Its that time of year again! Yep the time for all of us lonely people to hate on all you lucky guys and girls who happen to have a special someone. On the plus side I get to save money!... Hope you enjoy this little one shot! Don't be afraid to review this! I swear I don't bite!

"One pot of water? Check! Powdered sugar? Check! Salt - this is salt, I think? – check! Room temperature milk? Let's get whatever that chunk is out of it first. Alright, check! Softened butter? Liquids count as being soft, right? Check! And… cocoa powder? Maybe a little more."

After checking my ingredients I began the next steps. Heat the pot of water, but do not boil it! Mix softened stick of butter with the cocoa powder, but avoid clumps! In lieu of a whisk, I used the tips of my blades to power through the clumps, leaving a very fine paste. A few stray locks of hair were falling into my vision, so without thinking I brushed them away. Had I looked into a mirror at that moment I would see the hysterical chocolate warpaint now on my face, but I continued on obliviously.

"Next, mix in the powder butter combo into the heated pot of water," I said, sounding as deadly serious as if I were ordering around the capitol guard in the Placidium. "Still do not let it boil! Not if you don't want... that to happen." I shuddered at the thought as I remembered the first three attempts. Those were weapons, not treats.

"Now sift the sugar and powdered sugar into the bowl," I went on. "Once again removing any clumps! Leaving clumps makes them..." I paused. "No, just don't leave clumps. Clumps are bad."

"Captain Lito?" a sudden voice called out from beyond the front door. "Are you in today?"

Crap!

"Irelia?"

"O-one moment, Elder Karma!" I squealed. With no time to waste, I tore off the apron I'd been wearing, leaving it haphazardly on the countertop, and dashed out of the kitchen, closing the doors to prevent her from seeing the disaster of a room. Taking a deep breath I pulled open the old sliding door. I couldn't be rude, it was a great honor to have an elder visit my home. As was standard, I bowed in greeting.

When I rose again from the bow, a smirk was plainly visible on Karma's face. "It is that time of year again?" she asked smugly.

I frowned. "What do you mean, Elder Karma?"

She smiled and gently ran her finger across the full length of her cheek. "You've got just a little bit of chocolate right here."

I was horrified. She was talking about Valentines. I wiped the chocolate off my face with about as much grace as a ten-year-old trying to swing around a B.F.S., while my swords jittered behind me in terror.

"You are an open book, Miss Lito." Karma let herself in and, ignoring my blubbering attempts to persuade her otherwise, pushed open the door to take a look at the mess of the kitchen. "Oh dear, this is a disaster."

"I-I-I apologize greatly for the mess!" If I bowed any further my head would likely smash the floorboards.

"It seems we have a lot of work to do. Where are your aprons?"

"I am sor-" I caught myself mid-syllable and mentally rewound the conversation. "Wait, what?"

"Your making chocolates for your special person, are you not?" she asked, to which I hesitantly nodded in agreement. "Well, if you gave them that-" Her hand gestured to the disaster of a kitchen. "- they'll probably get food poisoning." Any argument on my behalf was moot, for even at its best my cooking was a lethal weapon.

Karma took an experimental dip into the cocoa with a finger and stared at it. Her face contorted in disgust. "And you're using cheap powder." With a flourish she hurled the entire bag into the garbage can. "Yi!"

Ignoring my jaw drop of surprise, said Wuju Bladesman appeared almost out of nowhere hauling a giant brown sack through the front door. "This is too heavy for me."

"And I thought you were used to carrying things. Place it down there, please. You can leave now."

Yi did just that, vanishing as soon as he'd come.

I blinked. "Ignoring how you somehow have Master Yi doing your tasks like a servant… um, what is that?" I asked.

"Cocoa beans. Now to make real chocolate..." She paused. "Actually, let's get this place clean first."

Still confused, I helped reorganize the room, cleaning the counter and oven, and getting new ingredients.

"So first, we roast the beans in the oven until they begin to crack." She directed. Haphazardly I did as she said, with only a few minor corrections. Who knew the exact temperature was so important in cooking? If so they should include that in the recipe book! "Now after the beans have been roasted we need to take the nib out of the shell." I looked at the batch and then back at her. There were easily over one hundred beans in there, and I had to crack them all myself? Well, I'm not one to complain. Using a hammer (what an odd tool for cooking), I began the lengthy process of splitting open the shells and putting the nibs, as she called them, in a bowl.

"I still see a couple of nibs with some shell on them." I held back my desire to yell at her as I nonchalantly pulled out the three nibs with shells and removed the tiny pieces from them. Almost as if they understood my blades glared at the woman for me. "Now time for you to use those blades for something useful besides brazenly displaying your emotions. Start grinding them, and please try not to leave any unground." I began to picture each of the nibs as a mini-Karmas as I spun my blades through the mixture. It wasn't long till it was a fine paste. Karma then sauntered over and grabbed up a small bit of my hard work and took a taste. "Oh that is dark chocolate indeed." I followed in suit. All I tasted was bitterness as I spit out the disgusting clump.

"I can't give this to-" I stopped myself before I revealed my crush.

"Of course you can't give this to them yet, we're not even halfway done." I was getting to my limit each time she said we like she was actually doing some of the work. "Now put that chocolate and the cocoa butter into the oven to melt." I still did as I was told, as I did not have time for another failed batch. Step after step I followed intently. Mixing in the ingredients, conching the ingredients for almost ten hours, tempering the chocolate until I got it right on the sixth time, and putting it into the molds I had. If all went as planned I would have lots of tiny chocolate hearts, if I didn't die of exhaustion first. By the time everything was cleaned and put away the sun began to peek over the horizon, informing us of the beginning of Valentines day.

"The chocolate should be hard by now." Karma's voice nearly made me jump in my fatigue. "Now go give it to Riven, I'm sure she's waiting for your chocolate." That's when it occurred to me why she had me do everything. I couldn't give her someone else's handmade chocolate, but I made this all by myself.

"Thank you," I bowed before I took off towards Riven's house, ignoring the fact that she knew who it was for.

Her calling out "To be young and in love" were lost to the wind.

o-O-^-O-o

"One, two, three, four-" I was counting my push-ups when my door swung open.

"Riven!"

"-three hundred and sixty five, three hundred and sixty six-" I looked up at last, suddenly aware of how the temperature of the room seemed to have risen a few degrees. "Oh, Irelia! How are you?"

"Good! Here!"

She didn't look so good, but I wasn't given much time to ruminate as a bag was forced into my face. I took a seat on the cushioned bench behind me with Irelia following suit. I reached into the bag. It was filled with little hard things, so to get a closer look I pulled out one of the pieces. It was a chocolate heart with an Ionian word embossed into it. Frowning and recalling my limited knowledge of the language, I finally remembered that the small symbol meant 'Love'. Reaching in once more, I found a piece of paper hidden at the bottom of the bag.

I like you.

Simple and to the point, just like Irelia, but it put a smile on my face nonetheless. "I like you too, Irelia."

There was no answer. I swiveled my head to be met by Irelia's head resting on my shoulder. Her eyes were closed and her face peaceful as she slept. With a smile I bit into the chocolate. It was just a bit bitter, but it was good. Setting aside the chocolate I rested my head atop hers and began to drift off myself. I had a month to plan for my gift to show just how much she meant to me.

For those wondering or those unsure why Riven has a month to express herself here is why. It is clearly defined that Ionia is supposed to be an Asian country. Many Asian cultures have what is known as "white day" that is used to express thanks for the gifts given on valentines. Though most will associate with the Japanese and anime. I hope you enjoyed the story! And review!