Snow.

Everywhere. On the ground, on the trees, on the roofs, on the cars, and falling down from the darkened sky.

It was as if someone had taken their time to paint everything in sparkling white—and it was so beautiful.

Sixteen year old Kyoyama Anna heaved a sigh as she continued to gaze outside her window. She was curled up on her bed, with her front leaning against a pillow; her legs were safely tucked beneath her, while her chin was resting on her folded arms.

Although Christmas was far from her favorite holiday—or something she particularly looked forward to—it was impossible for her to deny the fact that she loved the time of the year it brought along. Winter was the perfect season for her. She was most definitely not a fan of warm weather, so the cold never bothered her, and—something that she had in common with the rest of the world population—she loved snow. School was gone for the moment and it would remain so for another two weeks, which was yet another advantage. With all the stress she had accumulated during the final exams, a break was more than welcome.

Add here the fact that the house was always calmer and quieter during the holidays, due to the fact that everybody who usually made noise was gone, visiting their friends and families, and it became clear why winter had always felt so peaceful to her.

Yoh also went home, to Izumo, every once in a while, when his family called. Anna rarely joined him. While she could not deny the affection and gratitude she felt for the Asakuras, she was not part of them, and she knew that all too well. So, unless Kino specifically requested her presence, she preferred to stay at home, by herself.

At the moment, she was alone in the house. Yoh had left with Manta a couple of hours back, under the pretext that they hadn't had the opportunity to spend much time with each other lately and that they wanted to catch up. Anna knew that was a lie, since the two saw each other every day, but she had let it slide.

Ever since her fiancé fulfilled his dream of becoming Shaman King, she had lost every reason to train him or order him around. When annoyed, she could still become rather violent, but as it was, she rarely became annoyed nowadays. With so many people around, they barely had time to talk to each other; she would never willingly walk up to him and demand his attention, and he was always more interested in spending his time with his friends rather than with her. She supposed she could understand that, though.

The soft purr of an engine brought her back from her thoughts, and her amber eyes immediately fell on the shiny, black car pulling in their driveway—his car. It was the first acquisition he had made upon receiving the title of Shaman King. He had claimed he enjoyed driving, but she had simply shrugged and mumbled something about not caring. She was, after all, not interested in his driving skills.

From her spot at the window, she watched as he left the confines of the car and started making his way towards the house. She heard the front door opening, then closing, and then… nothing. She assumed he went to watch TV in the living room or perhaps he walked up to his room. Over time, he had learned how to be silent, so she had a hard time hearing him move around now.

Sighing, she shifted her position, then continued her quiet observation.

It was only minutes later that she heard a loud knock coming from downstairs. She frowned, knowing perfectly well that someone was at the door, but not quite understanding how they could have passed by unnoticed. Then again, she hadn't really been paying attention to anything other than the snowflakes falling gently from the sky.

She heard footsteps, then voices, laughter, and then, unexpectedly, someone calling out her name.

"Anna!" It was Yoh who had yelled, she had no doubt.

Rolling her eyes in mild annoyance, but having nothing better to do, she stood up and walked out of her room, silently making her way down the stairs.

Horo-Horo and his annoying little sister were standing in the hallway when she reached the landing, along with Yoh and… what was that?

A furry, purring creature.

A tiny animal with large, curious blue eyes.

A very small, grey, stripped kitten, with white paws and white ears.

And it sat perfectly still in her fiancé's hands, who had a stupid grin plastered on his face, his chocolate-brown eyes shining with happiness and excitement.

The blonde was speechless. What was she even supposed to say in such a situation? Besides yelling at them and telling them to kick that creature out of her house, that is.

"What…?" She found herself unable to formulate an entire question. This was not something that happened every day, that was for sure.

"Pirika brought it!" Yoh explained, grinning. "Isn't it cute?" he asked as he extended his hands, the cat still cradled in them.

Involuntarily, Anna took a step back, not having the slightest intention of touching the creature. She shook her head at her fiancé's childish antics, before turning to the two Ainu and throwing them a look that demanded a better explanation.

Horo-Horo squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze and avoided meeting her eyes. He only snuck glances at her from time to time, most probably to check on any new signs of possible blowout.

Noticing that he clearly had something to say, though something he wouldn't necessarily want to say to her, of all the people, the blonde narrowed her eyes.

"Talk," she ordered.

"It was her fault!" he immediately blurted out, pointing at his sister.

Anna raised an eyebrow at his outburst.

"She found it on the streets and didn't want to leave it there!"

Said girl gasped, looking up at him with horror-filled eyes. "Would you have left him there?" she asked in an incredulous tone.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"How can you even say that? He'd most definitely have died!"

"Well, it's better for him to have died than for me to have my head cut off!" he shot back, glaring at her.

Anna sighed, shaking her head at their stupidity. "I'm not going to cut your head off," she told him, honestly, and saw his entire expression brighten for a moment. "If you get out and take this… this thing with you, that is," she added.

His face fell in an instant, and he slapped a hand over his forehead. She could have sworn she heard him mutter something about being already dead, but because she couldn't be sure, she refused to jump to conclusions. Instead, she turned to Pirika, who seemed to be the one who caused this mess, in the first place.

Feeling her gaze on her, the girl smiled sheepishly, before speaking, "Err, we kind of have to leave tonight and we can't take him with us. So, I thought that you guys could maybe—"

"No," Anna cut her off in a firm tone.

Her eyes widened. "But—"

"I said no," she spoke, more forcefully.

"But Anna, look at him!" Yoh cut in from behind her, and once again tried to thrust the kitten in her hands.

Anna recoiled, her face twisting in a frown.

"He's small and he's helpless and he needs us."

"I don't care!" she told him.

"You have to!"

"Says who?"

"Says me!" he exclaimed. "Come on, Anna, he would die if you threw him out. You wouldn't want a cat on your conscience, now would you?"

"What conscience?" she spat.

Yoh rolled his eyes and tried a different approach. "Please?"

Horo-Horo and Pirika watched the scene unfolding from the doorway, completely silent.

"Just for a few days, until we can find him a home. You don't have to deal with him if you don't want to. I'll take care of him. Just please, Anna. Please?"

Silence ensued.

Anna watched him, her arms crossed over her chest, until she came to a conclusion. Making a small sound of annoyance in her throat, she turned to leave.

"Whatever. But it crosses my path once—once, Yoh—" she emphasized, glaring in his direction, "You're both leaving."

Three hours passed, and Anna kept inside her room, researching for a paper that was due after the winter vacation was over.

She had a lot of time on her hands and was starting early and maybe she had no justification whatsoever for that, but there was nothing else for her to do. There was the television downstairs that could provide her with the entertainment she was used to for a couple of hours, but Yoh was downstairs and she… she didn't want that. She didn't want to be near him. There was something about him that stripped her soul naked for him and for everybody to see and she wasn't comfortable with that. There was a time when she had been comfortable in his presence, and there was a part of her that missed that time, but right now, she wanted to stay away.

He had changed. With time, the dynamics between them had shifted. She had had more than enough time to reflect—maybe even over-think—on the past while he was gone. And the truth was that there was nothing that indicated that he had ever even once enjoyed her presence. And the last thing that Anna wanted to do was impose her presence onto someone, force herself into someone's heart and soul and personal space. She wasn't that type of person. She could be forceful when she didn't have her way, but she knew perfectly well when people didn't want her and she knew when to back away.

She had taken protection and affection for granted and had been mistaken and misled one too many times, and she wasn't taking a chance again. This time, separation wouldn't sneak up on her. She would see it coming and she would accept it—moreover, she would embrace it.

The sound of her pen scraping again paper felt oddly familiar to her. It was her comfort zone. Unlike other teenagers, Anna enjoyed studying. She enjoyed learning new things. It kept her prepared and it made her smart; and the smarter she was, the lesser were the chances that she would be caught unprepared.

Anna hated unpredictability as much as she hated being wrong.

Which was exactly the reason why, when she heard Yoh call out her name from downstairs, her body tensed and she considered ignoring him. He could conclude she was asleep and he would leave her alone. Yoh was never pushy about needing her company. He was never pushy about having a word with her. It didn't really matter to him since he came back. And maybe it hadn't ever mattered to him and she had successfully managed to lie to herself.

But the thought was soon dismissed. It was too early for anybody to go to bed, and the blonde wasn't a coward by any means. So she heaved a sigh and stood from her desk, making her way out of the room and into the hallway.

Yoh called her name once more as she was walking down the stairs, but she remained silent until she reached the kitchen. Leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest, she watched, an eyebrow raised, as he raided a couple of cabinets, the kitten perched right on top of the kitchen island. She bit her lip to stop from making a comment, because, in all reality, it didn't bother her to see it there as long as it didn't affect her directly in any way and because she had truly been making an effort to control her temper and not let it get the best of her anymore.

The days of her ruling over her fiancé's life were over; he had reached the goal he had wanted to reach, that his family had wanted him to reach, and that left Anna feeling unsure about her position in his life. She only knew she wasn't as important as she pushed herself to be years back.

"I need to run to the store," he proclaimed once he had acknowledged her presence. Turning around, he took a step forward and scooped the striped kitten in his arms.

Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes as purring immediately filled the silence of the room. Instead, she threw him a bland look that requested an explanation. Was that the reason why he had interrupted her study session?

"We have enough for dinner tonight, but there's a big storm coming—I just saw it on TV, they even interrupted the program and everything—and you know how it gets here. If it's as bad as they claim it will, we won't be able to reach the town for days."

She raised her eyebrows when he failed to elaborate. "That's it?" she asked. "You called me down here so you could tell me you're going to the store?" It seemed ridiculous, considering the fact that he hardly ever even told her good morning now.

"No," he said. Grasping the kitten in his hands, he began to walk towards her—and suddenly, she had a sneaking suspicion she knew what this was all about. "I called you down here so that you can take care of this little guy while I'm gone." With that said, he took a stance in front of her and immediately tried to hand her the small animal.

To which she, of course, recoiled and raised her hands in the air, putting distance between them.

"Oh, come on, Anna," he groaned. "Can you stop acting like a child?"

Her eyebrows shot upwards. "I'm the child?" she asked, shocked. "Get a grip! A cat doesn't need supervising! Especially this one, it can't even walk on its own."

Yoh opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him before he had the chance.

"Besides, I told you to keep it out of my sight. If you can't manage even that, you're free to take your kitten and leave!"

"I'm not leaving him alone!" he argued. "He's small. He could get hurt. I didn't bring him here so that he could get hurt."

She shrugged. "At least it's warm."

Yoh sighed. "Look, I'm going to the store. All you have to do is watch over him. You don't have to touch him if you don't want to. I'll just… place him right here," he said as he took a few steps back and carefully laid the still-purring creature on the granite counter. "I run to the store, grab what we'll need, return really quickly, he doesn't get hurt, we don't starve to death, and everyone's happy."

She was silent for a long moment, gritting her teeth at his insistence. Then, with a frustrated sigh and a roll of her eyes, she muttered, "Fine."

He grinned. "Great!" he exclaimed, before turning around to retrieve his car keys from the counter. "Bye, buddy!" he said as he gave the small cat one last pat on the head.

They were the last words she heard from him; he crossed the rest of the room and swiftly moved past her, his shoulder lightly bumping against hers.

The front door closed behind him. After a moment of silence, she huffed a breath and shook her head.

The cat mewled softly from its perch on the kitchen island; she looked up, their eyes locked, and everything in her seemed to suddenly melt.

Taking a step forward, she hesitated. Then she took another. Her movements were robotic, she was unable to properly coordinate her body, but she made it to the fridge. Taking out a cartoon of milk, she poured a bit in a cup and placed it in the microwave to warm up. She had no doubt that Yoh had taken care of his cat perfectly well, but then again, weren't animals always hungry? She frowned. The microwave beeped, and she pulled the cup out and placed it on the counter, where the creature still sat, watching her curiously.

She didn't have it wrong. A sniff, and its nose was buried in milk.

Her hand shook and she hesitated before her fingers touched its warm fur. It became apparent that Yoh had washed it then, as it was incredibly soft. Upon feeling her touch, the kitten immediately began to purr up a storm and push further into her hand.

It hit her then with a force that the animal was there by a stroke of luck and that if she had been the one passing on the street that night, she probably wouldn't have stopped to give it a second glance. She wasn't a savior and she wasn't a healer; she wasn't capable of taking care of other people except herself—she didn't have it in her, didn't have so much spirit because it had been killed. She had come to terms with that, but times like these made her wonder what others had done wrong to make her feel the way she did about them.

Not everybody deserved her hate and animosity. But it seemed like she had so much of it inside her that it was irrationally and unintentionally directed to everyone around her. She couldn't control it. That was why nobody wanted her around. That was why she didn't want anybody around.

Sighing, she grasped the now empty cup and turned to place it in the sink. Maybe Yoh was right about the way he was treating her, after all; maybe she really didn't deserve any better, even if she tried not to bother him.

Turning back around, she was met with bright eyes staring at her. She bit her lip. Walking up to the island, she stretched her hands out, almost touching it—only to stop inches away. She hesitated, clenching her hands in fists once, and then carefully grabbed the kitten and lifted it up. She was surprised by how small and fragile it was. She didn't need both hands; she hardly even felt its weight.

Moving to the living room, where the television was still running, she brought it along, setting it on the floor, beside the coffee table. Throwing it a wary glance as she stepped back to curl up on the soft, plush couch, she saw it sit back on its tail and set its eyes on her figure. She curled her legs underneath her and grabbed the remote to change the channel; one of her soap-operas was on, and she settled to watch it until Yoh came home.

A minute passed in silence.

Then, all of a sudden, the sound of claws scratching against the soft material of the couch broke the relative peace of the room, making her jump. Glancing in the direction of the strange noise, her brows furrowed as she caught sight of the kitten trying desperately to make it up beside her. It was obviously too small to jump in a swift movement, so it was now clawing its way up, big blue eyes staring straight into hers.

"You're so helpless," she murmured, almost in a trance, as she reached out and picked it up, turning it to face her. "What kind of monster could have simply left you out there, on this weather?"

The cat mewled.

She blinked and shook her head. Surely, this was the missing piece of the puzzle—her talking to an animal. Setting it on the couch, though a good distance away from her, she turned her attention back to the television, resting her elbow on the armrest and her cheek in her palm.

Her peace and quiet lasted little. Not unbeknownst to her, the cat moved closer and closer, until it was nestled in her side, purring softly. Anna groaned and abruptly stood, turning to glare at it as it looked up at her with a curious expression.

Her eyes narrowed. The last thing she needed was to be nuzzled by a cat, especially when it would surely leave hair all over her clothes. Animal hair was a pain to remove—a pain she didn't want to have to go through if she didn't have to. Besides, she mused as she placed her hands on her hips and heaved a silent sigh, she was fond of her heart intact—not melted.

A muffled noise from the hallway snapped her out of her daze and her head jerked up in time to see Yoh coming to stand in the doorway, snowflakes in his hair and his coat still on. One glance inside the room sent him straight in a fit of laughter, and he had to grasp the wooden door in order to keep from falling down to the floor.

Anna cocked her head to the side, wanting to frown but not allowing herself and settling instead for a glare.

"What?" she bit out, watching as he, still laughing, stumbled inside the room and picked the cat up, cradling it to his chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked, clearly amused and well-entertained.

She raised an eyebrow. "Looking after your stupid cat," she answered.

"Is having a glaring contest with him part of the package?"

"Part of the package is not covering my clothes in fur," she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Oh," he said, glancing down with a knowing grin on his face. "I see."

"Ugh," she grunted, annoyed, as she rolled her eyes and swiftly moved past him, making her way out of the room. She had barely reached the staircase, though, when the light was suddenly out, leaving her in complete darkness and silence.

Until she broke it. "What the hell?" she hissed, already turning around to demand an explanation from her fiancé. "Yoh!" she yelled, coming to stand in the doorway of the living room.

"Huh," he answered eloquently. She rolled her eyes; she could see him, even through the dark, with his brows furrowed and his cat in his arms. "I guess the power's off."

"You guess?" she replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Turn it back on!"

"I can't do that," he said. "It happens. They said it would happen, too. Did you see what's outside? It's crazy. I'm lucky I know the road like the back of my hand, because I couldn't even see a foot in front of me!"

"Great," she snapped. "We'll freeze to death now. Because, you know, it's such a wonderful way to die."

Turning around, she was ready to stomp her way upstairs, but his voice stopped her.

"That's not my fault. And it's not even true. We'll just have to find a way to stay warm. The wood is probably all wet, so we can't make a fire, but we could sleep together."

Anna snorted and, crossing her arms over her chest, faced him again. "You're not being funny," she deadpanned.

"I'm not trying to be," he defended. "We're fiancées. We can at least do that, right?"

"It's not about what we can and can't do. It's about what I want and don't want to do!"

"Right," he said. "Because everything is always about you."

She raised an eyebrow. "What's your problem?"

"I don't have one," he snapped back.

"Whatever," she hissed. "Make sure you don't lose your cat in the dark. It might get hurt. Maybe it will keep you warm, too."

With that, she whipped around, her blonde hair flying with her, and never looked back as she walked out of the room. She was already climbing the stairs when Yoh caught up with her.

"Don't you ever get tired of spitting venom at people?" he demanded. "Don't you ever have anything nice to say? Because it's fine if you're keeping it to yourself, but if you're not, then we have a problem."

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Every day, it's like I'm walking on eggshells with you and there's not a single break to go along with it!"

"You're walking on eggshells with me?" she screamed, leaning over the railing. "You're walking on eggshells with me when all I'm doing is trying to stay out of your way to make your life easy? Seriously? Well, hell. Can you get more confusing if you try? I'd like to see that."

The house was freezing. The wind was howling outside and it was cold even underneath the covers.

Anna could swear she would be able to see herself breathing if she had even the smallest source of light, and she internally cursed. She trailed her hand along the railing as she slowly made her way down the stairs and had to do the same with the wall once she hit the landing in order not to lose her sense of direction.

Eventually, she made it to the living room, where she once again curled up on the couch, trying to retain what little body heat she had.

She couldn't sleep. Quite frankly, she didn't want to sleep. Thoughts were circling her mind, and she knew from experience that whatever rest she would manage to get would not be fitful. No one knew—and no one cared—but Anna still had nightmares. She was still affected by her parents' abandon. She had tried to move on and she had tried to hate them and in a certain measure, maybe she had even managed, but such things scarred you forever; she had to find a way to come to terms with that.

It was there, though. Every step she made, every breath she took, every word she spoke… It loomed over her like a black cloud. People couldn't run from their pasts. They couldn't, because they were shaped by them. Anna was no exception—she had been shaped by hers, as well. It was her cross to bear, they were her monsters to haunt her.

Of course, no one understood. No one could, unless it happened to them. Was anybody to find out she still hurting, they would call her a victim. They would tell her she was being stupidly and foolishly caught up in the past. That was one of the reasons why Anna never let her true emotions show. In her case, they were truly a weakness.

Besides, no one cared to know how she felt, in the first place, even if she did choose to show them. No one cared to know that she had been feeling so completely worthless form the very second she realized the two persons that were supposed to love her more than anything in the world weren't coming back for her.

Of course. How could Yoh ever want her? How could someone ever love her, when her own parents had ditched her like yesterday's newspaper?

Huffing a breath, she shook her head. She must be truly going crazy if an abandoned kitten had managed to affect her so much.

"Anna?" a hesitant voice rang through the silence of the night, breaking her out of her torturous thoughts.

The blonde merely titled her head to the side, recognizing the soft timbre. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I head noises, so I came to see what happened," he answered.

From the corner of her eye, she saw his silhouette moving closer. She rested her chin on her arms.

"I can't sleep," she offered as means of an explanation.

"Oh," he said. A moment passed in silence, before he sat down beside her.

"You can go back upstairs," she said. "Nothing happened. It's just me."

"Exactly," he said, gazing sideways at her. "It's you. Something's bothering you."

The resemblance of a bitter smile crossed her features. "So many things are bothering me, Yoh… that I wonder if I'll ever be rid of them." She shook her head. "But it's alright. You have nothing to do with them."

"Liar," he whispered, almost immediately.

"Stop!" she whimpered in response, driving her hands forcefully through her hair.

Yoh blinked. "Huh?"

"Please stop acting like you care—about me," she begged.

His eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"I've been through this before. I know the disappointment—and there's nothing I hate more. I can't have you sit there and ask me what's wrong and look at me like that and not get my hopes up! And I can't afford to get my hopes up, because I know that, sooner or later, this will be over. And you won't want me anymore."

"What…?" He stumbled over his words, shocked. Her reaction was one he had never expected. "How can you say that…?"

"It's happened to me before," she repeated. Tears spilled from her eyes and over her cheeks, and she looked away. "I loved my parents, Yoh. I don't remember much, but… but I felt safe with them. I felt like they could protect me from the world and it turned out they were the ones I needed to protect myself from. But you don't know how that feels, because you've never had to go through it."

"Anna…" he whispered, moving off the couch to crouch down in front of her. Looking at her in the eye, he said, "I would never leave you."

"That's what you say now," she told him. "But eventually, you'll have to. You'll have to, because you don't love me."

"Of course I love you! I mean, I know we yelled at each other a few hours ago, but that doesn't mean—"

"What's there to love about me?" she interrupted him, her voice shaking. "My own parents didn't want me! You deserve better than me, Yoh, and if you haven't realized it yet, then you will—and very soon, at that."

"Anna—"

Shaking her head, she stood up. "I could never make you happy," she whispered.

Then she turned around and, without another word, left.

Half an hour later, when her pillow was already damp with her tears, she felt the covers being drawn behind her and a strong arm wrapping around her waist.

Her hand clenched tighter in the sheets and her eyes squeezed shut. She had heard the door opening, but she had failed to hear his footsteps approaching. She never found the strength to push him away, though; she never found the strength to even acknowledge him.

Yoh, on the other hand, had come there on a mission.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear, and her entire body froze. "I love you for who you are. For taking care of this little guy while I was gone even though you claimed not to want him. For putting up with my friends even though you can't stand a single one of them. For never saying no when I tell you I'll go out with them even though you'd rather have me home, with you. For everything that you are and that you choose not to show to others. For your faults and your assets… You're my Anna. And I love my Anna. I've loved her from the moment I saw her."

Her tears seemed endless now. When was the last time someone had told her they loved her? When was the last time she had hoped she would hear those words at least once more in her life?

She sniffled. Then she cleared her throat and spoke in a raspy voice, "Asakura, did you bring that cat in my bed?"

Yoh laughed, and kissed her neck. "I don't want you to stay out of my way," he continued, a smile now on his face. "I don't want you to change a single thing about you for me. I want you to be exactly what you are and who you are, because that's what I love about you—everything. So the next time you feel like punching me in the face or cursing the hell out of me, go ahead and do it. Some things maybe have changed, but my love for you remains the same, Anna, and your place in my life as well."

Turning around in his arms, she buried her face into the crook of his neck. He could feel her tears, but her back was heaving up and down in a normal pattern against his hand.

"You're everything to me," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. "And I'm not even joking."

Anna reached up to wipe her tears away. "You're everything to me, too," she confessed, her hand smoothing the wrinkles in his shirt. "You're really all I have. And I resigned myself to losing you, but…" She stopped and closed her eyes, before continuing in a whisper, "I'd be fine, but it wouldn't be the same."

"You'll never have to go through that," Yoh assured her. "Sweetheart, I'm never going to leave you. I'm sorry if my behavior left you with that impression, I think we need to talk more… I don't know, that's not the point right now. The point is that I love you and that I'm not leaving you. You're never going to be alone again. I'll be all you need."

A sob caught in her throat, causing his eyes to soften. Kissing her forehead, he brought her closer, tightening his embrace with a simple, "Come here." Gently smoothing a hand over her soft, blonde hair, he allowed her to cuddle into him.

Disturbed by their display of affection, the cat moved from where it had previously been sitting and curled up on the pillow, beside Anna, tangled in her blonde mane. The action did not go unnoticed by the woman, especially when it began to purr, and she groaned in response.

"Yoh," she complained, and he laughed. "Now there's cat hair all over my pillow and it's all your fault!"

"I'll make it up to you," he offered.

"How?" she grumbled, sniffling quietly.

Yoh smiled. "I'll be your pillow."

A/N: Merry Christmas, everybody!

I hope I played the role of Santa well enough, haha! (Although this story seems a bit rushed to me…)

Please review! :)