Alice

I ran into Murucho's house, and hugged myself as I tried to get warm. In the middle of the main hall, a large Christmas tree was almost touching the roof, and Kato was on a tall ladder and hanging ornaments. The lower portion of the tree was decked out with ornaments of all shapes, colors, and sizes. Tinsel was draped over branches carelessly, but it looked good nonetheless.

I yelled up at Kato, "It looks great!" He waved down at me, and little angel ornament was in his hand. He said back down to me, "Master Murucho and the others are upstairs." I nodded my head and walked around the tree to the stairs. A few of the ornaments looked like bakugan. Something told me Dan had a role in those. It was kind of a tradition for the Brawlers to put their own ornament of the tree at Murucho's. I hadn't gotten to mine yet, but figured it would be soon.

Poinsettias were on every table. Murucho always did an amazing job decorating his house. I walked by a maid, who had a Santa hat on her head. She smiled at me, and I smiled back. The employees always looked happier this time of year. They probably got very generous Christmas bonuses. The Brawlers were sitting in their usually place, and all their faces lit up when they saw me. Murucho said, "Alice! You're finally here!" I was hugged by Runo and Julie first. Then Dan and Murucho.

I said, "Yup. My plane just landed not too long ago." I saw Shun leaning against the wall near the back of the room. He hadn't changed much from the last time I saw him. Once everyone had given me a warm welcome back, I thanked them and walked over to where Shun was standing. "Hi, Shun. How have you been?" His eyes opened and found me. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ok I guess."

Dan popped up between us and said to Shun, "Come on, buddy. You're a killjoy every Christmas! How about this year you get the humbug out of your butt?" Shun shot him a warning glare, and Dan stopped talking. The raven haired boy then sighed and walked out of the room. Dan said under his breath, "Every year." I felt bad for Shun. I don't think I had ever seen Shun happy at Christmas time. He wouldn't even grace us with one if his rare smiles in all of December. Murucho then said, "He's like that every year. I just wish we could figure out what to do so he would have a decent Christmas for once."

I sat down on the couch with the others and said, "Shun's been like this since his mother died, right? He's probably just depressed cause of that. I mean, he barely has any family left, and nobody deserves to be alone on Christmas. Not like that anyway." It was kind of sad when you thought about it. His mother was gone, no father in the picture, and his grandfather was now in a nursing home. The Brawlers were the closest thing to family he had left.

Dan suddenly stood up and said confidently, "We're going to make sure he has a good Christmas! Or I'll take away my title as the number one Pyrus brawler! I swear it!" Runo grabbed his ear and pulled him back down. Murucho pushed up his glasses and said, "I don't think you giving up your title would make a difference with anything Dan, but giving Shun a decent Christmas does sound like a good idea." Dan was rubbing his ear and glaring at Runo. I covered my mouth to hide my smile.

Julie asked Murucho, "Aren't you throwing that Christmas party for all of the Brawlers to come to?" The short blonde nodded his head and told her, "Yeah. Every brawler we've met since we fought Naga will be there. I'm hoping it will be the first of many." Julie's gaze went from Murucho to me, and she smiled. "Uh, why are you looking at me like that, Julie?" She tilted her head to the side and said, "Oh, nothing much. Just try and get Shun into the Christmas spirit in time for the party."

I felt my face warm up with the thought of spending time with Shun for several weeks. "I don't think that's a good idea, Julie. Shun and I haven't really been on speaking terms since I revealed to you guys that I was Masquerade." While the others forgave me easily, Shun took longer than the rest. That went with him having trust issues.

When Dan and the Resistance came back to Earth, we talked a little, but he still seemed apprehensive around me. Julie waved her hand and said, "Come on, Alice. It's been what? Eight years? I'm sure he's let that go like the rest of us." Maybe Julie was right for once. I sighed and said, "Ok. I'll give it a shot." Julie clapped her hands together and said, "Awesome! If anyone can cheer up Shun, it'll be Alice!"

Runo rolled her eyes. I asked Julie, "So, when do I start?" She stood up, and pulled me off the couch and shoved me towards Shun's room. "Right now. Just ask him if he'd like to go for a walk or get something to eat tomorrow." I tried grabbing onto the doorframe, but Julie was much stronger than I thought. "Julie! Shun's still mad at Dan! I'd hate to make anything worse!" My hand hit a picture on the wall, and it swung side to side. "Oh quit being a scared. And just knock on his door and ask!"

I heard Runo yelling for Julie to let me go and to wait till the morning, but the silver haired girl didn't listen. She just kept pushing me towards Shun's room. He had probably heard us yelling and was getting ready to tell me no the minute I knocked on the door. We were standing in front of his room, and Julie quickly tapped her knuckles on the door and ran. "Julie!"

She shot down another hall and left me alone. Shun's door opened and he was standing in the doorway. He looked more annoyed than usual. "Yes?" I realized I was standing there frozen in place and not saying a word. I mentally shook myself. My words came out in a rush, "Would you like to get something to eat tomorrow?" I braced for him to say no, but instead he said, "Sure. Why not?"

I stopped in my tracks and looked at him. "Did you just say yes?" Shun leaned against the doorframe and had his arms folded over his chest. "Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I? It gives me a reason to get out. And besides, you're not annoying like the others and I can tolerate being around you unlike Julie or Dan." It still hadn't registered to me that he said yes. He said, "Hello. Earth to Alice. Where are we going tomorrow?"

I hadn't even thought of where we would go if he did say yes. I was too caught up with him saying no. Quickly, I said, "How about the Misaki's café?" I mentally slapped myself. Idiot. Wait. Why was I making such a big deal about this? I was supposed to be spending time with him to talk him into the Christmas spirit. Not make a date. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sounds ok with me."

I nodded my head and walked back down the hall that Julie pushed me down. She jumped out and said, "How did it go? What did he say? Huh? Give me the details! You're killing me!" I leaned against the wall and said, "He said yes." She squealed and said, "See! We told you he'd be over the whole Masquerade thing!" I sighed and told her, "I guess he is."

Alice

Shun and I both left from Murucho's that morning and walked to the Misaki's café for our 'date.' If that's what it really was. I had on a thick purple jacket and purple scarf. And even with all of that I was still cold. Shun walked right next to me. He had on a light green jacket that wasn't much thicker than mine, and a dark green skull cap. I asked him, "How are you not freezing to death?" He looked at me and said, "I've spent a long time training during the winter. It doesn't bother me much anymore."

I forgot that his grandfather would make him train rain or shine and hot or cold. No matter what it was like outside, he was out there. We walked up to the door of the Misaki's café, and Shun opened the door for me. "After you." I blushed and thanked him. I didn't think anyone had seen this side of Shun before. It was certainly something new to me.

The Misaki's had Christmas wreaths hung up around the café and a little foot tall Christmas tree on the counter in front of the cash register. Mr. and Mrs. Misaki both had on Santa hats as they walked around taking and giving orders to customers. Runo's mother saw us and smiled. She stopped at our table and said, "Now what brings you two here on this cold day? And where are the others?" I could hear the faint sound of Christmas music playing over the speaker system. I was about to answer Mrs. Misaki's question, when Shun did it for me.

"We're just on a little outing. The others decided to stay at Murucho's for the day." She smiled and asked us if we wanted anything. I said, "Can I get just a glass of water?" Shun added in after me, "Same for me." She smiled and scribbled our order down on the little notepad and walked into the kitchen. There was an awkward silence between us, and I was spinning the salt shaker on the table in front of me. I bit my lip and asked, "So, what have you been up to, Shun?"

He leaned back in his chair and said, "Nothing much. Just working little jobs here and there to save up some money." I nodded my head. Across the street, a guy in a Santa costume on was shaking a bell to attract people to a gift store. Mrs. Misaki set our glasses of water down in front of us and smiled before going to another table. Shun had his head placed in his hand, and his other hand was placed on the table and his fingers were tapping on the table. Was he bored? Was I boring him?

He took a sip of his water, and a drop of sweat beaded down the glass as the ice melted. "You know, I was pretty surprised when you asked me last night if I wanted to get something to eat with you." My foot was tapping under the table in time with the music playing over the speakers. I couldn't really tell, but I thought it sounded like Winter Wonderland. "Really?"

Shun took another sip of his water and said, "Yes. Really. You always avoided me, that when you just showed up at my room last night I was completely taken aback." I was still playing with the salt shaker and said, "Well, to be honest, Julie made me ask." A rush of cold air came into the café whenever the door opened. Shun let out a short laugh and said, "Well, I guess it's a good thing she did cause I'm having a good time." He laughed. I could just hear Julie squealing and saying I was doing great.

I had to admit, even though we weren't really saying much, I was having a nice time as well. I asked him, "Are you going to Murucho's Christmas party? All of the Brawlers are going to be there." He stared down at his glass and said, "I don't know. Probably not." I leaned forward and said, "Why not? It'll give you a chance to see everyone again." Shun had his index finger in the ice water and was stirring around the ice in the glass.

"I just….Don't really want to." I met his gaze and saw he was serious about not wanting to go to the Christmas party. I said, "Give me until the party. If I haven't changed your mind about it, then you don't have to go." Shun wasn't expecting me to make a proposal like that with him. I could see the unexpected look in his eyes. He sighed and said, "Ok. But you might be wasting your time."

Shun flipped out his phone and said, "It's getting late. I'd hate to have to walk these streets at night." He dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and placed down a few dollars for the water and tip. We walked outside of the café and I saw it was getting dark. The winter sky was pink and orange as the sun set behind the city. Without the sun, the air was getting colder and colder every minute.

The chill cut through my thick jacket and touched my skin. I shivered, and then had a light green jacket held out in front of me. Shun had taken off his jacket and was offering it to me. "I can't take that. You'll freeze." I saw him standing outside in the cold air with nothing but a short sleeve on and his skull cap. "The cold doesn't bother me. Remember? Take it." I didn't argue, and took the jacket and slid it on over mine. I was instantly warmer. "Thank you." He smiled and said, "No problem."

i finally got the first chapter down, and after hours of thinking figured the title for the story. ^^ for those who enjoyed reading the Fallen Love Trilogy, the third book will be up after this story is complete. check out my profile for the cover to Anthem Of The Angels. i also have up the youtube links to all of the songs my stories have been based on. so in case nobody had ever heard of them. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~