Rawk's 2022 Valentine's Letters

Among the myriad records and documents that Rafaela Leone had found in her investigation of the Duvalier Group, it was quite natural that much of it proved to be fairly inconsequential. However, when she was informed that her subordinates had located several charred fragments of something written on Claudia Duvalier's personal stationery, it became a top priority to have it recovered and pieced together. Some of it had demanded rather exceptional spiritual work to uncover, but by the end, only a few sections of the letter remained indecipherable. But, where physical recovery could not be trusted, simple deductive reasoning could surely take its place, accompanied by the other myriad documents they had. In the end, only a single word remained unknown, and it was perhaps the most important one in the letter

Dear ■■■■■■■■■,

There will never be words to describe how deeply I despise you. How much I wish for nothing more than to crush your mindless, unceasing confidence underfoot, how tirelessly I work to ensure that you never even once gain the admiration you so desperately long for.

And yet, you do not break.

I hate that all the more. Hate that you simply fought me, hate that you seem to have no greater desire than to be seen. The whole of your life built up to nothing, and who do you think it was that ensured you failed in that greatest endeavor? That should have been the end of you, should have been the end of everything that you were. I could finally have simply left that behind, knowing that you were not present any further to remind me of my own failure.

And then I hear that you simply move on once more? That you build a life for yourself yet again? I will make your life a living hell, for the simple fact that you have escaped my grasp for so agonizingly long. The day will come that I crush your everything with my bare hands, that all of your successes and all of your joys turn to nothing more than ash under my gaze. And when I have finally succeeded in everything, when all is ashes, I will ensure there is nothing left.

Nothing but me, and you, and the Court of Miracles. And perhaps then I will laugh as I consign myself to oblivion, knowing that you will never be seen by anyone again. All that you had to do was accept your place, accept my torment, and you surely could have been at my side.

With all of my hate, and all of my love,
Claudia Duvalier

Mm. Well, it didn't paint much different of a picture than had already been painted, did it? But Rafaela sure wished she could figure out who it'd been written for, before Claudia herself seemingly removed the hypothetical recipient. She'd have to look through those records from the orphanage again...

For one who had been raised to be an elder in due time, one who had lived for eight thousand years without ever being even considered for time in the breeding pools, the very idea of love or individualistic care was wholly alien. Valentine Ransom Carter, the Wizard of Mars, was not a man who had thought anything of the idea of love. It had simply seemed some foreign human emotion, no less alien than the idea of spiritual forces. And, yet, here he was. Penning a letter through means that had not been seen on Mars in uncountable eons.

My Dearest Chifuyu,

Would that I could spend ten thousand years simply telling you how much you mean to be, it would still not be enough to convey even one fragment of how deeply I love you. I have known mysteries of the universe that mankind cannot begin to comprehend, have made all reality bend for the purpose of my people's aims.

And yet, Chifuyu, I would give all of that away, and all that I might ever know, simply for the assurance that you remained in my life. I would never have imagined that I might know what it was to have a family, to feel your presence in my heart. We of Mars to not put any value on those with whom we mate, and we treat it as but one more act of community and good nature.

I am, in that respect, a rather poor Martian. I would never dream of sharing myself with any other but you, the woman who has shown me all that is good and beautiful in life and in humanity. It is in my nature, you know, to think of the myriad possibilities, to imagine that which is not so that I may make it into that which is. Yet I would not ever wish to imagine a world where you and Aria are not at my side.

Yes, Chifuyu. I would be overjoyed to marry you, to call you my wife, to pledge all of my being to you. Until every star in the sky has gone dark, until time itself collapses into nothing, I will certainly be with you.

Love,
Valentine

He felt almost awkward, foolish, wearing such formal attire when it was so unlike him. But for the sake of a wedding such as this, for what may well be the most important day of his life, Valentine would certainly do anything. The people of Mars had constructed for the two of them a chapel more elaborate than anything they tended to build, all of their typical utilitarian designs temporarily ignored for the sake of this moment. Valentine was certainly proud of his position in this moment, of the fact that he could make such grand requests of his people.

Not for his own pride, but for the sake of his family's happiness.

When the morning came upon Karakura, Fuuen was quite content to take an earlier tea than normal at his typical haunt. Could he have gone elsewhere? Certainly so, and he knew that he would soon go to traveling once more. But for now, and particularly on this day held in such high regard among the people, Fuuen felt he ought sick around just a bit longer.

After all, he had not a few hours prior left a letter on the door of a woman he found quite charming. He could have delivered it to her directly, perhaps, but why would he do such a thing when there was such beauty in reading it alone? That was the very nature of poetry in itself. It had not been a particularly long letter; in fact, it had been quite remarkably short. But that was the nature of poetry, to find the beauty in such simplicity. Besides, she was hardly a fool. She would understand it well enough, and he allowed himself a small, confident smile as he enjoyed his tea under the sunrise.


A simple poem, delivered in a simple envelope. Addressed to her, and bearing only the two kanji that made up his own given title as indication of who had sent it. Perhaps most would have considered such an approach overly dramatic, maybe even antiquated. But, so far as Fuuen was concerned, it was that very appreciation for such exceptional presentation that made her so captivating.

Despite all the changes happening around the Gotei, there wasn't as much to be done for a simple unseated member of the Earth Affiliation Division. Even if that one member was a member of the nobility, and one of the most well-known members of the Gotei, she didn't actually have many formal responsibilities to attend to. Maybe that would change soon, but not right now. Rukia had something else on her mind.

Dear Shiro,

It's been nearly a year now, and part of me is still almost surprised when I think about the fact that we're together. Not because I'd ever forget about you, but because the whole idea of even being with someone is pretty foreign to me. I almost even forgot to write this, seeing as I haven't thought about Valentine's Day in a long time, but I'm glad someone reminded me so I could send you this. So, please read this carefully. I really mean it. I wanted to tell you to your face, but it's harder than I thought it would be.

I love you.

You're such a good guy, and you've done more for me than ever would have thought I'd want. Maybe that's stupid, maybe it's even childish to be saying something like that so soon. I don't know, you know all too well how little I know about this sort of thing. Even if it is stupid, though, I'd rather be honest with you, because you mean more to me than I really know how to put into words when we're together. I figure writing it all into a letter like this might help me get it across.

I hope you like the picture, too.

Love,
Rukia

Despite her reservations about the action, Rukia applied a layer of lipstick, and kissed the letter next to her name. She was pretty sure that was a thing girls did, right? Folding the letter and slipping it into an envelope, she then made sure to slide in a photo she'd taken of herself. It was...well, she didn't think she looked perfect, but the outfit had been the sort of thing guys liked, right? She thought it looked pretty good, at least.

While Vegas' ability to write a letter was decidedly not good enough for anything long, she could still dictate it by speech. That was why, sitting on Inanna's bed in the closet, there was a neatly folded letter almost entirely written in Alex's handwriting. He'd been incredibly hesitant to help his little girl write anything related to Valentine's, but this was fine in his book.

Dear Nanna,

If you need some cheering up, you know I'm always here to help you! That's what best friends are for, right? And you're definitely my best friend, so I'll do everything I can to help you out! We can eat some chocolates and watch some movies together, I even have a new one that I think'll be good. If you wanna go out and do some other stuff, then that'd be fun too!

Long as we're together, we don't really need any valentines anyway, right? We've got each other!

-Vegas

It seemed there had been a few spaces where even Alex hesitated to write words down, or had paused for a moment before continuing. Just a few points where the letters seemed to have been written with a less certain hand. But, in the end, it looked to have been exactly what Vegas wanted to convey.

To the Scarlet-Haired Beast Upon the Mountain,

It is true, that the swordsman climbed the mountain into Heaven. It is true, that he battled with the beast at the peak for the sake of salvation. And, above all, it is true that he took that beast as his student for her own sake.

But what is not true, what has been lost to the winds of time, is the idea that the swordsman had already achieved such perfection before that fated day. For every step that he took upon that mountain was unsure, unsteady. His mastery, that had been so lauded, was no more firm in his grasp than all the sand in the desert. And yet, he still reached that peak, and he still challenged the beast that day. Some would ask why, but that is a foolish question.

If he stepped into heaven on that day, he would have done so alone. And what happiness would there be in that, when life on the Earth with his student was all the more appealing?

-The Swordsman of the Wind

Mm. It could certainly have been better, couldn't it have? Well, that was no matter. Fuuen was willing to embarrass himself a bit for the sake of being honest with his student. She was, after all, quite important to him.

Much as Alex would have liked to simply sleep in every morning, to stay in bed with his beautiful wife and just relax, that wasn't exactly practical. But, if he was going to be waking up early anyway, then he'd figured the least he could do was wake up early enough to handle the morning prep for the bakery. After all, what kind of husband would he be if he didn't help Nel out with work? Today, though, he had to wake up even earlier than normal. He'd left a little letter on Nel's nightstand, no easy feat, folded carefully before he went downstairs:

Hey Nel,

Love you.

The text was accompanied by a somewhat crudely drawn heart, and in many ways, it was probably the exact sort of letter one might expect from Alex. He knew that, of course, and that was why he'd made sure to have a second letter ready. This one he set neatly on the table in the kitchen, right where he was certain Nel would see it. It was in a neat, plain little envelope, on equally plain paper, but it had much more to say.

Nel,

I fucking love you. Maybe I shouldn't just start a letter like this with a word like that, but I'm not really good at this sort of romantic stuff, you know that. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about how much I love you, and about how much you mean to me.

You changed my whole life, babe. I don't want to sound like a crybaby or anything, like I was just some pathetic sadsack until I met you, but I'd be so much worse as a person if we hadn't hooked up at the beach that day. I'd never be here, having a family life like this, and I'd never trade what we've got here for anything. If I could ask you to marry me again, I'd fucking do it, because god damn it I want to do everything I can just to show you how much I love you.

I want to keep on like this forever, Nel. There's other stuff I want to talk to you about, but I don't think it'd be good to bring it up in a letter like this. Besides, that'd be getting away from the whole reason I sent this, and that's to say happy Valentine's Day.

Love, Alex

God, he was fucking awful at this. Hopefully she liked it, though.

Erchanhardt had quite appreciated the letter from Himiko, and he knew it would only be right to send one back. Ah, he hadn't written a letter like this in quite a long while. He was certainly rusty by now.

My dear Himiko,

I think that it would be an understatement beyond all measure if I were to simply say that I love you, but I will certainly still say it. After all, it is still quite true.

You may be quite different, and perhaps most would not think that you are the sort of woman I would love, but I think that your willingness to be so different is precisely one of the most beautiful things about you. You bring such vibrance and joy to my life, and I would never wish for anything else. I am glad to know that you feel so special with me, for I certainly believe that you are exceptional.

I, as well, have quite hoped for another camping trip with you. When next we meet, I will have a trip prepared, that we may travel to the mountains and enjoy some time alone. I hope that will be to your liking, and I hope that what I have readied for you will be to your liking.

Your loving boyfriend,
Erchanhardt

Sealing the letter, Erchanhardt looked to the rest of his preparations. Naturally, there was rather little to bring, for the two of them were the sorts to live off the land as much as possible. However, the one thing that he did need to bring was perhaps more important than anything else; a magnificently ornate ring, in a box of luxurious velvet. He knew that most women might have found such a thing a bit too extravagant, jeweled as it was, but he also knew Himiko appreciated such things.

Now he simply had to work up his nerve, didn't he?

It was a matter of courtesy, and of obligation, that a woman give out chocolates on this holiday. Shaoling certainly had no one in her life that she felt romantically toward, but it would have still been a failing on her end if she did not give the obligatory chocolates to those in her circle. It was almost irritating to do, but someone like her did not let personal concerns get in the way of obligation.

Yuujin,

You've done well in your training lately. Take the day off. Overwork will just make it a waste of time, both yours and mine.

Enjoy the chocolates.

-Shaoling

In truth, even writing that much had made Shaoling feel almost uncomfortable. There was a sense that she should have said more, and another sense that she should have said less. Maybe even nothing at all, really. Their relationship was one that she didn't exactly know how to handle, and perhaps that was why she was so insistent on maintaining it, on being the teacher that she herself had always wanted. One present in her student's life, who ensured their well-being. Most might even have seen her as something of an overprotective parent, if only because she was so focused in her oversight of Yuujin's training.

Maybe that was why there was a second letter, already burning outside.

Yuujin,

Thank you for coming with me. You're an exceptionally bright student, and one that I'm proud of. I do hope that you know that, even if we do not speak on personal matters often.

You may take the day off, if you so wish. Enjoy your day off, and the chocolates-

Anything else was already gone. And, thankfully, the whole text would be soon. Even if she'd written it down, she didn't much feel the need to convey that to anyone.

Ah, wasn't it the season of love? It was, wasn't it? Oh, how exciting, how joyous! Would that Cresimir could have made such a thing the case every day of every year, he still would not have had the time to convey every thought that raced through his mind about the woman that had become his object of overwhelming focus.

To my dearest, most magnificent, most beautiful Queen,

My every day, every night, near every moment since our meeting has been all but consumed by thoughts of you, of the violence you display, of the savagery you are capable of, the very fear you instill into the heart of even one so steeped in it as I. Tell me, V, do you believe in the nature of love at first sight? For that matter, do you believe in the nature of love at all?

I do not, but I do believe in the idea of a soulmate. That every man and every woman has, in the world, someone who is absolutely perfect for them, who arouses in them a desire so absolute and so complete that it simply cannot be ignored, even by the greatest of wills. It is simply the law of nature that everyone must strive to pass on their genes, their nature.

The day will come, V, that you and I surely pass on our genes together. Of that I am absolutely confident, and until that day comes I certainly will not rest. But I know that you will not accept that offer easily, perhaps not even willingly. And it is that ferocity which makes you all the more alluring.

Your eternal and ever-present admirer,
Cresimir Valmanway Engelweiss XIV, King of Nightmares

And off the letter went, sent away by one of his myriad minions. They would certainly not be allowed back into this place until that letter had been delivered to its intended recipient, and Cresimir would know. He would most certainly, definitely know.