It's a few days late, but here's my Christmas oneshot! Hopefully this'll make up for the rather depressing mood that is currently overrunning Not One Of Us. Enjoy!

"Hey Kira, heads up!"

"What are you talking about, Kuro-gahh!" Kira yelped as he was knocked over by a snowball that hit him in the face.

"I'll get you for that!" the pastel-haired blader yelled angrily, sweeping snow off of his face and out of the hood of his coat before chasing after Zero, who laughed and ran off. The Ifrit blader darted through alleyways, the secret paths that only he knew. Kira soon lost track of the black-haired blader, much to his frustration.

"That little-!" the Bahamoote blader growled, storming off.

Zero panted as he leaned against a wall, grinning mischievously before sighing.

"If only everyone could be here." he muttered, turning and walking down the alleyway. Kira had come back to Zero's hometown with him for the winter, as the beyblade season was now over, and the former DNA blader had really had nowhere to go. Zero had extended the invitation almost without thinking, before Madoka or the others could even volunteer. The bigger surprise came when Kira had agreed to going with his former-enemy-turned-sort-of-friend. The other BTF bladers had split up, some going home with some of Zero's other friends, a few staying wherever in Metal Bey City they could find. Tsubasa had stayed at his home, and was probably going to have some sort of WBBA Christmas party.

"There you are, baka." Kira's voice, coupled with a snowball to the cheek, snapped Zero out of his thoughts.

"Hey!" Zero yelped. Kira smirked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall across the alley.

"I know that look. WHat are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Zero said.

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Relating to Metal Bey City and 'him' then?"

"How did you…?" Zero was surprised.

"I know that look. You had a look on your face like you were missing something, but were also worried." Kira said. "So spill. Is it about Hagane?"

"Yeah… I just hope he's alright. All of those complications with his condition…" Zero muttered.

"I understand." Kira said quietly.

Over the last few months, the Ifrit and Bahamoote bladers had formed a surprisingly strong friendship, considering that they had been enemies that previous summer. Part of the reason they had bonded so quickly was their battles, another part was the fact that both of them had a tie to Gingka that nobody else had. Both of them had visited the Pegasus blader in the hospital several times after the DNA incident. GIngka's "little run-in," as he called it, with Baihu had broken several of his ribs and necessitated surgery, something the Pegasus blader had not been happy about. GIngka had been even more upset when complications had arisen, a mere cold quickly turning into a severe lung infection that put the Pegasus blader into the ICU. He had still been there when the summer ended and all of the bladers had gone home for the school year.

"He'll be fine." Zero muttered to himself. Kira nodded and dumped a handful of snow on Zero's head, causing the black-haired teen to yelp and tackle his fellow blader into the nearest snowbank. Naturally, a snowball fight ensued, a war which raged all over the town.

"Gotcha!" Zero said triumphantly a few hours later as he shook off an entire branch full of snow onto Kira's head, burying the former DNA blader.

"Bahamoote!" Kira's voice was muffled as the entire tree full of snow fell on Zero's head.

"Gahh!" Zero yelped, trying to dig himself out, but failing as the weight of the snow on top of him prevented movement.

"I can't move! Kira! You baka!" Zero yelled, feeling his fingers and toes become number than they already were.

Kira grunted. "Me neither. We should have thought this through."

"You mean you should have thought this through! Get Bahamoote!"

"Bahamoote's not spinning, you idiot!"

"Well h-how was I supposed to k-know that?" Zero said through chattering teeth.

Kira groaned. "Just keep moving. We've gotta g-get out of t-this snow."

"FOrget that, I'm tt-oo c-cold t-to m-move!" Zero said.

"W-we're… G-going… T-to… F-freeze…?" Kira shivered.

"N-no thanks t-to y-you…." Zero felt himself becoming sleepy. "No, don't give in! You have to make it out… You have to…"

Zero's eyes fluttered closed, as both he and Kira sank into a deep, cold sleep, hypothermia setting in as night fell. The last thing either of them heard was a sound of something smashing through the snow above them.

The next thing Zero knew, warmth was spreading through his entire being, chasing away the cold.

"Am I… Dead?" the Ifrit blader muttered, opening his eyes slightly and seeing nothing but darkness and a warm glow to his right. Deep blue eyes wandered around slightly as their owner shifted position slightly, his senses returning. Yet, he was still a bit cold. Despite the warmth radiating in from the blankets he was apparently wrapped in, Zero was shivering. He groaned slightly, rolling onto his side and looking towards the glow, which turned out to be from a fire. Zero's eyes took in the whole scene at once: the dense trees surrounding the small clearing they were in, Kira laying next to the fire, also wrapped in blankets, and an empty sleeping bag across the fire from him.

Zero sat up, looking around and finding that he was, in fact, in the forest just outside his hometown. He recognized one particular tree, one that had a branch bent permanently towards the ground. He had climbed said tree many times, causing the branch to break in the first place.

"Kira, are you awake?"

"Yeah… Where are we?"

"We're in the forest outside the town."

"How did we get here?"

"Easy, I brought you here." a warm, familiar voice tinged with a slight wheeze said, as a figure wearing a blue coat with a furred hood came into view, dumping some firewood next to the campfire before sitting down on the unoccupied sleeping bag.

"G-Gingka?" Zero shivered.

"Yeah, it's me." Gingka removed his hood and flashed a smile across the fire at the two bladers. "I suppose that you two have learned not to dump entire trees of snow on each other now?"

"You saw that…?" Zero and Kira looked sheepish.

Gingka chuckled, coughing slightly. 'No, but I heard you two yelling, saw the pile of snow and a tree with no snow on its branches, and took an educated guess."

"Shouldn't you be somewhere warm?" Zero asked.

"I'll be fine." Gingka reassured him. "Although, Madoka's probably going to be rather upset at me when I get back."

Zero raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Gingka looked sheepish. "I snuck out in the middle of the night to come here to see you guys when I was supposed to still be resting because of what happened."

Kira chuckled. "You're going to be in a lot of trouble then."

"You have no clue." Gingka chuckled, coughing.

"I have some idea from how hard she ranted at me when we got to Metal Bey City, just after you went into the hospital." Kira huffed, crossing his arms.

"My parents are probably worried about us. Let's go there." Zero said suddenly, getting up.

"If I knew where you lived, I'd have dropped you off there." Gingka said, standing. "I'll walk you two home and see you in the morning."

"Why don't you stay with us? It's too cold out here for you to be alone." Zero said as the group began walking towards the bright city lights.

"I'm used to being outside on cold nights." Gingka shrugged.

"Come on, please! It's Christmas Eve!" Zero pleaded. "My mom won't mind, I'm sure!"

Gingka chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, alright. But if it's not okay with your mom, then I'm fine here."

"Let's go!" Zero exclaimed, rushing off and leaving Gingka to pack up his stuff in a hurry. Kira walked off more slowly.

"Looks like your mom was worried." Gingka commented as the group got closer to Zero's house. A police car was parked outside it, the officer talking to a woman with orange hair and a man with black hair.

"Mom! Dad!" Zero called, running to his parents, who gasped and hugged him tightly. Kira approached more slowly, nodding slightly at the police officer as he stepped onto the porch. Gingka smiled, remaining partially in the shadows.

"WHere have you been?!" Zero's mother asked, pulling a reluctant Kira into a hug as well before releasing both boys.

"Well, somebody started a snowball fight and we got a bit carried away." Kira said, shooting a glare at Zero.

"Hey! You're the one who used Bahamoote to dump the entire tree full of snow on top of us!" Zero exclaimed.

"Sir, Ma'am." The police officer bowed before leaving as Zero and Kira began arguing.

"You started it!"

"You dumped the snow on top of us so that we couldn't move!"

A deep chuckle snapped the two out of their argument as Gingka stepped into view, his scarf blowing lightly in the breeze. Zero's parents gasped in surprise at the sight of the Legendary Blader.

"In short, they buried themselves in snow and I dug them out right after they lost consciousness due to the cold. Not knowing where they lived, I took them back to where I was camped out. Sorry for the worry it caused you."

"I-it's no problem." Mrs. Kurogane stammered.

"Ooh, mom, can he stay here for the night?" Zero asked. "He doesn't have anywhere to go otherwise."

"I've got the entire forest at my fingertips. I can stay out there quite comfortably." Gingka said quietly.

"No, no. You can stay here." Mr. Kurogane said. "It's the least we can do, after all that you've done for our son and the world in general."

"Well… Alright." Gingka chuckled. "ANd stop giving me those eyes. You're too old for that." the redhead ruffled Zero's hair as he stepped onto the porch with the others.

Zero pouted, then grinned. "Come on!" he exclaimed, grabbing Gingka's hand and dragging him into the house, the Pegasus blader letting out a startled yelp at the sudden movement. Kira shook his head, chuckling under his breath at his rival's behaviour as he too went inside, the older Kuroganes following.

Early the next morning, Zero awoke to the smell of fresh pancakes and coffee.

"Kira! Gingka! It's Christmas morning!" he yelled, rushing into the guest bedroom and pouncing on Kira, who groaned sleepily and threw a pillow at the Ifrit blader. However, the pillow did not hit its mark, as Zero was already out the door and into the living room, where he smacked into the doorway and fell over.

"Three more inches to the left." Gingka chuckled, bending over the younger blader and grinning.

"Ow… Morning!" Zero exclaimed, leaping to his feet and nearly causing Gingka to spill his coffee. The redheaded blader laughed, ruffling Zero's hair.

"Slow down there or you'll break something."

Zero, however, did not hear Gingka, as he was already in the kitchen.

"You sit down and sit still before you get hurt." Mrs. Kurogane scolded Zero, forcing the hyperactive blader into a chair at the table.

"But there's so much to do!" Zero grinned.

Gingka chuckled as he entered and sat down, resting his elbows on the table and his chin in one hand. "You do need to slow down though."

Zero frowned. "You can't stop me."

Gingka's eyes flashed as he grinned. "Was that a challenge?"

"Uhh…" Zero chuckled awkwardly. "N-no…?"

"Backing down from a challenge, are you Kurogane?" Kira muttered sleepily as he entered.

"Of course not!" Zero exclaimed, half-standing before Gingka grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"Half of us aren't awake yet. Just chill." the redhead ordered, sipping his coffee.

Zero pouted. "You should be."

"Don't make me dump this on you." Kira threatened, grabbing the pot of coffee and holding it over Zero's head menacingly.

"You, give that back and sit down!" Zero's mother shouted, snatching the coffeepot from Kira and firmly shoving the blader down into a seat before he could even react.

Gingka chuckled under his breath, earning a glare from Kira which he instantly returned.

"Anyone feel like we're being manipulated somehow, like someone's controlling us?" Zero asked suddenly.

"Zero, don't do that! You'll invite in an uncontrollable power that will turn everything you know upside down and blow it to smithereens with glitter!" Gingka yelped, hiding under the table suddenly. Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at the redhead in surprise.

"What in the world…?" Zero asked, blinking.

"Scared of a simple sentence?" Kira asked.

"You have no clue what door he just opened." Gingka retorted, as Kira was hit in the face with a snowball.

"Zero, you!"

"I didn't throw it!" Zero yelped as he was knocked over by a snowball.

"FEAR DA INSANITY! YOU HAVE BROKEN THE FOURTH WALL, AND MUST PAY!" a female voice shrieked, as a figure with red hair that had blue and silver streaks in it appeared standing on the table, black combat boots planted wide apart.

"Can't say I didn't warn you, now… RUN!" Gingka yelled, grabbing Zero and Kira roughly by the arms and running off, only to faceplant into a snowbank as the scenery around them suddenly changed into a wide open, snow-covered field rather than the kitchen.

Gingka groaned. "Galaxy, can't you rein in your insanity for once?"

"Nope. Daleks!" Galaxy giggled maniacally as a large flying saucer appeared in the air, with the robotic aliens streaming out of it.

"Now kiss the girl!"

Gingka blinked, and suddenly he was standing in the B-Pit, underneath a branch of mistletoe, facing a very surprised but angry-looking Madoka.

"Uhh… I can explain?" Gingka chuckled sheepishly before taking Madoka into his arms and kissing her deeply.

"Ooh, lovebirds!" Galaxy giggled, snapping a picture of the two before teleporting them all back to the field of snow, which was now covered in forts and overrun by Daleks. Zero and Kira popped up out of a fort and threw snowballs at each other, gaining brain freezes for their efforts.

"And so, as the fourth wall was broken and insanity was unleashed… I somehow became my own narrator." Galaxy frowned. "How in the world did that happen? Ah well, might as well break down the wall some more." The authoress grinned and whirled, throwing an entire blizzard… At her readers.

"This entire story just went downhill on a sled with some dynamite once my randomness took over… What do you think, Gingka?"

"Shut up…" Gingka groaned in annoyance as he found himself surrounded by mistletoe.

"Oi! Minions! I said one sprig, not a truckload! I need the rest of that for future stories!"