A/N: So I kind of stole this idea from Raye1084, after I read her fifty sentences for Baron and Haru from 'The Cat Returns.' However, these are my own topics. Kind of. I cheated and used the '100 Themes' thing I heard about on deviantART a while back for some, inspiration for others. Anyway, so it's Valduggery (of varying degrees), switching between their POVs. Some are quotes from the books, though I was too lazy to confirm them so they may be off (3, 27, and 44; 4 and 5 are a little bit from scenes in Playing w/Fire). Jeez, this is a long author's note. I'll be done now...


1. Introduction

Their introduction was not entirely normal; he was a skeleton for one, and he set a man on fire to save her.

2. Light

She truly believed she was the light of his dull, bleak, boring existence.

3. Dark

"You asked what my nature is. It is a dark and twisted thing."

4. Cut

She could barely contain the gasp as she watched Vengeous swing at him with a sword sharp enough to cut through bone.

5. Dream

The only thing she lamented about her new job was that she never had pleasant dreams anymore.

6. Memory

His memory was forever burned into her brain, and she could never forget him even when she wanted to.

7. Insanity

His insanity and eccentricities never failed to annoy her; the man never knew when to be serious.

8. Smile

His face was stuck in a perpetual smile, but she could read every expression that crossed it.

9. Blood

Watching the blood seep from the palm of her hand was very unnerving, but he quickly pressed his shirt to the cut to stop the bleeding.

10. Gray

The skies always seemed gray when she wasn't around.

11. War

War had changed him, both mentally and physically. But if it hadn't, he never would have met Valkryie Cain.

12. Breathe

She sometimes forgot to breathe when he stood too close.

13. Foreign

These feelings were foreign to her, and it frustrated her to no end that she couldn't understand them.

14. Want

No matter how much he wanted her, he knew he could never have her.

15. Sorrow

Sorrow overwhelmed her when he ceased stopping by, even if it was just to say hello.

16. Rain

The rain cleansed her soul because her nature had become a dark and twisted thing too.

17. See

What could I possibly see in him? she wondered, leaning her head in her palm. He's dead for God's sake!

18. Night

Though she would never admit it to anyone, especially to him, she hated the night. It brought out the demons she'd forgotten about in the sunlight.

19. Annoyance

She was a constant annoyance, but he just couldn't find it in himself to push her away.

20. Wrath

Nefarian's wrath had taken a nasty toll on him, and he couldn't, wouldn't, stop until it ended.

21. Moon

"You're like the moon," he whispered. "Soft and mysterious, always just out of reach."

22. Die

He watched her die, Nefarian sucking the life out the most precious and beautiful woman he'd ever met.

23. Story

If a story began with 'once upon a time' and ended with 'happily ever after,' she put it down immediately; she didn't believe in either one.

24. Confrontation

She faced the final confrontation alone.

25. Snow

"Don't you just love the snow?" she asked, grinning as the glittering flakes caught in her dark hair.

26. Broken

He had broken her heart into a million little pieces, and no amount of tape, staples, or glue could put it back together.

27. Hero

"I must be like your hero," he remarked in complete and total seriousness.

28. Words

Sometimes he couldn't express what he felt in words alone—he was always more of an action man anyway.

29. Heal

He healed her injuries, and she healed his scars; he patched up her cuts, and she patched up his heart.

30. Pain

She hadn't realized how much pain he meant when he had told her about 'agonizing death.'

31. Love

He loved her as a partner, a friend, a little sister, a daughter, and a woman.

32. Silence

The silence between them was achingly awkward, and she hated every minute of it.

33. Flower

As he pinned the flower in her hair, she couldn't get her heart to stop pounding in her chest.

34. Gone

She had never imagined that he would be gone, but now she had to face that cold reality. He was gone.

35. Expectations

She had always lived up to his expectations. She certainly was a talented girl.

36. Stars

The twin highlights in her eyes were brighter than all the stars he could or could not see in the night sky.

37. Quarrel

Their quarrels were lame, mostly unnecessary, and completely irrelevant.

38. Fear

Fear paralyzed his limbs as he watched her squirm with the excruciating pain.

39. Illusion

Did he really care about her, or was it all just an elaborate illusion constructed out of boredom?

40. Teamwork

So sometimes their teamwork was a little lacking. They always managed to solve the case in the end, right?

41. Tears

She held back her tears until he left the room. Then she proceeded to bawl her eyes out.

42. Shock

Meeting a real live skeleton (figuratively speaking of course - he can't be live) had given her such a shock she promptly fainted afterward.

43. Waiting

If there was a chance he would return, she would always be waiting for him. Granted, she wouldn't be very happy about it, but she would still be waiting.

44. Test

"Wait. Was that like a test or something, to see if I could handle it on my own?"

45. Music

They both loved music, but while she adored rock and roll, he preferred Frank Sinatra.

46. Lost

Without him by her side, she felt utterly lost.

47. Mystery

Almost everything about him was a mystery, but if she really minded she would've forced it out of him a long time ago.

48. Kiss

The kiss he'd planted on her lips that night had sent electricity through their systems and left them equally weak-kneed and breathless.

49. Sun

She was the sun in his life—always brightening up his day.

50. Yours

"Tonight, tomorrow night, and every night after?" he asked quietly. She smiled. "I'll always be yours."