"February fourteenth is coming soon." Aramina said dreamily "The more romantic time of the year!"
"Here we go again." Corinne chuckled from where she sat on her bed polishing her sword "Is there a holiday that isn't romantic to you?"
"You even think Halloween is romantic." Renee pointed out.
"Well, a girl scared to death, and her love gets to defend her from the spooks!" Aramina said dramatically.
"Did that seriously come from a musketeer?" Corinne asked.
Viveca rolled her eyes "She once told me she'd act scared just to give the guy his pride."
"Act?" Corinne raised an eyebrow "Why not just be you?"
"It's for certain reasons." Aramina answered "See, a man runs on self esteem. If he loses it, he starts moping. So it's important to push the 'knight-in-shining-armor' bit."
Renee scoffed "Whoa."
Corinne shook her head, stood up and slid her sword into the panel of her skirt "I have to go. Louis wants to take the balloon up, so yours truly has to assist." she tried to sound annoyed, but she couldn't keep the sparkle out of her blue eyes.
"Yeah. Sure." The other three said in unison.
Corinne smiled then walked out the door.
"I will never understand that girl." Aramina said with a shake of her head "Never."
Louis watched as the balloon filled up with air... or heat, and nodded contented "Amazing."
Pierre, a musketeer shrugged slightly "Yeah."
Louis looked over at him "What's with the long face?"
"Oh, my girlfriend broke up with me." Pierre grumbled "Said I didn't do enough."
"What's that mean?"
"Girls like to be pampered." the musketeer took his hat off and slapped it against his knee "They like guys to do 'grand gestures' to 'prove' that they 'really love' them."
Louis became stock still "They do?"
"Yeah. If you don't, then they get all offended then forget about you all together." Pierre shook his head "Believe me. If you don't impress a girl enough, she'll leave you... in a heartbeat." then he walked away.
Louis frowned slightly then spotted Corinne walking towards him. What if Pierre was right?
The next morning when the girls went into the castle for their daily cleaning. Sitting on a pedestal at the base of the grand staircase was a large bouquet of flowers. An array of pinks, yellow, blues and purples. Roses, forget-me-nots, sunflowers, poppies, and a whole bunch of others. All in all, it was the most beautiful arrangement that anyone had ever seen.
"Whoa." Renee said "That's big."
"And pretty." Viveca added.
"And... Oooh!" Aramina squealed "I think it's for..." she looked around "Corinne?"
"Yes?" The blond called from the top of the stairs "What did I miss?"
"Did you see these flowers?" Viveca asked.
"What kind of question is that?" Renee pretended to be blinded "You can't miss 'em!"
Corinne barely glanced at the bouquet "Pretty. Now let's get to work."
Louis frowned as he finished closing the door to his office "Okay... plan B."
"Town patrol!" Renee said with relief "Most exiting part of the day!"
Corinne nodded in agreement as she pulled her horse out of its stall "More entertaining than cleaning... sometimes." then she noticed her friends staring at her "What?"
"Look at that getup!" Viveca gasped "Talk about fashion!"
Corinne looked over at her horse who was now sporting a brand new saddle and bridle etched in gold "Mm. Must be a treat from Treville for good behavior."
"Yeah right." Renee shook her head "You and not us?"
"Eh. You never know." Corinne shrugged then mounted up "Come on. Let's ride."
"My guess..." Aramina started.
"Louis." the other two finished.
Louis let out a huff of air and shook his head "Plan C."
So, for the next few days, Louis tried everything under the sun to impress Corinne, but she seemed completely oblivious. And I mean Completely.
He tried decorating the balloon. She didn't comment.
He tried having the girls' chores done before they got there. She did them anyways.
He even tried a note. She thought it was from a small boy from town that had called her 'purty'.
He got Treville to get them a day off. Corinne went out to the training grounds and fought with the men all day.
He tried cracking a few jokes. She'd blink then say "I'm sorry. What?"
And that's just a few of the things he tried, and Corinne seemed completely clueless to his efforts.
He had just failed at Plan Y when he fell back on his throne on the evening of the 13th and ran a hand through his hair "I thought girls caught on quick. Maybe she's a bit more blond than she seems." he thought for the better part of an hour before he finally grinned and snapped his fingers "I got it!"
"Good morning love seekers!" Aramina said in an announcer's voice "The weather is bright and sunny with the prospect of many first kisses!"
Corinne groaned "Aramina! You had to go there?"
"By the way," Renee added, opening one of her eyes "The wake up call was for all 'love-seekers'. Does that mean I still get to sleep?"
"Get up!" Aramina ordered "We've all got big days! And dates."
"I don't." Corinne said.
"Me either." Viveca added.
Renee raised her hand "Ditto."
"I knew you didn't." Aramina said smugly "That's why I found you some."
"You didn't!" The other three gasped, sitting straight up "ARAMINA!"
"Who. Hold your fire!" Aramina held up her hands in defense "I didn't get you one Corinne."
"Oh. Okay."
"Okay?" Renee growled "Okay?! She got me a date and you say OKAY!?"
Corinne grinned "It may be good for you." Corinne grabbed her boots off the floor and pulled them on "Last one to the stables is a rotten apple!"
Later that evening, when the girls returned, Corinne found a note laying on her bed that said:
Come to the Castle Immediately
She raised an eyebrow "Ooookay."
"Must be important." Renee commented "You'd probably better go."
"Oh okay." Corinne turned back towards the door "Well. See ya." she rolled her eyes at a thought that went through her head and left.
"I wonder what that was about." Viveca whispered.
Aramina shrugged "I have no clue."
Corinne jogged up the castle steps and reached for the doorknob to the front doors, but they swung open before she could even touch them.
"Hello, My Lady." Louis said with a bow, then he grabbed her elbow "Follow me."
"Louis we..." she was cut off as he suddenly pulled her through the door "I thought Madame De' Bosse was the only one who did that!" she gasped as she struggled to regain her footing.
Louis led her down a hall, around a corner, down a small flight of stairs, around another corner and into the ballroom "Tada!"
Corinne's mouth dropped open, she couldn't help it.
The whole ballroom had been decorated. There were pots of roses. Streamers and beads hanging from the chandeliers and draped across the roof. A red carpet was rolled across the floor nearly smothered in rose pedals. Candles flickered gently from their positions in their candelabras and candlestick which were set near the roses, casting a soft glow on the room. One small table was set off to the side covered in an assortment of chocolates. Pink curtains with a layer of red tulle were hanging over the windows, tied back with sparkling gold ribbon. The soft strains of 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' floated from somewhere. The smell of roses and strawberries were heavy in the air.
"D... did you... do this?" she finally managed to ask.
"Yep." He nodded proudly.
"H-how?" She stuttered "When? I was in here this morning!"
"Last night." Louis shrugged then thought happily "I did it!" then he added "I picked up a tip from Aramina that you like the chocolates with the peanut butter in the middle."
Corinne slowly started to shake her head.
"And I guessed you liked pink and red. And it's Valentines so it fit well. Plus Viveca said you like strawberries and..."
"Louis Stop!" Corinne cried suddenly "Please." she walked over to the record player that was behind a table and turned it off.
He froze and turned to face her confused "What's wrong?"
"What is with all this?" Corinne asked shaking her head "And not just this room. The flowers, the saddle and bridle. The breakfast sent to our apartment. The note." she rubbed her forehead "Everything that you've been doing the past few days." she dropped her hand to her side "Why?"
He started twiddling his thumbs "I... I was... trying to... to... Um..." he huffed "Pierre said... and I thought..."
"Pierre?" Corinne laughed "Louis. Pierre doesn't know the first thing about girls. He's gone through seven dates in the past two months."
Louis stared at her for a second then shook his head "Boy I did a good job of making a fool of myself."
"No you didn't." Corinne said gently "I can't tell you how flattered... and flustered, I am that anyone, let alone a king would go through all that trouble for me."
"I... guess I was trying to get your attention." He said with a crooked smile.
"You don't need to catch my attention, Louis." She placed her hand on top of his, stopping his twiddling thumbs "Believe me, falling out of a balloon did a really good job of it."
They both chuckled then she added "I know some girls would be blown away by all that you did. Aramina would have been passed out from screaming so much if a boy had done that to her. But... I prefer them to just be... them." She looked up into his face "Without all the extra flowers and chocolates, and... everything."
Louis raised a slight eyebrow "You're sure I don't have to catch you attention in some exotic way?"
Corinne laughed softly and shook her head "I like you just the way you are. The King of France who flies with his own invention." he smiled ever so slightly but it didn't quite reach his eyes. She took a deep breath and sighed "Okay. Let me rephrase that." she placed her other hand on top the others, her cheeks turned a deep pink "I love you... just the way you are."
That time, the smile reached into his eyes. He took her hands in his and looked down at her "I believe I can say the same. Female Musketeer. Oh!" he smiled "I almost forgot. Plan Z."
She frowned "Louis..."
"Don't worry. This was in long before Pierre got to me." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a square, flat box "Here."
She slowly took it and even more slowly, opened the lid. Inside the box was a golden locket. A fancy C was engraved on the front, a rose wove through the letter.
"It's beautiful." She breathed, then she looked up at him and smiled "Thank you."
He just nodded slightly.
"Oh would you kiss her already!" A voice hissed.
Corinne spun around and Louis looked around her to see, none other than, the other three girls, and three guys, peeking around the corner.
"What are you doing?" Corinne demanded, crossing her arms as Louis made a quick escape.
"Oh, I saw the ballroom earlier so I invited the town up for a party." Aramina answered "I came to warn you that a mob of party-goers are coming."
"Exactly." Viveca nodded "And you need to get changed."
"This wasn't what I had in mind." Louis chuckled, watching people dancing.
"At least no one knows what this was really for." Corinne said, elbowing him slightly.
"No kidding." Louis shook his head "I can't believe I did that."
Corinne just smiled as she fingered the locket. She couldn't help but be secretly pleased and thrilled over all he had done.
"By the way." He grabbed her hands and pulled her towards one of the side doors "I think Aramina interrupted something."
This time she was baffled "What?"
As soon as they reached the out doors, he pulled her out of sight of the doorway and kissed her.
"Oh." She thought happily as her eyes slid closed "That."
(Okay. Was it stupid? I mean the ending. Or all of it. I hadn't really thought of doing another Valentine one, but Popalot asked, then this idea popped into my head. So I wrote it... today. :) I know you people think I have an obession with lockets, but I just think they're the most beautiful and romantic and sweet thing a boy can give a girl. I hope you liked! Laterz!)