Author's Note: Merry Christmas, everyone! This oneshot was written as a Christmas present for my closest online friend- my best friend who's been with me through it all, thick and thin: Kaitlynne (gemilynne). Without my DTSS, I can't even imagine where I'd be, and we've been rocking it out with our spam and crazy conversations for about two years now. She's been such a big part of my life ever since she entered it, and she's brought so much needed love into my life to me that I couldn't even begin to describe it. I wanted to write something special for her this Christmas- something to make her smile for all the times she's cheered me up and done the same for me. Here's to more DTSS-ing, and I love you so much, Kaitlynne! I hope you enjoy the Lear love and that you had an awesome holiday!

"Hey, Tear, look out behind you!"

The tranquil soldier slowly turned around at the call, only to be greeted with a face full of snow and a tackle to the icy ground below. She bristled, sputtering indignantly as she wiped the frigid clumps from her vision. Her attempt to stagger up was somewhat thwarted and she retracted back to ground, glancing down at her waist to find the source of weight. Azure eyes blinked as a tousled head of scarlet hair popped up, shaking like a wet dog to rid itself of the frosty blizzard sticking to its locks. Tear flinched and held her hand in front of her face to avoid the flurry, trying once more to slip out from underneath the pressure.

"Luke! What are you-"

Her exclamation was abruptly cut off by her own startled yelp as she flew back on the ice, sliding out from underneath him and stumbling back on the ice in a clumsy face down position.

"Tear?" The clueless noble rubbed the back of his neck, quickly scanning around to find Tear sprawled out on the ground, lying on her stomach and impatiently trying to blow a stray bang out of her eyes. Luke stifled a laugh at the sight, wobbling a bit as he drifted across the ice to help her. "Are you alright?"

"I've had better moments." She retorted, dismissing the hand he held out to her and taking another shot at pulling herself up. The mussed fonist seemed to have not an inch of luck on her side, losing her balance a second time and sliding off into a nearby patch of snow with a thud.

Luke sighed, crawling over on his knees and leaning towards her disheveled figure in the tiny hill of frost. "Come on, just let me help you."

"I can handle myself just fine, Luke, thank you." Her eyes narrowed as she peered at him from inside her snow mound, looking quite like a mangled snowman. "And I wouldn't be stuck like this if it weren't for you attacking me from behind like that."

The swordsman winced, opening in his mouth in protest before stuttering. "I-I didn't mean to! Guy and I were having a snowball fight and then one came flying towards you so I tried to warn you, but I kind of…slipped before that happened."

"Oh." Tear gaped back at him with a frown, as if she were processing something. "A 'snowball fight'?"

"Yeah." Luke cocked an eyebrow, tilting his head. "You've never had a snowball fight before?"

The flushed brunette glanced away, brushing the ice away from her torso indignantly. "It's not like it snows in Yulia City."

"Right…" He scratched his head sheepishly, then turned back to her, a bright smile splitting his lips. "I've got an idea!"

She sweatdropped. "If it's anything like your other ideas, then I really don't want to-"

"No, no! This is a good one, trust me!" Luke winked, then stood up and backed away, crouching down in the snow for a minute. He returned cupping a ball of snow in his hands, a mischievous glint across his expression as he knelt by her side again. "Here."

Tear observed blankly as he carefully took her gloved hands in his, the warmth of his fingers contrasting the bitter cold of the snow he placed in her grasp. The redheaded replica then scooted back, holding his arms out at his sides and grinning wildly.

He exhaled, his breath coming out in a wintry fog as he chuckled. "Hit me."

Tear did nothing and sat there, bewildered as she clutched the snowball in her hands. "What…?"

"That's how a snowball fight starts, right?" He shrugged. "It's only fair, since you got hit first."

"But-"

"Don't worry about it. Even soldiers need to have fun every once in a while, you know."

She faltered, staring into his kind emerald eyes as she held onto the snow he gave her. Something in her begged to put the icy ammo down, forgetting this foolishness and continuing on her way, for more reasons than one.

But as her arm rose, fingers clenched onto the makeshift weapon, another something in her rebelled. A playful spark lit up in her eyes, a teasing smirk lining her face as she flung the snowball towards his face. Luke was caught off guard, fumbling back and slipping across the ground before crashing with a final thunk.

Tear blanched as she saw him land, instantly regretting being the cause of his tragic downfall. The worried healer rushed over to him, digging his body out of the awkward pile he landed into. "Luke! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…"

She paused mid-ramble as Luke broke out from the snow, bursting into laughter and clutching at his chest. "Why are you apologizing? That was one hell of a throw, Tear! If I had you on my side when I was going against Guy we would've knocked him down in seconds flat!"

He continued his banter, laughing and reaching down into the snow another time. Tear grew ever more baffled as he messily brought the snow up, patting some onto her head. "There. Now we're even."

Watching his further amusement, she could help but laugh along, languidly slinging chunks of snow at his chest. "I didn't agree to play so I could get even."

"Oh yeah?" Luke taunted, futilely crossing an arm above his head to block her attacks. "Well I'm not giving up so easily!"

She tottered up, fleeing with a giggle as her teammate fell to the ground before chasing after her, cursing to himself as he rubbed his sore backside. Tear played along in the game, letting her boots crunch noisily through the snow as she made her way across the fields, a rare sense of freedom overpowering her heart. It was always like this with Luke. He made her feel like…herself, for once. She didn't have to put on a strong front for him, and he never judged her when she did something wrong. If she wavered on the battlefield, all she had to do was glance over at his smiling face, encouraging her with a nod before he tripped over himself. He was all the strength she needed to move forward, and ever since she met him she had found it hard to imagine her life without him.

Luke was a part of her heart now, and he had taught her to open up and let people in. She was able to watch him grow after Akzeriuth, finally able to see him shine as the gentle man that he had shoved behind his spoiled facade before then. Ever since she met him, she could see the kind of person he really was, even when everyone else around him was blind to it. Tear would scold him, she would ignore him, but she did it all because she cared. All she wanted was for Luke to realize his mistakes and work at fixing them. She wanted him to show everyone who he really was, and not the selfish noble he pushed himself to be.

He had become her cherished teammate, her moral support, and her best friend, all in a few months' time. Luke, to her, was-

A sudden pain shot through her leg and the strained fonist lurched over, broken out of her thoughts. Tear felt her entire body start to go numb as she glanced backwards to see her leg caught in a hole in the ice, sinking her deeper as the chasm in the ground spread. A surge of panic rose up her throat, and she desperately tried to pull her leg out with little success as her other leg fell through, submerging her waist-deep in the frigid, dead water. The numbing cold pulsed through her veins like ice, and she felt useless to struggle underneath the dragging weight of her soaked jacket. Her vision became blurry while she sputtered and hopelessly battled her head from becoming lost beneath the water's fateful surface.

'I was…too careless…Luke…'

The last she heard were frantic, terrified calls of her name before she blacked out, submerged beneath the frozen realms of death.

Snow fell peacefully to the ground, the only sound existing as the cool wind blowing throughout the town. Her muscles were tired, and her eyes fluttered open to a dull throb in her head. Nothing felt real. Tear thought…she thought she had just died…

"Oh? Well, well. Look who's risen from the dead. It seems I no longer have to keep Luke under suicide watch."

The voice barely processed in her mind as Jade, but there was no mistaking that sarcastic tone. "What…?"

Her body motioned slowly to sit up, but her mind screamed otherwise and she leant back on the soft surface, inhaling sharply and clutching her forehead. The bemused necromancer, lounged comfortably on a nearby sofa, peered over at her from the article he was reading. "I would advise against straining yourself at the moment. That was quite a nasty fall into the arctic waters, and I'm honestly surprised you're not comatose due to it."

Tear continued to hunch over wearily, giving him no recognition but her slurred inquiry. "How… am I here?"

"Yulia's divine retribution." He paused, dropping the wisecrack at her dead-risen scowl. He flipped a page of the newspaper. "Your red-headed replica-in-shining-armor brought you here. I've been informed of nothing other than your fall in the ice, seeing as he could barely form a coherent sentence when he burst through the door with you slung across his arms."

Fatigued eyes widened in alarm. "Luke? Is he alright?"

A knowing smirk twitched at the corners of Jade's mouth. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about yourself? We were assembling funeral preparations and everything-"

"Jade."

"Fine, fine." He chuckled slightly, pushing up his glasses. "Luke is alright, not much damage done. He appeared to have jumped in after you, but managed to drag you out quickly enough to remain physically well, save near hypothermia." The man pointed casually to the mass of blanket scattered across Tear's delicate form. "Natalia and a few nurses pitched in to use healing artes and raise your body temperature. Judging by your awakening, I'd say it proved more effective than I originally predicted."

"I see." Tear frowned, feeling risky enough to raise her head up. "I apologize for this...I was reckless." She glanced out the window, her expression dazed. "I'll make certain it never happens again."

"Yes, let's assume you don't." He mocked a troubled sigh, closing his reading material. "Keeping Luke at a stable mental condition these past hours has been the most trifling activity I have ever experienced in my life. It's a miracle that Guy managed to slam him in a room; the boy's akin to a rabid animal, I swear…"

"Where is he, Jade?" Tear stood up, hissing out a shaky breath as her feet hit the ground. "I need to see him."

The colonel cocked an eyebrow, keeping his arms crossed across his chest lazily. "Are you confident that you should be doing that?" He waved a hand dismissively, muttering something inaudibly about crazy, lovestruck teenagers. "Fourth room to the right. Guy has it padlocked."

Her mind hardly registered her feet moving down the hall, her borrowed white nightgown swaying at her knees. Tear honestly didn't have any idea what she was doing. All she knew was that she needed to see Luke, and she wasn't going to let the overpowering sense of drowsiness rob her of that desire. She was being senseless yet again, acting without thought or reason-the brunette mused, smiling weakly at herself as she approached the door- it must be another quality she was learning from Luke.

After she raised her hand to make three, short raps on the door, a few strands of blonde hair peeked out, along with a bloodshot, blue eye. The emotion on the answerer's face immediately swapped from beaten to relieved as he stepped out the room, closing the door hastily as if preventing something from clawing its way out.

"Tear!" Guy grinned, running a hand over his head while trying to determine which standing position away from the girl was safest. "It's good to see you up and awake! You had us all worried sick, you know." He winced. "Especially Luke."

She nodded cordially, keeping up a somewhat collected façade. "Thanks, Guy. How…is Luke doing, exactly?"

The former nobleman paled visibly as if reliving a painful memory. "He's…doing better. A lot better, actually, compared to the hysterics he was in earlier." He shuddered, turning to remove the padlock. "You came to see him, right?"

"Yeah." She moved forward, causing Guy to jump back and almost attach to the wall. "Could you do me a favor and tell Natalia I'm ok?"

Guy made a pained facial expression, then groaned when she closed the door, removing himself from the wall to head down the hallway. "Why do I always have to deal with the crazy ones…?"

Tear entered the room soundlessly, scanning around for a familiar white jacket and head of scarlet hair. What she didn't expect to see was a massive lump of blankets curled up on the bed surrounded by empty bags of chips and torn up sheets of paper.

She hesitated, tiptoeing cautiously around the disaster scene to plop down at the side of the bed and tap the rumbling heap. "Luke…?"

A growl arose. "Guuuuuy. Leave. Me. Alone."

The melodist sweatdropped. "For Yulia's sake, Luke, do I really sound like Guy?"

The lump froze. Tear prepared to try and poke it again, until it abruptly rustled about, skyrocketing a mess of blankets and chip bags up in the air until it finally swerved around to reveal awestruck, emerald eyes.

"Tear…? You're…alive…"

She smiled fondly, instinctively bringing up a hand to flick a tattered slip of paper from his hair. "Yes…thanks to you." She saddened, glancing away and clenching her fists. "I'm so sorry, Luke…I wasn't paying attention and-"

"Don't apologize to me!" He snapped, grabbing her shoulder and giving her a shake, his eyes glazed with regret. "It's all my fault that this happened to you! It's my fault that you almost…you almost…"

"But I didn't, Luke." Tear stared back at him sternly, but gently removed one of his hands. "And stop blaming yourself for everything. I was the one that wasn't watching where I stepped."

"But I-"

"I was reckless." She closed her eyes, willing away the pounding in her head as she tightened her grip on his hand. "There is no one to blame for that but myself."

"Being reckless isn't the same as making a mistake, Tear." He took a deep breath, bringing his other hand to clasp her trembling one. "I'm the one that's reckless. You're the one that just got caught up in a problem because of that. I'm sorry."

She felt her cheeks flush with heat, and quickly removed her hand to cover her face. "You really are an idiot."

Luke managed a small laugh, nudging her affectionately. "What was that for?" His grin broadened, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I've gotta admit, it is good to hear you call me 'idiot' again, though."

Tear returned his laugh, then glanced at the mess surrounding them with a cringe. "What exactly happened in here, by the way?"

The disheveled replica blinked, then pinched the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. "Uh, well, you see-"

He quickly grew horrified as she reached down to pick up a piece of paper from the ground, and leaned over her to snatch the sheet, crumpling it in his hand and tossing it over his shoulder as if nothing had just occurred.

Tear seemed flustered for a minute, then deadpanned. "Luke."

"Yes."

"…What was that?"

He replied with a blank stare. "What was what?"

She let out a frustrated huff. "What was on that piece of paper that you didn't want me to see?"

"N-Nothing! I…I just thought I should start cleaning up around here."

The girl crossed her arms impatiently. "And what exactly gave you the bright idea to start with my hand?"

"…Hey, Tear, you're not looking so well, I mean, are you sure you should-"

"Don't change the subject!"

He made a face, hunching his shoulders and furrowing his eyebrows. "I'm not kidding!"

"Tell me what was on that paper!"

"It's not important anymore, ok?" Luke shook his head, sticking his arm down the side of the bed before pulling it back up with a blanket in his grasp. Tear stiffened as she felt him rest the blanket over her shoulders, surrounded by his warm scent.

A small smirk crept its way on her face as she realized a tiny scrap of paper was caught in the blanket, and she grabbed it, straightening it out to read it. Her teammate failed to notice her action before it was too late, and he moaned, burying his face in his hands as she read it out loud.

"'Dear Tear'…?" Tear gaped at him, dumbfounded. "You were writing…to me?"

Luke blushed ten shades of red to match his hair, taking the opportunity to steal the paper away. "I-It's none of your business!"

She frowned. "If you were writing to me, then it kind of is my business, Luke."

He cowered under her sharp gaze, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. "Ok! I was writing you a letter for when you woke up from your coma!"

Tear looked stumped. "My…coma?"

Luke nodded and dramatically clutched at his head, making feral noises that seemed to prove Jade's rabid animal theory correct. "Jade said that you were in a coma and you were never going to wake up and that he was doing funeral preparations and Guy told me that I should write you a letter because sometimes coma people wake up and that you wouldn't remember anything and-"

She exhaled, lightly pushing a finger to his lips to end his rant. "Slow down, Luke. First off, Jade was kidding, as sick and twisted as that is. Second, I'm not dead, obviously. And third…"

Tear felt a smile tug at her own lips as she peered at the scattered paper pieces, then focused into his appalled gaze with a chuckle. "That was really sweet of you. Thank you, Luke."

The boy's blush increased, and he turned away with a humiliated scowl. "It…it wasn't really…"

He sat, paralyzed, as he felt a small weight push against his torso, arms encircling tiredly around his figure. Luke slowly glanced down to meet the back of Tear's head, buried in his chest. He felt a surge of heat rise up his spine but said nothing, mostly due to the fact that he couldn't even if he had tried.

A few moments passed, and when Tear also remained dead silent, he grew worried. "Tear…?"

His arms wrapped around to shake her gently, and she muttered, shifting her position slightly in his embrace. His head leaned forward to hover over her shoulder, and he paused as he heard her soft rhythmic breathing. Luke leaned back and his hand softly brushed a bang of her hair away, revealing a peaceful, closed eye, lost in the realm of sleep.

He stifled a laugh, realizing the strict-ruled soldier had somehow fainted in his arms, resting soundly in his warm embrace. The redhead yawned, nuzzling his head back over her shoulder and relaxing in the position.

'I could get used to this.' He let his eyes close along with hers, ready to accept whatever punishment came with adjusting to such a fate. Luke would gladly take anything she threw at him, so long as he could stay with her like this for even a few seconds more.

He was reckless.

Before his mind drifted off to sleep he caught the sight of Tear's own hand twitch. It seemed to freeze, then surrender, grasping tenderly onto the fabric of Luke's shirt.

'But', Luke mused, fading off, 'She was reckless sometimes too'.