Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Warnings/Notes: Written for a friend on tumblr, also as part of decfic. Roseshipping. Angst.

Slow Fade

I remember Christmas in streamlines, vacant and splayed out, all at once, like lines of disjointed poetry.

I recall her eyes, alight with laughter in the evening snow flurries of Manhattan. The way her body jostled mine with giggles on a horse drawn carriage ride.

That one is my favorite, I think, because the entire world was moving with the graceless eagerness of the animals, one moment on auto-pilot, the next distracted by a gaping child reaching out to stroke manes or pat noses. But nonetheless, as the snow muffled their heavy footfall and the ground trembled beneath their weight, reverberating the epiphany of their stature, power, and wonder, I still knew my Cyndia's breaths against my skin.

Not just the warm wisps of artificial smoke carried up to the stars, trailing my cheek as she turned to spill her excitement - but the vibrations of her hands, her chest, her lips braced against my own. Overcome with laughter. Surrendered to the bliss of one small moment with no larger worries attached.

I remember Christmas in the curves of her body, the folds of skin that hung at her waistline, and the dip below her jaw into her neck. The way she killed my lust with somber sweetness in the chorus of "The First Noel." The way I held her when I intended to make love to her, because her body told me no. And I always knew its voice.

When my soul aches and my hands flinch in search of her, I settle them into my pockets and hum until my throat hurts.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel...

until my mind is calm, and my thoughts are gone from everything but the happy times.

I remember Christmas in melodies of the almost reckless, soothe my woes with the rawness of sore throats, and chase it all away on New Years Eve with hot chocolate and red wine.