An old piece by now XD Somehow I always forgot about it.

She had expected to see him standing in the door, waiting for her. Frowning, Lucia slowly turned the key; with a low "click" the door sprang open.

It was Valentine´s day. Normally Bastian would've organised some sort of surprise. Two years ago he had filled the whole apartment with red roses – it had taken hours to clean up the next day. And five years ago he had ambushed her, taken her to a private hill outside of the city (she never found out how much money he had to pay for that evening) and then they had a nice picnic while watching the night sky.

Lucia stepped into the dark hallway. She quietly put her handbag on the drawer and slipped out of her coat. The whole apartment was quiet. Was he even at home?

She kicked her shoes off. His coat and shoes were here at least. Maybe he was hiding somewhere. Lucia slowly pushed the door to the living room open and peeked inside.

It was empty.

Her frown deepened. She entered the room; it looked exactly like she had left it that morning. The pillows of the couch were lying around (they had had a little pillow fight; Bastian had practically asked for it!) and the breakfast crockery was still on the table. That was even more strange; Bastian liked order and dirty plates were the bane of his life.

She started to worry. Was she so early that he had no time to clean up yet? A glance to the clock next to the table showed that she was perfectly on time. As always.

"Bastian!" Nobody answered.

She walked back into the hallway and checked the kitchen. It was empty as well; he hadn't made dinner. He had always made an elaborate dinner. Bastian knew that she loved his cooking.

Then he could only be in the bedroom. A crooked smile crept on Lucia´s face. Maybe he wanted to surprise her with something completely else. Her hips automatically started to sway slightly when she walked over to the dark brown door. The door opened with a low squeak. The room was dim.

"Bastian?" she whispered. She saw him lying in bed. "Bastian?" He didn't react.

Lucia frowned again. She walked over briskly and leaned over him. His breathing sounded strange; it was raspy and short. Blindly, she reached out for the light switch.

"Bastian!" The light fell on sickly white skin. A few yellow locks were sticking to his neck. Lucia sat down on the edge of the bed and turned him around; that seemed to wake him up. His dark green eyes fluttered open.

"M'love?" he mumbled and laid his arm sluggishly over his eyes to block out the light. Lucia pushed his hair out of his face.

"How are you feeling?"

"Brilliantly." A smile tugged at Lucia´s lips; of course he wouldn't admit anything. He let his arm sink slowly and looked up at her with glassy eyes. "I'm sorry."

Lucia frowned. "What are you talking about, you silly man?"

"I couldn't prepare anything but this little thing." He reached over to the nightstand and searched around in the top drawer. He pulled out a little box wrapped in a light yellow, sparkling paper.

"Thank you," Lucia said, lowly, and caressed his face. He tried to smile at her – his beautiful, bright smile – but it looked more like a grimace. Lucia turned her eyes to the present and carefully unpacked it; she never ripped the paper. You could still use it.

The box was dark blue and had a velvety surface. Lucia tilted her head towards the smiling Bastian. "Jewellery? Bastian, you know that I almost never wear jewellery." He only continued to smile.

"Just open it, my love."

With a sigh Lucia opened the box. There really was no ring or necklace or bracelet in it; there was only a folded piece of paper. Lucia raised one eyebrow and took the paper out, putting the box on the bed. Frowning, she unfolded the note and read it.

After reading it, she turned to Bastian with a gentle, bright smile. Bastian pushed himself into a sitting position, coughed once (away from her, of course), and grabbed her free hand, pressing a kiss on her knuckles. "A little bird told me that you've wanted to visit your nephew and the rest of your family for quite some time now. I hope you don't punish me for preparing a week full of joy."

"Be quiet, you," she answered in a playfully threatening voice. "I would kiss you, if you weren't sick."

"Oh! How cruel fate can be!" He fell back dramatically, a woeful expression on his face, which was quickly destroyed by an amused grin. "No love for me on Valentine´s day."

"Hush." She let her fingers glide over his cheek, caressing his white face before standing up. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes, my love." He suppressed a yawn. "A bit."

Lucia blew him kiss – which he caught with his hand – and left to make him a plain Valentine´s dinner.