Disclaimer: I don't own Van Helsing or Dracula, just April, and the story.

Author's note: I apologize for this taking so long. I've been really really busy. Thanks for being patient! And thank you again, Unrequited Lover, for your great suggestion. I couldn't have written this without it!

The Count sat quietly on the bed, still clad only in the cloak April had given him on the way to her house. He sat and looked around at the room he'd be sleeping in. It was somewhat comfortable, with an antique, wooden desk and cushioned chair in the corner and a thick, red rug on the floor. The bed he was sitting on was a double bed with white sheets and a thick, hand-knitted quilt with flowers and nature scenes all over it. Not exactly his taste, but it was warm, and he drew it over himself, but tying the cloak around his waist.

For the first time in hundreds of years, he found that he was very sleepy. He'd been tired, weary, drained, and exhausted, but not sleepy. There was a large difference. He knew he couldn't sleep, though. Not after what April had said to him. Her words had drilled into his mind, and all he could think about was how utterly true they were. He truly had nowhere to go, he had no powers, no relatives, no undead minions, no wings, no brides, no icy realm that was all his own…. All he had was April, and a weak, human body that felt every little thing-fear, anger, regret, sorrow, and something else he couldn't exactly classify. It was a curious sensation, but he thought it may be too dangerous to confront at the moment. Plus, a sudden knocking interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in…" he croaked in a weak voice as he unlocked the door and then climbed back into the warm bed. April entered, carrying a bowl and a mug.

"I brought you some supper, Count." She said, her tone icy. Obviously, her thoughts were still on their argument, too.

April honestly didn't know whether she should be angry with him or not. She handed him the bowl and cup, and she could swear she's seen it again. The flash of human she had seen in him when she first resurrected him. He looked so human, laying there, eating eagerly, yet clumsily, with not shirt on, and his hair a mess on his shoulders. Yet still… there was that cold, superiority in his black eyes when he had beheld her as she entered.

"You're welcome!" she spat after a moment, forgetting her brief sympathy for him in her anger. He could have at least thanked her! She'd even burned her finger making this supper. She began to storm out again, cursing herself for being so angry over such a little thing, even though it really bothered her. She padded to the wooden door, turning the handle and beginning to step through the threshold.

"Th-thank you… Miss April…" she heard his deep voice say from behind her. She turned, startled that he actually said something, and more startled that what he said had been a "thank you." She turned to face him. "Please… do not go. I wish to speak with you."

"Very well…" she came to the bed and sat beside him. He set his food aside and faced her.

"Miss April. I have found that you are… correct. I, Count Vladislaus Dracula though I am, have nothing. No longer do I have my brides, servants… wings. The truth of your words have greatly disturbed me. At first, they angered me, and I somewhat forgot that I am now a frail human. I cannot yet accept that, but I know that what you said to me was true. I wish to apologize. I should not have ordered you around like a serving wench. You are truly… all I have." He gazed into the window across from his bed. The white flakes of snow had seemed to double in size and were falling quicker than before. The embers of the dying fire in his fireplace reflected off the glass. They waved like restless monarch butterflies in the midst of a fiery red flower. And among them, he saw himself. A gasp escaped his lips.

With one movement, he stood, the quilt falling away from his body, leaving only the cloak which he had tied around himself. She stared at him, a little annoyed, unsure of what he was doing, especially because he was in the middle of telling her she was right. She couldn't help but stare, admiring his strong chest as he moved to the window. She turned toward the direction in which he had gone, still wondering.

He reached the window and gazed at it in horror for a moment. Then slowly, he reached forward, touching the icy glass surface lightly with his fingertips. His long nails made a slight tapping noise as they collided with the silvery glass, and he pulled them away, as if frightened. Then, his hand moved to his own face, feeling the cheek as though making sure it were really there. He stared, transfixed, unmoving for about ten seconds at his reflection. He never blinked, but only gazed at his fair reflection in the mirror-like window. Then, silently as ever, his head dropped against the smoothness of the glass and he wept.

April had been watching him the whole time, wondering what he was doing. When he gazed, so fascinated by his own reflection, she finally understood. Vampires had no reflection, she'd read, so this was new for him again. She didn't know why he was so moved by it exactly, but she knew she would be affected if it were her reflection she was seeing after four hundred years of not seeing it.

"Count…" she slowly approached his right side as he sobbed. She couldn't tell exactly why he felt this way, but suddenly all the annoyance and even anger she had felt was gone. At the sight of this broken man, she couldn't help but do what her instincts told her. "What is the matter?" she looked up at him, but he didn't move; though he'd stopped weeping. His eyes were closed tightly even though a silent river of tears wound down his cheeks. He looked as though he was trying to compose himself, but couldn't exactly do it.

Without waiting for him to respond in any way to her question, she gently wrapped her arms around his middle, for it was all she could reach. She pressed her cheek against his warm skin, not letting go, and closing her eyes.

At her touch, he slowly lifted his head from the glass, looking down at her beside him. He was taken aback by the comfort she was offering him. His first impulse, as a former vampire, would have been to push her away, but not now. He knew that he was different now that he was alive, and whether he wanted to or not, he knew he couldn't push away the woman to whom he owed his life. He took a deep breath, noticing how she was somewhat lifted as his chest rose with the intake of air. Lifting his right arm, he drew her close, surprisingly feeling no lust whatsoever, which had been all he'd been able to feel as a fiend of the night.

He raised his head again to look at the window, just making sure he had seen his reflection. Sure enough, it was there, grimacing back at him. And that was when it finally hit him. There was no returning to his old ways, not matter what. He was stuck, as a mere human. He had known it, but it had not fully sunken in. Now he was certain, and the feeling was overwhelming him again.

April suddenly pulled back and moved away from him. She sat on his bed and made a motion for him to join her. He obeyed and sat, looking down at his lap, cursing himself for showing weakness. He wanted to curse April for bringing him back as such a weakling, but he knew in his heart that this was the real him. He couldn't hide from it now that he was completely human.

"Count… what ever is ailing you?" she asked finally, concern evident in her voice. "I know this must be more than a little difficult, making the adjustment back to being mortal. I wish to help you. I thought I was repaying you when I resurrected you, but now I'm not so sure... I am causing you such pain. I should not have intervened! It is God's work not mine, I am a fool! I… feel so stupid for being such a nuisance. I wish to make it up to you, I suppose." She looked down now.

"Miss April, if you wish to make it up to me than tell me exactly why you brought me back to life." He said solemnly.

"Very well. Well, as you know, I owed you a debt, and I decided this was a way I could do it. I did so much research… I read all about you, and I almost decided not to. All the things about your past… what you've done to so many poor souls… I knew it wasn't exactly right. However, I rationalized that I was simply repaying you. It was an honourable thing to do! But… I knew it was not exactly. I was being selfish."

"Than why did you resurrect me? You are an intelligent woman, I take, so why did you?" he raised a black eyebrow.

"Do you really wish to know?" she asked quietly.

"I would like nothing else, my dear," his eyes bored into hers, not letting them go. She thought that maybe this penetrating stare was one talent he had even though he was not a vampire. Indeed, she seemed to not want to tear her gaze away, much less lie under that stare.

"This is why, Count." With one motion, she leaned forward on the bed and kissed him on the lips, her arms thrown around his neck.

To be continued!