This is just a fic I did just so I'd have something wintery up for Christmas. It was such a nice break from the violence and over-enthusiasm of my other stories, and I hope someone thinks the same enjoys it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
"This is talking"
'These are thoughts'
The Snowing
Yami blinked and leaned closer to the foggy window surface, narrowing his eyes curiously. He was sure he had just seen something float past. Reaching his hand up, he pressed it against the freezing surface and wiped it clear, blinking in confusion at what he saw. "Yugi?" he called back to his other half, who was sitting on the living room floor with a mess of torn wrapping paper scattered around him. Pulling his gase away from the window he smiled slightly at the sight; Yugi never was very good at gift-wrapping, as Yami had learned on Téa's last birthday.
Yugi, seeming thankful for a distraction, turned his full attention to his Yami the moment he heard his name. "Ya?"
Yami pressed a finger against the glass and tilted his head, "Do you know what's going on outside?"
Yugi blinked at Yami in confusion, then crawled the short distance across the floor to the window-sill Yami was seated on. Straightening up Yugi looked out the window, his eyes lighting up at what he saw. "It's snowing!"
"Sssnowing?" Yami muttered, testing the foreign word before turning his gaze to what looked to him as millions of tiny clouds floating down and covering the ground. Whatever this 'snowing' was, it was quickly covering the ground in a light layer of white. And not just the ground, the walls, lampposts and cars along the street as well. He couldn't help worrying for a moment that the street would be buried under the 'snowing', but Yugi looked much to pleased to see it, so he quickly cast that thought away. Unless there was an advantage to being covered in snowing...
"Oh ya..." Yugi said thoughtfully, looking over at Yami, "You've never seen snow before, have you?" The Puzzle-spirit nodded, not taking his eyes off the heavy snowfall, which he seemed to be eyeing with slight unease. Smiling, Yugi got to his feet and rubbed a few more foggy planes clear, clearing his vision more. It was a really heavy snowfall. "It's great Yami! It's kind of like the ice in the freezer, only it's more... 'fluffy'," Yugi grinned at the odd look his Yami gave him, "Don't worry! When the weather calms a little we can go outside and you can see for yourself!"
Yami, assuming going out in this white 'fluff' was supposed to be a good thing, forced a smile until Yugi turned away, then quickly turned his gaze back to the window. Great? Yami had tried adding ice to a drink before, on Yugi's insistence that it would make the drink nicer, and had dropped the tray out of shock from the cold, scattering ice all over the kitchen, which he later slipped on and was left with a very sore back for a few days. He loathed ice. He loathed the cold. He didn't think either was 'great'.
And he seriously doubted the snowing was going to do much better.
"Yami, come on!" Yugi laughed, shaking his head as Yami came back through the entrance from the back of the shop. After his grandfather's 'pre-snow lecture' on what to wear to keep warm and when to know they've been outside to long -Yugi helpfully told him that when a finger fell off from frostbite he would know he'd been out to long- Yugi had pulled on a warm pair of gloves and a coat and was set to go. Yami had done the same, but the second the front door was opened and he was hit with the first of the cold air, he simply spun around and darted back into the house.
Now he had re-emerged, Yugi discovered the reason for Yami's retreat. "You... really don't like the cold," Yugi noted with a chuckled. Yami had replaced his coat with a thicker blue one (or maybe he was still wearing the other coat under the new one), warmer pants, thick leather boots and a red scarf that matched his gloves.
Yami merely grunted at Yugi comment, jumping slightly when Yugi grabbed his wrist and darted out the door. He jumped again when he heard a loud crunch under his shoes each time he took a step and looked down to see that the noise seemed to be coming from the snowing when he stepped on it, as if it was complaining.
"Wow! This is so cool!" Yugi exclaimed as he let Yami's wrist go, eyes scanning every snow-covered surface on the street. "It hardly ever snows this much!"
Yami frowned at the floor and reached down to touch the snowing. Through his thick boots, he hadn't felt how cold the snowing really was, so he recalled his hand at the piercing touch. "It's just as cold as the ice! I'm going back inside." he huffed mentally, turning to head back to the shop.
"Come on Yami!" Yugi beamed turning to face his dark without noticing where he was heading, "Let's go to the park! It's be much more fun to play there!"
Yami stopped halfway through his first step and looked back at Yugi, frowning when his gaze met a pair of large, sparkling eyes. "Oh no... He's giving me that look again..." he thought, knowing the instant his eyes met his hikari's the fight was over. "Alright..." he sighed, defeated in a battle Yugi didn't even know had happened.
"Great! Come on!" Yugi yelled, grabbing Yami's wrist and darting down the street, grinning at the crunching snow under his feet.
Eight slips and four falls later, Yugi and Yami had reached the park, where the first thing Yugi did was practically toss Yami to the floor and laugh. Yami, whose face now stung from the cold, sat up and turned around to complain, but Yugi had already spun around and fallen flat on his back, moving his arms up and down through the snowing. "What are you doing?" Yami asked, truly bemused.
"Snow angels! Just do what I'm doing," Yugi said, nodding towards his arms as they moved up and down again, removing layers of snow as his arms swept over it's surface. Yami, thinking Yugi looked ridiculous, shook his head. Yugi pouted, "Come on, loosen up and quit being so boring!"
"Boring?" Yami huffed and narrowed his eyes at Yugi, but fell back on the cold snow with his arms spread out beside him. He hissed as he moved his arms up through the snow and his arms were stung by the cold. Why did Yugi insist on these things? He shut his eyes and frowned as his arms and legs moved through the snow, fully aware of his movements his body was making now that his eyes were closed. "This is so odd... And cold! Stupid snowing. Why does Yugi like it so much?" "Ok, up you get now."
"Hmm?" Yami opened his eyes to see Yugi standing next to him, reaching a hand down to him. He took the younger boys hand and pulled himself to his feet, blinking when Yugi smiled brightly at him. "What?" he asked, turning his head back to where he had been lying when Yugi pointed. His shape had been embedded in the snow when he had fallen in it, but because of his arm and leg movements it had reshaped. He blinked with interest as he looked at the newly formed shape.
"See the wings?" Yugi pointed at the area of snow Yami's arms had moved through. Yami leaned closer but to him what Yugi called 'wings' Yami called a slice of pizza. Maybe cheese pizza. He was getting hungry now.
Yugi smiled at Yami's sceptical expression when he looked at the snow angel. "You've got to use your imagination, Yami. It's not supposed to be a work of art."
"Then why now just imagine an angel from the start instead of getting yourself soaked with this method?" Yami asked as he pulled the back of his snow-soaked pants slightly so it didn't cling to him, but he was still looking at the shape he had made in the ground, then turned and looked at Yugi's.
They really were nothing special, just rough indents in the snow with odd shapes made beside them. But for some odd reason they had an odd sort of charm about them. They were different, as was the snowing, and Yami was intrigued by them. They were ugly, yes. But interesting too.
Yami was pulled from his thoughts when Yugi yelped in pain and bumped into him, looking over to see his hikari rubbing his face. "Yugi! Are you-?" He was cut off mid-sentence as something struck him hard in the side of the face and stumbled back out of surprise, causing Yugi, who was leaning against him slightly, to stumble and fall. Yugi grabbed Yami's sleeve in an attempt to stay up, but just pulled the former-pharaoh down with him.
"Got'cha!"
"Joey?" Yami breathed and looked up. Sure enough, his blonde-haired friend was standing a short distance away, laughing loudly. Joey had attacked them? Why? Was he brainwashed again? Was some darker force behind his actions?
Yugi obviously didn't think so. He was laughing.
"Prepare for battle!" Joey announced, reaching down and scooping up an amount of the snowing. But before he could do anything, Yugi got to his fist and threw an arm forward towards his friend.
Yami blinked as a ball of snowing struck Joey in the face and he fell back. "Yugi!" Yami exclaimed in shock, pulling himself to his feet. If anyone, Yugi should know violence against violence solves nothing.
"No no, it's ok Yami!" Yugi smiled, holding a hand up to Joey so as to hold off an attack. The blonde looked confused put patted another snowball into his hand, then tossed it up and down as he waited. Yugi reached down and scooped an amount of snow into both hands and straightened up, holding one out to Yami.
Warily, Yami held both hands out in front of him, yelping a little when the snowing fell into his hands. "ColdcoldcoldcoldCOLD!"
"Ok, this is another game played with snow-"
"Is it as exciting as 'snow angels?'" Yami asked sarcastically through gritted teeth, unhappy about the snowing that was seeping through his gloves and stinging his skin.
"Ha ha," Yugi said sarcastically as he patted the snowing into a ball, Yami copying him, "Basically, we make snowballs like this," he held his example out, nodded when Yami showed a similar one to him, "and then we toss it at each other."
Yami took a step back as Yugi turned to toss the snowball at an unsuspecting Joey, but was struck first by his friend's snowball. Laughing Yugi, tossed his snowball at Joey, who managed to dodge the first, but not the second that Yugi had formed quickly in his hand. Yami just stood in place, watching with his head tilted. "And... what's the point of all this?" It all looked pretty senseless to Yami.
"To have fun!" Yugi laughed, changing his mind on tossing another snowball at Joey and turning, instead, to strike Yami. The former-pharaoh gasped at the unexpected attack and took a step back, shaking the remains of the snowball from his hair. "Come on Yami! Fight back! You're not gonna let us beat you, are you?"
"Ooo, ganging up on the newbie are we?" Joey asked with a grin, narrowing his eyes sinisterly at Yami.
"Yup!"
"That hardly seems fair," Yami frowned, but he knew by the look on Yugi and Joey's face that he was on his own for this one. Sighing, he scowled down at the snowing. "This is all your fault, you know..." Yami accused mentally as he reached down to scoop up more 'ammo'. Unfortunately, Yugi and Joey were showing no mercy, and before Yami knew it he was on a retreat. Yugi and Joey ran after the retreating Puzzle-spirit, throwing snowballs but only hitting him a few times, while Yami just ran and yelled insults back at them.
Reaching a tree Yami ran around the other side and placed his hands on the truck, sideways to look at Yugi and Joey. Joey tossed another snowball, but Yami ducked behind the tree.
"Aww, come on!" Joey whined, "Your not gonna hide are you?"
"Guys? What's going on?"
"Oh thank Ra!" Yami thought with relief, leaning around the other side of the tree to see the newcomer.
"Hey Téa," Yugi smiled, waving to his friend as she approached, "We're having a snowball fight!"
Téa stopped a short distance away and blinked, looking around. "With who?" she asked, looking at the tree when Yugi and Joey both pointed to it. She was confused for a minute, before she noticed they meant someone was behind the tree. Yami leaned sideways slightly to be seen and she frowned, glaring at Joey and Yugi, "Are you two ganging up on Yami?"
"Uhh..." Yugi and Joey looked at each other uneasily.
Téa put he hands on he hits and shook her head, "That's not fair you guys, he's not used to this."
"Ya, well..." Joey started, trying to think of an excuse for his actions, "We're already half-way through! You can't interrupt us now."
"Well," Téa said, reaching down and making a snowball of her own, "at least let me side with Yami. Two-on-two, at least it's fair that way."
"Sure, why not?" Yugi smiled brightly, secretly glad Téa had decided to make a song and dance on the fact they were attacking a cold-loathing former-Pharaoh who had never seem snow before. Now that he thought of it, it was kind of cruel. "Whoopsie.
Joey nodded in agreement, "Ya, but we're still gonna beat ya!"
"Oh, you think so?" Téa asked, beckoning to Yami to come over to her. The Puzzle-spirit stepped warily out from behind the tree and walked to Téa's side, forming a snowball in his hands as he did. As he neared her, Téa threw her snowball and struck Joey hard in the chest, "We'll just see about that."
And in minutes, Yami, Yugi, Téa and Joey were completely wrapped up in their battle, forgetting everything but the goal to beat each other.
Yami still complained about the cold, though.
"A...Achoo!" Yugi and Yami sneezed in unison.
"I told you two not to stay out so long," Yugi's grandfather scolded as he dropped a thick warm blanket over Yami's shoulders, the teen quickly pulling it around his shivering body and smiling at the heat. Yugi was not shivering quite as much, but seemed equally as happy to receive the warmth the blanket offered.
Both boys had been ordered upstairs to change as soon as they had entered the house, and were now sitting in the living room in their pyjamas, with thick, warm blankets wrapped around them and a cup of hot chocolate each. As Yugi's grandfather collected the soaking jackets then had discarded on the armchairs, Yugi sighed heavily and sunk into the corner of the sofa, smiling softly. "This was such a great day..." he sighed, blinking blearily as he took a drink from his cup. The heat was making him sleepy.
"It was... an experience," Yami said quietly, taking a drink also. Yugi frowned and reached over, pointing Yami's arm lightly to get his attention.
"So you still don't like it?" he asked, nodding towards the window. "You would have preferred to stay inside all day?"
Yami stopped and thought. True, the snow had been painfully cold and left him with a cold, but it had been, as he had already said, and experience. A wonderful experience. The snow angels had been odd, but he had liked them. It was like seeing his shadow imprinted in the snow. And if his shadow looked like an angel, if a crude one, it felt like a sort of self-confidence boost. And the snowball fight! He couldn't remember ever having so much fun! And Yugi and Joey's surrender at the end? Priceless.
"Well," Yami said, leaning back into the sofa as well, "No. I wouldn't have given today back for anything..."
Yugi smiled and took another drink from the cup, "Me neither..." he sighed happily, letting his eyes close.
Yami drained the rest of his cup and looked over at Yugi, smiling when he realised his light had fallen asleep. Getting to his feet he placed his cup on the table and stepped over to Yugi, removing the half-filled cup gently from his sleeping hikari's hands and placing it on the table too. He slipped his hands behind Yugi's shoulders and under his legs, picked him up slightly and moving him to lay across the sofa. Taking the blanket from around his own shoulders instead of trying to removed the one under Yugi, he placed it over his light, smiling when Yugi turned on his side and gripped with blanket in his sleep.
Walking across the room, shivering slightly now that he didn't have the blanket around his shoulders, he stopped and sat on the windowsill, his eyes taking in the soft snowflakes that drifted by the window, sparking in the light from the living room.
Ice could never look this calm or beautiful, and it didn't have this calming affect on him. Neither did it bring his friends together and give him a day he would never forget. "Maybe snowing isn't so bad after all..." he muttered to himself, smiling.
He heard a mumble behind him and looked back at Yugi, who took a deep breath and rolled over, "Did you say something?" Yami asked quietly, in case Yugi was still asleep.
Yugi signed slightly, then answered sleepily, "It's called 'snow, not 'snowing..."
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!
Bay