It was dark, and a streak of light followed by the loud boom of thunder woke Chloe. She sat up and looked around her, noting the Valentine was gone. Flinging back the covers, she stood, wincing when she heard another clack of thunder shake the house.

The smell of cooking registered, and she followed her nose into the main room, where she saw Valentine at the stove, cooking something that smelled delicious.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, taking in her mussed state.

"I could eat," she admitted, walking past him and towards the set of glass doors at the other end of the room. The storm that was raging was intense, and as the lightning pierced the dark sky, it lit up the courtyard.

"Did the storm wake you?" Valentine inquired from across the room.

"It was either that or the smell of food." Chloe looked over her shoulder at him. He looked relaxed, and she couldn't remember the last time she had seen him that way. Even twelve years ago, before she had left, he had been stressed about what was about to happen.

Chloe watched the rain in silence as he continued to cook, and she only joined him when he told her the food was ready.

They sat at the table and ate in silence. Chloe didn't know how to begin the conversation that she knew they had to have. She needed him to do the heavy lifting, and he must have sensed it.

"Should we start at the beginning, when I first realized I loved you, or twelve years ago when I broke us both by sending you away?" He leaned forward, watching her closely.

"Would you do it again, send me away?" she asked.

"Yes, I would. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it is the truth. It would have been selfish of me to keep you near. To let you make your life about mine. My only thought was that if you were safe, everything else would be alright." He stood and picked up their empty plates, walking them to the sink. Then he turned and looked at her from across space. "I was selfish in the end anyway because I sent you away with words of love despite all of my best intentions. I didn't want to do that. I wanted you to hate me so much that you would forget me."

Chloe shook her head. "Why do you always underestimate my love for you? You could have told me you hated me, and I still would have waited. Some would call it weakness or lack of self-respect, but I call it love. It's not something you can turn on and off like a light switch." Chloe stood too, moving to sit on the couch and look into an empty fireplace. "Let's not go over it all again. Let's talk about when I showed up in Drevniye last year."

"Alright," Valentine agreed, walking towards her and sitting in a chair opposite Chloe. "When I got out of that truck and saw you, I thought I was dreaming. I hadn't slept in almost two days. When I realized you were real, I was angry."

Chloe nodded. She remembered the moment well.

"I knew what you wanted, and I couldn't give it to you. You wanted me to be pleased to see you and greet you with words of love and welcome, but all I could think of was the battle that was coming and how you were right in its path. I knew if you were hurt, everything we had survived would be for nothing. I felt helpless." Valentine rubbed his face. "You are so beautiful. Seeing you as a woman and not a girl stole my breath for a moment."

His words stole Chloe's breath.

"You are my greatest weakness. Not letting you stay, not giving you everything you want, is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. When you asked me to save Dimitrie, I couldn't say no. You looked at me with such faith."

"You would have saved him even if I hadn't been there," Chloe insisted.

"No, Chloe, I wouldn't. I would have let him die, someone would have taken his place, and the war would have continued. You're begging for his life was like a punch to the gut. It reminded me that I no longer have empathy or concern for my fellow man, especially my enemy. That's a dangerous line for a man to walk. You made me feel ashamed." Valentine shook his head. "I wanted to get you away from there, somewhere safe, so I arranged a swap of personnel and sent you to your father, but I was ashamed once again when I saw how much you had missed him. It's true. I didn't keep him from you, but I didn't insist that he go and see you either. Keeping him close was a way to keep you close."

Chloe stood and walked toward the glass doors, absorbing all he said. It was a lot.

"I'm so afraid that you will see me for the weak man I have become. I can fight a war and kill a man, but that doesn't make me strong. Choosing to save a man I should kill makes me strong, and you have proven that you are stronger than me."

"It's still in you, Valentine. I know it is. You did save Dimitrie. You talked with him, decided to trust him, and made a plan to end the war. Other than asking you to save him, the rest was all you. Don't give me too much credit." Chloe turned to face him. "I think it is safe to say that we are better together."

Valentine nodded. "We are, but I will always worry. I knew what had to happen with Lada. I had to let it happen to keep you safe. It was a moment I had to trust my enemy to keep you safe. Thank God he did. He not only kept you safe, but Dimitrie also gave you one of his most prized possessions to do so."

"What was that?" Chloe asked with a frown.

"The knife. It was the only thing left of his father that he had."

"And he gave it to me?" Chloe asked, swallowing hard at the thought.

"Yes, he did, and I made sure that he got it back," Valentine assured her, knowing what her next question was going to be. "It was a blessing that you visited Drevniye. You changed the course of the war."

"I did?" she asked, surprised.

"You did, simply by having a forgiving heart. Now, I can be here with you if you still want me." Valentine looked so hesitant and unsure.

"I still want you, Valentine." Chloe's voice grew husky as she said the words. "I have one more question, though?"

Chloe crossed her arms, rubbing them. "What did happen to Lada? I know you said she was dead, but how?"

"I don't know. Dimitrie seems to think it was an inside job. He is trying to search for answers, but I don't care either way. She's dead, and that's all that matters." He shrugged.

"But you still have enemies?" Chloe asked.

"I do, and keeping you near me will always mean there could be the potential for danger. I hope people will forget about who I am in time, but I don't know that they will. Some of the stories are exaggerated, but there is truth in them. Can you live with that?"

Chloe nodded. "What do we do now?" she asked.

"I would like to fall asleep in your arms again. I think that would be a good start," Valentine suggested.

"What about what people are saying about me being a spy?" Chloe asked.

"I have an idea about where that came from. I think your new friend Elliot didn't take your dumping him as well as you thought. Ben has some connections and is looking into it. He said he had been through something similar."

Chloe nodded, remembering the way the press had painted Ben as a murderer.

"I'm sorry that it is happening to you. It is my fault. If I could save you from it, I would, but all we can do is ride it out until it is forgotten."

Chloe nodded her agreement before moving on to her next thought. "My father, why didn't you tell me about him?" Chloe asked.

"I thought you knew. I didn't know you hadn't been in contact with him. I found the entire thing odd, so I did some digging." Valentine stood and approached her. "Lada's spy was Doreen."

"How do you know?" Chloe asked, her face growing pale.

"It was when Cindy said that they all thought you had been kidnapped. I never told anyone that story, nor did your father. It had to be someone else." Valentine walked towards her, placing his hands on her arms. "Your father realized what was going on, but it was too late. When Lada died, Doreen realized her place was no longer secure, so she convinced your father that they should get married. Now he's trapped. She thinks your dead, which means he can't contact you."

Chloe felt weak with relief, ashamed that she had doubted her father.

"Dimitrie is working on getting him out of the country safely. We both agree it is time for him to retire." Valentine pulled Chloe close when she started crying.

"It's time to start over, my love," Valentine said softly into her ear.

Chloe nodded. "We never have to be apart again, do we?"

"I'll stay by your side as long as you want me," he promised. "I don't suppose you would consider marrying me?" he asked in a hesitant voice.

"Yes, I'll marry you, my Valentine." Chloe looked up at him with a watery smile, and he wiped away her tears.

"I promise to spend the rest of my life making the last twelve years up to you." He squeezed her tight.

"No, those twelve years made me who I am. I only want you to promise never to let me go again."

"That's a promise I can keep," Valentine said, lowering his lips to hers.

Much later, Valentine heard Chloe rifling through her bag in the corner of the bedroom, and he sat up and turned on a lamp.

"What are you doing?" he asked, squinting at her in the light.

Chloe found what she was looking for and walked back toward him. They had spent the rest of the night and well into the early morning relearning each other's bodies. Their connection was stronger than it had ever been because neither one had held anything back.

"This is yours. I've been holding onto it for you." Chloe climbed back into bed and handed him the book of poems he had returned to her twelve years earlier.

"I thought you got rid of it," he said. Chloe could hear the roughness in his voice, and she saw his throat swallow back strong emotion.

"Never, it was my piece of you."Chloe curled into his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat. It was her heart now and forever.

True love had conquered all.

The End