered vividly last year, when Joey had asked her to meet him under a bridge in a quieter part of the city. It had been cold that year and she had stood under that bridge freezing her butt off for nearly five minutes and wondering where that miserable blond punk had gotten to. And then, out of the blue, rose petals began to shower down on her. She looked up and there was Joey, grinning wildly as he dumped a bucket of rose petals down on her. She blew him a kiss and nearly inhaled a petal. As she laughed and picked the petals out of her hair, Joey strolled off the bridge towards her and began to sing. Her song, her special song, the one he'd given to her the year before.
An' even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You'd still have my heart until the end of time
You're all I need, my love, my valentine.
He sang so loudly she thought half the city would hear and so off-key she couldn't help but wince. But he was so sweet and his grin so cute, she could do nothing but laugh and smile, smile and laugh as he drew closer. He touched her cheek gently and she wrapped her arms around him, he whispered in her ear "You're all I need, my love, Mai Valentine."
A faraway smile linger on the lips of Mai Valentine as she walked into the restaurant. Joey was waiting for her and they were quickly escorted to a table. She thought the food had been delicious, though she couldn't exactly remember what either of them ate. She remembered scolding Joey for his table manners and laughing at his jokes and reminiscing about old times and having a wonderful time. And then Joey turned serious. It was easy to tell when Joey was serious because he wasn't very often. But now he sat up straight and his usually warm brown eyes were somber. "Mai," he began, in a quieter, more restrained tone than Mai had heard him use all evening, "I need to tell you something."
A tiny chill ran down Mai's spine. She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "What's that Joey?"
"Well…" He swallowed and smiled apologetically. "This is kinda hard to say." He cleared his throat. "Mai, we've been going out for a while now."
"Three years," Mai murmured softly.
"Yeah, three years. Wow, that seems so long." He shook his head. "Anyway, we've been going out for three years and every Valentine's Day I ask you the same thing."
"Will you be my valentine?" Mai supplied. "Is that what's bothering you? That you forgot? You know I will," she grinned.
"Well, Mai, that's kinda the problem. Because that's not what I'm asking. That's not what I want."
"What?" A terrible cold feeling clenched at her heart. "What do you mean?"
"Mai," he said slowly, looking directly into her eyes, "I don't want you to be my valentine anymore."
All the blood drained out of her face and turned to ice in her veins. She clenched her fists to keep her hands from trembling. This wasn't real. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be breaking up with her. He couldn't. Suddenly, before she knew quite what was going on, she was leaning forward and she heard her own voice yell, "Joey, you idiot! You can't break up with someone on Valentine's Day!"
He stared at her blankly. "What?"
"Don't do this! If things are going wrong, we can fix them. We can work this out, I know it." She couldn't believe it. She was actually pleading with him. It was ridiculous, but it was the only thing to do.
"Mai…You're making a scene." He looked down…was he chuckling? "Mai, I'm not breaking up with you."
What? She sank back in her chair and tossed her blonde mane in an attempt to reclaim her dignity. "Well, then, Joseph, what is that you are trying to do? Besides make me look like an idiot."
"I'm not trying to make you look like an idiot, Mai. Not that that's possible, anyway." He cleared his throat. "Mai, I've given this a lot of thought, so hear me out." He looked deep into her eyes. "I, Joey Wheeler, don't want you to be my valentine anymore."
"Why do you keep saying that?" Mai complained.
"Because, Mai, I want you to be my wheeler."
She wrinkled her nose at him. "What?"
He heaved an exaggerated sigh, dug into his coat pocket, and produced a little box. Mai's eyes riveted on it. Her still-skittering pulse ratcheted up another notch. "I don't want you to be Mai Valentine, anymore, 'cuz I want you to be Mai Wheeler." The words sunk into Mai's mind, and for the first time she understood them. She stared at him and the box as the words echoed through her mind again and again. She couldn't speak.
"For pete's sake, how many times am I gonna have to propose to you, woman? I wanna marry you, is that clear enough? I love ya, Mai, and I always will." And before he could get going again, Mai shut him up with a kiss.
"Yes," she said as she broke it off. "Yes, I love you. Yes, I'll marry you. Yes, I'll put up with all your jokes and stupidity. And no, next year this time, I won't be your Valentine."
"That's good," Joey managed, being completely stunned. "That's really good."
"Yeah," Mai smiled. "Yeah, it is."