Valentine had a Schedule. The very thought made him shudder with disapproval. And not show times, no... At least that was a respectable reason to be on time and aware of the hour and all that business, but this!

A visit with the Princess every day, which soon turned into tagging along to meetings of state, which put him right back in the middle of all that stuff & nonsense between the Queens and that terrible Princess of Darkness, which is exactly where he wanted to avoid being. The last thing he wanted was to be a hinge-y-type-thing in the workings of an evil plan.

There was a fairly crucial difference in being a very important man and being a very dead man.

Helena was annoyed by her continuing lack of dreams. All she got from sleeping was a hollow sense of foreboding and a strong desire to go back. Each time she woke, she'd raise a hand to her face and check for the MirrorMask, which wasn't there no matter how many times she touched her cheeks or forehead. It translated to a restless distraction that made everyone worry after her mood hadn't improved in a few months.

Ed was beginning to mope as well. He was smitten, and the longer he watched her warm up for just so long before withdrawing again, the worse it got. He loved talking with her, and he loved watching her when they juggled together. It was the only time she really looked like she was happy, and focused... and smiling at him. He didn't really want to admit it out loud, but that was his favorite part of their juggling. Her eyes were bright and clear, and her mouth was uncovered by the mask now, a change he'd been very glad of, and he loved to watch her being happy.

Most of the time, when she wasn't juggling with Ed, Helena would lock herself in her trailer and look at the way the city covered all the walls and the ceiling now. It had grown quite a bit at Aunt Nan's, but she couldn't well leave it there when the circus picked up again. Moving all those papers terrified her, but she willed it to be nothing more than a little earthquake and had to hope that worked.

She wanted to add or change things, but with the small space and the certainty that there were people with lives of their own down there she couldn't bring herself to do it any more. She hadn't even drawn Valentine in at least three weeks now, and she found that trying to keep him out of her mind only made her miss him more. So she sat and stared until she figured out a way to speak to the MirrorWorld.

Valentine had taken to sleeping naked lately. It was the only sure way to keep Jade out of his bedroom, and he wasn't above hopping out of the sheets if she tried to come in. In fact, that's just what he did when he heard a resonating 'thud' inside his room.

"What's the big idea? Who's bothering me while I'm sleepin'?!" He huffed about for a bit before he realized that he was flapping in the breeze and grabbed his coat.

"It appeared out of nowhere, Mr. Valen-grump." The tower's voice was soft, and difficult to pin a gender to. It was a building after all, so it was probably neither, but Valentine thought of her as the ultimate house-wife.

"Oh, some help you are," he muttered as he noticed a huge, thick book on his table that he didn't recognize. The spine read 'Contacting Celestials: A Friendly Guide to Speaking with Deities'. He ripped the book open with such fierceness he was surprised it didn't try to fly off. It opened to a page which read:

Valentine - Sorry about the title, as this is really my way of reaching you, but I need to know how things are. How you are, and whether things are going well and the like. Please follow the directions to get in touch with me. I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Helena

The writing was looped and lovely cursive, and he ran his fingers along the lines a few times before moving on to the directions to answer her. It sounded simple enough, just write in the book on the pages that say Valentine...

Helena ran from the tent once the show was finished, beelining and dodging customers, vendors and performers alike as she tried to fly the ten yards to her caravan. She hadn't intended to, but she slammed the door as she went inside.

Ed stood back, perplexed as he helped with clean-up. He'd been watching Helena throughout the performance, and she seemed happy in her own little world tonight. It was refreshing, and confusing... Not to mention distracting! She looked even better when she smiled, and bit her lower lip just right. Now he just wondered what had made her so anxious.

Back in the caravan, Helena was staring at the large drawing of an open book that was taped over part of her window. It was her copy of the book on Valentine's table, and it worked because she thought it should. The two pages said 'Valentine' in her own looping cursive, but the rest of it had an interesting scrawl that could only be from him. It read:

Helena - As if I cared about book titles anyway. Things seem fine for now, the Queens have their standing argument, but I feel as though a storm's brewin and I'm not sure why. I'm doing all right enough I suppose, but what's the big idea givin me a girlfriend?! Who's a Princess no less, who can't even juggle! Think you're some kinda wise guy knows what's best for everyone?

Don't get me wrong, she's nice and all, I like her in a way, but I was happy enough having my tower to myself.

Anyway, don't be a stranger.

Valentine (Entertainer, Manager, Juggler Extraordinaire)

Helena ran her fingertips along his words, fascinated by the way they left no texture and didn't smear. It had worked! But he wasn't very happy with the princess. Not that she could blame him... Ed was nice and all, too. There were just big looming 'buts' about Ed and Jade.

Don't be a stranger... But what could she really say back to that? 'I miss you' probably wouldn't go over well with Jade, and she wasn't sure if Valentine could take that kind of honesty. But banter escaped her at the moment, and all she could do was touch the paper with his words, and wonder if she'd ever be able to see him again.

Valentine had a bit of trouble writing out his message to Helena. He wasn't sure why, but he got the distinct feeling that the pages he saw were not the ones she'd drawn. His name was neatly at the top in her handwriting, true, but it was also written all over the page... at different angles, different sizes, styles, and sometimes even a little heart to dot the 'i'.

It took him the better part of the day to figure out exactly what he wanted to say, and then the rest of it figuring out what he was actually going to write to her. He wanted to say how much he missed her, how the world seemed dull and lifeless without her... How sorry he was for his part in the troubles and how much he wanted to make it up to her somehow.

But he couldn't. It wasn't right to send things like that out into the universe on paper, where anyone might find it and use it for harm. So he stayed in his comfort zone, playing everything off as cool as a cucumber and other things below room temperature. Maybe I'll be lucky, he thought to himself. Maybe she'll understand what I really mean.

No sooner had he watched the words melt away into the pages, off on their way to wherever Helena was the lucky sods, than there was a knock on the door. He looked down, flustered but in no mood to change any further, and gathered his coat more tightly around himself as that was all there was keeping him from indecently exposure-ing himself.

The knock was on his bedroom door, so he crossed the room and grinned. "Hallo Princess, how're you today my lovely jewel?"

He was greeted in return with a flat palm against his cheek, and he was suddenly looking at the far wall of his bedroom. He grabbed his jaw and gawked at her. "What in the hell'd I do to deserve a blow like that?!"

"You missed our date today, and no amount of messages have been able to catch your attention." She pointed angrily at the nearest window, the ledge for which was covered in fluttering, confused notes that knew they'd made it to where they were supposed to be, at least some part of it, though they had the sneaking suspicion they were supposed to be inside. He looked sheepishly from the window back to Jade, her face flush with anger and her eyes hard against his.

"Darlin, I'm so sorry... I've really got no excuse, I just lost track of time I suppose. If you never want to speak to me again, I understand. I'm nothin but a trouble-making jester, and if you'd rather be free of such a nuisance I can't say I'd blame you in the least." His tone was of the 'onward and upward' ilk, but there didn't seem to be any remorse in his voice, nor hint of his apology meaning he wanted a second chance.

Jade's stare bored into him for a few moments longer. But he was shocked and a little crestfallen when her face broke into that oh-so-familiar, and yet oh-so-different smile. He squinted and pictured her hair brown, and he could just about hear Helena whisper "butterfingers". But the moments passed and Jade spoke in Helena's pitch, but not tone nor inflection nor manner.

"You big silly, why should I want anyone other than you? After all, I'm the Princess, and you're the one who saved the City. Just try not to do it again, won't you?" Jade had that pleading thing going on again. There was only one thing he could do.

"Course not, my sweetness. Shall I meet you tomorrow then?"