Please tell me what you think. C&C will give me a very merry Christmas.

    Duo was quiet. Heero watched him closely. The American was never quiet, let alone solomn. The only time he shut his mouth was to chew and sometimes not even then. He even slept with his mouth open. It was all the stoic soldier could do to keep from diping his tongue into the dark cavern for a taste each night. The 002 pilot woke more often than not with lips chapped from a nights moist breathing. And he used more chapstick than any male had a right too. //He should invest in the company. That way maybe he could stop worrying about what he'll do now that the fighting is over.// The wing pilot was brought from his musings by a soft sigh. //Why is he quiet? Sick?// "Are you Ill?"

    Duo looked up and blinked, "Why? Do I look sick?"

    "Disgusting." Wufei agreed as he passed the room.

    "Thanks a bunch Wu-man!" Duo called and grinned a bit when his team mate cringed. After the small exchange though, the braided boy turned back to the window and sipping his pina colada slushee.

    "Baka."

    "Mm?"

    "Why are you so quiet?"

    "Thinking."

    Heero's eyes softened and he sat across from Duo on the window seat, their legs touching lightly, "What's wrong this time?" He tried and failed to hide his real concern.
 
    The half smile lit the other boy's face a moment and he didn't turn from his vigilance at the window. "It'll be Christmas in a few days."

    Heero nodded. He knew that. He'd been looking for a gift for a certain violet eyed someone for weeks but nothing seemed perfect or special enough. Duo didn't seem the type for material gifts and Heero was sorely laking in sentamentalism.

    "My first Christmas on Earth." He shook his head saddly, "And I'm in a desert. No snow this year I guess."

    "Snow?"

    "Yeah, wet snowman type snow." He grinned wistfully, "I saw it in a book once. Solo stole it from some rich brat."

    "Aa."

    Duo looked into his cup. "It's like this slushee. All white and moist so that you can pack it into a ball, and it's. . ." He looked away again, all excitement dying in his eyes, "It's something a streetbrat from the colonies would never see."

    Heero paused and then nodded, "Aa."

    Duo didn't respond.

    The gundam pilots were all very drunk. After flying one of the small mobile suits that Quatre still had after the war out to get a christmas tree, they'd set it in the holder and proceeded to imbibe in large amounts of spike egg nog as they decorated it with ornaments the Arab had from his childhood.
 
    Heero looked at Duo as he poured himself another drink. The American was making a fool of himself Singing every Christmas song he knew and various drunken improvments on each. The violet eyes were teary and lost and the 001 pilot knew it had nothing to do with the liquor. This was their first Christmas, His, Duo's, and Trowa's, that they would spend with their family. Out of all of the pilots, Quatre had always known his family and Wufei could remember his, but the other three of them were lost. A tear rolled down Duo's cheek and Heero had to look away. //Baka.//

    "Hee-kun? Where you goin'?" Duo giggled and hicupped, looking very much like a confused kitten.

    "Somewhere."

    "Can I be somewhere too?" He snickered.

    Heero shook his head, "Baka."

    "What? Me?"

    "What indeed."

    Night came early that day and Heero climbed into his bed and stared at the wall. Thinking. //Duo no baka.// He closed his eyes slowly. //Why couldn't he just wish for a pony like every other baka American?//

    A loud racket woke Quatre and Trowa early the next morning. After a token groan for thei rcollective hangovers, the two crept from their warm bed covers and glanced out the window. "What is Heero doing?" The little blond groaned.

    "Large metal base. touching and then fifty yards out from the house with two, maybe three foot sideing on the outer rim. A launch pad?"

    "A fifty yard lauch pad?!"

    ". . ."

    "You're right, this is Heero we're talking about." Anxious blue eyes took in the hard working figure of their commrade, "That thing is going all around the house. It's even touching the house foundation. Oh Allah! He already distroyed one of my father's properties. Do you think he'll. . ."

    Wufei was glarring at the window in the main room when the others came downstairs. "Why isn't he moaning in agony like the rest o fus?"

    Duo stumbled downstairs and flopped down on the couch, "I'm dying. Somebody put me out of my misery. My head hates me, where's my gun?"

    "If we have to live with these headaches then so do you."

    Quatre offered the bedraggled American some pain killers and a drink.

    "Thanks Q-man but this isn't enough to kill me."

    "If you would take those then the headache will go away and you won't have to kill yourself."

    He blinked, "It's too early for logic."

    "It's noon."

    "It's too early for logic."

    When Heero's drilling began again they all groaned.

    That night they all sat around the tree and offered over the presents they had for each other. Quatre was sitting on Trowa's lap giggling as he handed out his gifts. A new katana for Wufei, a person sized thermal scyth for Duo, a magnum for Heero, and the keys to a new motorcycle for Trowa.

    "For the gentle one you sure give violent gifts!" Duo grinned, "Thank you!"

    Quatre smiled and Trowa directed the others to their gifts from him. Unable to pass them out with his lover perched on his legs. Even Heero's eyes grew wider. Their gifts were all knives, but the handles were sculpted to fit the owner. Death for Duo, A gundam for Heero, and a dragon for Wufei. The Chinese boy got tears in his eyes and he mumbled somthing like, "his dragon."

    "You forgot Quatre?" Duo looked surprised.

    Trowa stood up and place his lover back down on the couch then knelt before him and produced a box out of nowhere. "Quatre Raberba Winner, would you. . .?"

    The flying glomp and happy squeal cut off the rest of the question but if the kisses that followed were any indication, Trowa's present to Quatre was a hit.

    When they finally broke apart Quatre giggled, "There's a ring for you tied onto the key slot to your bike outside."

    Trowa was speechless for a moment but then, he did something no one had ever heard him do before. He laughed! A real honest to joy laugh.

    Wufei hesitantly offered his gifts to them unwraped. "I. . . These necklaces are from my families heirlomes left to me after they died. They. . . they said to give them to my family someday. I know they meant my children but I wanted. . . you are. . ."

    Quatre nodded, "I'm glad you want us to be your family Wufei."

    Duo glomped him and made the olive skinned boy blush, "Awe! I always wanted a big brother!"

    The sloe eyes looked panicked, "I take it all back. Maxwell! Get off me!"

    They shared more laughter and Duo bounced up, "My turn My turn!" He ran to the tree and gathered up his gifts. "They aren't much but I earned them, I didn't steal them. Promise."

    Quatre smiled and lifted a ruffly white belly showing shirt from his box, "Duo. . ."

    "I uh. . . I made that."

    "You 'made' it?!"

    He nodded, "Your sister was talking to me earlier and she told me that most of your clothes are hand-me-downs from them because your father was conservative about things like that and that you wore pink so much because that's what they wore so I thought maybe, white would look good on you since you're like the white knight of our bunch anyway and. . ." 
 
    Quatre smiled and put it on in front of every body, "I love it." He hugged Duo close and blinked tears away from his eyes, "You're my family now too. I have brothers now. I'm not going to let you go now that I finally have brothers ok? You're always my family."

    The braided boy actually did cry then. He held on to Quatre tight and sobbed in ernest.

    "Duo."

    When the tears ran out he backed up, embarrased and sat down again. "Um. . . yeah, so, open the rest you guys!"

    Wufei smiled at the Chinese style tunic of bright red silk. "Maxwell. . . thank you."

    "Yeah well you're no white knight so. . ."

    The other boy snorted but smiled.

    Trowa's was a helmet painted like a lion's head. "It's lovely."

    "Well we couldn't have you crashing without one right?"

    Quatre nodded and hugged Trowa tight, "Thank you Duo."

    Heero was starring at his present like it might bite him.

    "Why aren't you opening it Heero?"

    ". . ." He lifted the lid and starred inside.

    "Well?" Wufei finally asked, "What is it?"

    The soldier pulled out a pair of steel toe, black boots. He looked down at his worn sneakers and back to the boots in his hands. "I. . . didn't think anyone had noticed."

    Duo hugged him tight and smiled, "I always notice." He promised.

    Heero paused and hugged him back. The room was silent until they parted.

    "There are three more packages." Trowa pointed out.

    Heero nodded and gave them to the pilots. Trowa got a leather jacket with a lion on the back. Wufei got a duster with a dragon climbing up and around it. Quatre got a black trench coat lined in pink fur at the collar, the sleaves and the bottom. They all expressed their appreciation and awe until they looked over to Duo and realised he was empty handed.

    "Heero?"

    The perfect soldier stood up and walked out of the room and Duo was left sitting on the ground alone and the center of unwanted attention. "I. . . he probably ran out of money or something. It's no big deal." He assured them. "I'm gonna go uh. . . put these things away." And with that he hurried from the room.

    The three left around the tree sat with their mouths hanging open. "I can't believe Heero. . ."

    "I though they were. . ."

    "Poor Duo."

    Duo was fighting to hold in his tears. He knew Heero didn't feel the same way he did but at least he had thought they were close. . . //He just couldn't think of anything. I mean I'm not the easiest to buy gifts for. That's all.// Duo blinked back his tears. "Right?"

    The sun rising through his window woke Duo up the next morning and he cracked one eye open to flip off the Christmas morning before turning away. "Fuck it."

    It took him a few minuets to wake up again and register what he'd seen outside his window. The American threw his hair into a quick braid and nearly jumped into his boots as he ran to the window. White, icey clusters were falling past it, sparkling and blowing on the wind. "It can't be. . ." He dashed downstairs so fast he almost broke his neck and slammed outside. The desert sun was blocked by a mobile doll and all around the house until fifty yards out was white and wet snow. Just like he'd dreamed! "How. . .?"

    He looked up and his eyes widened. Heero was stepping out of a mobile suit on the edge of the snow field, A mobile suit holding a huge container with 'Quality Icees' written on the side. "He didn't. . ." One pale hand scooped up a bit of the white snow and he brought it to his lips. "Pina colada." He felt happy tears track over his face. It was all pina colada slushee. "Heero."

    The darker haired pilot trudged through the 'snow' to the stunned boy. "Duo?"

    "You. . ."

    A gloved hand slid over his face, "You're crying. I knew it wouldn't be. . ."

    Slim fingers to his lips stopped him and his wide eyes met Duo's tearing ones.

    "Duo."

    "They're happy tears Heero no baka." He sniffled and smiled. "I. . . how. . . why. . .?"

    Heero looked down and blushed, "I wanted you to have snow on Christmas like you wanted. You were so sad. . ."

    "Heero."

    The 001 pilot looked up to answer and gasped as Duo slammed into him and pressed their lips tight together as they both fell back into the 'snow'. He groaned and opened his mouth wider as Duo kissed him deeper. "Duo. . ."

    "Thank you Heero."

    "Duo I. . . s. . . sukida." He said it quickly and then blushed and tried to look away again. He wasn't used to this. But Duo wouldn't let him turn away.

    "Me too Heero. Suki d. . . no. Ai shiteru."

    And their lips met again, half burried in ice and tasting of pina colada.

    "Duo? Hee. . . SHIT!!!" *SLAM*
 
    Quatre blinked at Wufei who had just slid across the veranda and landed feet in the air and head on the ground against the wall. "I guess we know what Heero was doing now." He smiled.

    Trowa took his hands, their rings glistening together and kissed him soft. "Hmm."

    Duo and Heero didn't hear anything but their own whispered declarations, and their lips met again. "Your lips are chapped baka."

    "Hee-kun!"

    "You never do close your mouth." He sought entrance with his tongue, "Don't start now."

    "Mmm,. . . H. . . hai."
 

~Owari~

My dormitory is right beside a QD convenience store that sells pina colada slushees and I get one whenever I can because I absolutely love them. The other day I was drinking one and looked at it and thought. "I hope it snows for Christmas. This looks like snow, I wonder what it would be like to build slushee snow men. wouldn't it be romantic if. . . and so this fic was born.
^_^ V
Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy holidays for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas.
Thank you for visiting my site, reading my fics and supprting me for the two years Raihne's castle has been around.