All I Need
A Lightning x Snow Christmas Fan-Fiction
Lost in tranquil thought, Lightning's bright aquamarine gazed out the window at the gentle white flurries plummeting from the sky. She had woken up to it this morning upon rolling out of bed and making herself a cup of coffee, and had since been leaning over the back of the couch viewing the snowfall from the perfect window seat. Mesmerized with the spray of soft glitter, she attentively watched the falling snow's tumbling descent, noticing that some flurries traveled straight down while others took their time, spiraling and lilting with the winter wind as if to prolong their journey's completion. There were so many of them, and they were so small. Still, collectively they held the power to transform the world and make it something truly wonderful… Magical almost.
Sensing his approaching proximity, Lightning waited with her eyes fixated on the billowing blizzard outside as Snow's arms slipped around her from behind and he pressed his lips against the area of exposed skin where her neck and shoulder connected. She shivered despite all the warmth in the room, angling her head so that she was looking back at him. Snow smiled at her, traces of sleepiness still plaguing his handsome features, which only made Lightning smile more when she returned the gesture.
"Admiring the view?" Lightning teased him sardonically.
Snow grinned, not answering her as he went in and kissed her mouth tenderly. Even though it was a chaste kiss, it seemed to liven Snow right up when he pulled back. "You bet," he finally whispered in Lightning's ear.
Smirking at him, Lightning's attention swiveled back so that she was gazing out the window. With his arms still encircled around her, Snow held her snugly, his chin propped on her shoulder so that they both could watch the falling snow. And this made Lightning smile again.
Despite growing up in Bodum, right at the warm beachside, Lightning had seen snow before… but never quite like this. In the past, she had always been traveling through it, her mind locked onto her target or the mission; everything else back then had just been an inconvenience or a distraction. She hadn't had the time or the luxury to actually stop and see what was happening around her, to truly acknowledge the things and people that mattered. No matter how much time passed by, Lightning would always feel awful about that.
But in this new world, Lightning had entered into it with a promise: to not be held down by her misgivings in the past, but instead be inspired by them. From her past, she knew exactly who she didn't want to be, and now it was her chance to make everything right. This was a world of second chances, and it was also a world of firsts.
This is my first Christmas together with Snow, Lightning thought to herself.
As if reading her mind, Snow spoke shortly after that thought floated through Lightning's mind. "This certainly puts you in the Christmas spirit, huh?" he commented thoughtfully.
Lightning nodded wordlessly. Yes, yes it does. And to be perfectly honest, Lightning couldn't remember the last time she had been filled with this much Christmas spirit. There was just so much that she wanted to do, so much that couldn't possibly fit all into the days leading up to Christmas. Of course, Snow had ensured that they would find a way, and a find a way they would. That was more or less the motto they lived by in this house. After everything they had been through, it had been determined that there was literally nothing that they couldn't do or overcome together. That and they damn well deserved to have the most memorable Christmas season to date.
Regrettably, Lightning was a bit out of practice when it came preparing for and celebrating the holidays, so she knew was would need all the help and guidance from Snow. "So what should we do first?" she asked him, turning her head slightly as she earnestly met Snow's eyes. Their faces were so close together and their noses were practically touching. "Do we get a tree, put up some decorations….bake something?"
Snow grinned at that suggestion, "You want to bake something?"
Going for a frown, Lightning ended up fighting a persistent grin of her own. "I mean, I figured I might as well try, right? I can't always suck at cooking. Besides, isn't that something people do around Christmas time?"
"Hmm," Snow eyed her mischievously, still grinning like the cat that swallowed the canary. "Well yes, those are all good ideas. But to be honest with you, I'm just as content being right here with you."
As Lightning peeled herself up from the couch slightly to turn and look at him full-on, Snow wasted no time in turning her around and tossing her playfully onto her back. She had little time to be surprised—not that she was—when Snow leaned over her with an expression that Lightning knew very well.
Raising a fair eyebrow as she brazenly stared into the face of frisky lust, Lightning couldn't help but grin slightly. "I take it you already thought of much better ideas for how you want us to spend this snowy day."
Snow shrugged nonchalantly, his signature lopsided grin giving him away as he eased on top of Lightning smoothly. "Maybe one or two. But rather, I was hoping to see were this day took us on its own."
"Now that's an idea," Lightning replied, sealing that promise with a kiss.
"Alright, so Light, got a question for you."
Winding through all the rows of fresh, lively evergreens, inspecting each one with care, Lightning paused as she glanced Snow's way, nodding, "Go ahead."
From another section of Christmas trees for sale, Snow crossed the lot to her, his large boots crunching in the snow. He was practically busting a stitch when he went to talk. "Is it true that you always made Serah put up a fake tree and hang pine-scented car air fresheners to compensate for having a real tree?"
Eyeing him with mock-defiance, Lightning smirked. "Are those the kinds of things Serah used to complain to you about me?"
Snow let out a full belly laugh, shaking his head in dismay when the laughter lingered. He began walking towards her again, grinning shamelessly. "I mean, I wouldn't go as far as to say it was complaining, per se." Pausing when he was only a couple of feet away from her, Snow sent Lightning a coy wink, "But we would have a little fun at your expense."
With a playful roll of her aquamarine eyes, Lightning moved along down the row on her mission to find them the perfect Christmas tree, Snow following in in tow. It had long since stopped snowing, leaving only the bitter cold winds that stung at their faces relentlessly. But it wasn't that bad. With the tingling rush of icy cold air came the overwhelmingly soothing aroma of pine, sweet and crisp chillness filling their lungs with every breath. Even the sun had peaked out through thick gray winter clouds today, spreading much-appreciated shards of light and warmth over the tree farm that Snow and Lightning were trekking through on that December afternoon.
So far, they had found a lot of great picks… or at least they would have been great picks had other people already claimed and tagged those trees. The pair moved along, splitting up to divide and conquer the area before coming back together to express their mutual inability to find an untagged tree.
"I mean, we could always just accommodate with that fake tree and air freshener idea," Lightning deadpanned self-deprecatingly.
But Snow wouldn't have any of that. "No, no, no, no," he dismissed, shaking his head firmly, renewed determination brimming in his eyes, "You've spent way too many Christmases under that misguided perception that throwing up a tree with artificial scents is acceptable. Not-uh. This year I'm changing all of that. Besides, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you never experience having a real tree in the house for Christmas?"
Lightning, who had been standing back watching Snow with her arms folded across her chest, smirked and rolled her eyes. "Oh, my hero," she deadpanned again.
Her sarcasm went completely over Snow's head, and he went on. "Yes, and that's why I'm finding you that tree. We'll be here all day searching if that's what it takes!"
"Or we could find another tree farm," Lightning pointed out.
As if he hadn't thought of that idea before, Snow let out a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uhh… yeah, sure that work too."
Lightning gazed around herself again. Everything was beginning to look the same—trees that were too short, too tall, too bare, or too otherwise unavailable—, and it was impossible to remember where they had already looked. And that was when she saw it—not too short, tall, bare, and from where she was standing, it looked like it was miraculously still available.
"Wait a second…." Lightning mumbled to herself as her focus narrowed in on the tree she thought she must have imagined. Snow didn't hear what Lightning had said, but he did notice her laser-focus as she approached the tree. Curiously, he took a few steps after her.
"You think you found something, Light?" he asked.
Lightning didn't respond, critically looking over the tree. Snow's footsteps crunched behind her as he too came over to admire the tree. Circling around the tree, Lightning's vigilant eyes were on the lookout for one of the tags signifying whether this tree had been already sold to another family. This tree looked too good to be true. Yes, it was a little lopsided on one side and there were patches here and there, but otherwise, this tree was perfect for them.
Snow was just as impressed. As he traveled around the circumference of the tree, his path led him to where Lighting was standing. He smiled when he saw her, knowing she wasn't paying attention to him, and came up behind her. Sliding his arms around her waist, he hugged her back against his chest, their winter coats the only things getting in-between them.
"Is this the one?" he asked her, a tone of fondness echoing in his voice as he held her a little bit tighter, rubbing her arms to give her more warmth.
Lightning nodded simply. "This one will do."
Excited and unable to contain his enthusiasm, Snow grinned and happily kissed the top of her head. "Congratulations then, Miss Farron," he whispered against her hair as held her against the nipping winds, "I do believe you successful picked out your first Christmas tree."
"You need any help, Hero?" Lightning teased, folding her arms as she stood over Snow and his big matted mess of Christmas lights, all of them chaotically interwoven together. There must have been over a hundred feet of lights, dominating the entire area of the living room. She had been doing rounds every once in a while to check up on him as she cleaned and tided the rest of the interior of the house, and each time the seemed to have grown. Miraculously, the lights somehow were now tangled around him as well.
Unabashed, Snow glanced up to her and grinned. "You can laugh now, but once I get all these untangled and have them hanging from the house, I guarantee you'll be blown away."
"Oh yeah?" The corners of Lightning's mouth turned up into a slight smirk, and she arched an eyebrow as she watched Snow returning his attention towards his enormous project at hand. "I can't wait to see this."
"Mock me if you will, Light," Snow warned without missing a beat, "I will have you eating your words sooner than you think."
"And I couldn't be more excited for that moment."
Snow pouted childishly when he looked back up finally. Feeling bad for the teasing, Lightning lowered down, crouching on her knees so that she was level with Snow. Cupping his face in her hands, Lightning kissed his mouth, brushing her fingers through his blonde hair when she pulled back.
"I meant that," Lightning confided in the short space between their faces, her voice lowering as sincerity filled her earnest eyes. "All kidding aside… I'm happy here with you… even if you are making a complete mess of the house with these lights. I'm glad we're sharing this together."
Snow eyed her with warring suspicion, but only for a moment before his expression relaxed into a peaceful, contented smile. Pinching her chin gently, Snow pulled her in for another kiss, his deep affection for her winning over any grudging emotions.
"Huh?" Snow exclaimed animatedly, motioning theatrically with enormous arm gestures up at the finished exterior decorating as he tried to get an equally as ecstatic reaction out of his mild rose-colored haired companion, "Huh?! You gotta admit it looks amazing, right?! I mean, I promise it will look a lot better at night, but still! Look at that!"
"Yeah, it does look great," Lightning commented her in traditional cool tone.
Normally Snow would let it go, but not now; Snow NEEDED to get a real reaction out of Lightning.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Snow gawked at her disbelievingly, his jaw almost becoming unhinged. "Light, are you not seeing this? Do you see this?!" He continued gesturing wildly up at the house, his work of art. He was overflowing with pride from having successfully untangled all of the lights—not to mention surviving the several near-death experiences he faced on a teetering ladder while stringing the lights up and nearly killing himself on the teetering latter stringing them up on the house—and he desperately needed Lightning to give him a little more emotion.
When Lightning shrugged helplessly at him, unsure of what Snow wanted out of her, Snow groaned and threw his head back and his arms out to the side. He was at just as much of a loss as Lightning, but still he was persistent. Recovering quickly, Snow bounded forward at Lightning, grabbing her by the shoulders and jostling her playfully. "Lightning, baby please, give me something I can work with!" he exclaimed, laughter intercepting the significance of what he was trying to express.
"Snow, I told you, I think it looks really nice," Lightning told him, really hoping her tone was more vigorous and matched the enthusiasm Snow was reaching for. In Snow's ears, the difference was inaudible
"Nice?! Nice?!" Snow was dumfounded, but he couldn't stop laughing at the incredulity of their situation. He didn't know it was going to be this hard to impress her. "Light," he scolded her less than sternly, grinning, "When someone's been busting this ass on the ladder of tower death in the freezing cold, "nice" doesn't do that any justice. I mean look!" Releasing her, Snow went bounding back towards the house, his voice booming zealously as he continued raving.
Watching him at a distance, Lightning suppressed a giggle, biting her bottom lip to control the growing smile. Snow was always an animated guy, but he was quite literally bouncing around the front yard. He was ridiculous, and still she loved him.
Sighing, Lightning's quiet gaze panned upwards as she admired all of Snow's work: the pretty, tidy white lights trimming the roof and the doors, as well as the abundance of wreaths and garland. All of this he had done for her—well, and the pride of a job well done of course. And it was a job well done. It really, really was.
Everything was really coming together.
"Aren't we a little too old for this?" Lightning frowned, raising an eyebrow defiantly at Snow.
"What?" Snow guffawed, tossing his perfectly molded snowball up in the air slightly and catching it again in his gloved hand. He chuckled some more before speaking. "You know Light, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were afraid of a little friendly competition."
Lightning forced a laugh, "Ha, right. The fact that you just made that comment to bring me down to your level proves just how much of a child you are."
But Snow did not miss a beat, grinning shamelessly at her. "Oh I wouldn't be so quick to point that finger, Light. You still took the bait and felt compelled to insult me. Just admit it, I get under your skin and you can't get rid of me. I can see it right now. You can deny it all you want, but you can't resist me," he told her with a flirtatious wink.
A furious, flustered blush erupted across Lightning's entire face, the heat radiating off her so hot that it made her entirely forget about how cold it was outside. Suddenly everything was an inferno, and no matter how hard she clenched her jaw or her fists to fight it, there was no way of controlling it. Even if she could mask her emotions, Snow knew her all too well. He just knew, and that was exactly why he was grinning so enormously like the cat who had eaten an entire cage of canaries. He was so infuriating, and the more infuriating he became, the more confused Lightning was as to whether or not she wanted to punch him or kiss him passionately.
In the end, her violent tendencies won over as she promptly dropped to the icy ground, hastily smashing together a massive, compact snowball and humming it straight at Snow. "You're such a royal pain in the ass!" she shouted at him, whirring snow ball after snowball at him. After a while, she stopped caring about making snowballs and just threw whatever snow she could get her hands on at him. The whole time, Snow was just dying of laughter, not even trying to really dodge Lighting's blows; he would turn his body, letting his shoulders take most of the damage.
"Is that the best you got?!" Snow provoked Lightning as she climbed to her feet and was chasing him. He grinned brazenly to her. "Come on! Bring it, Light! I'll steelguard anything you throw at me!"
Snow let Lightning have her fun, tossing snowballs here and there, but waiting until she had tired herself out before advancing on her. He didn't actually mean to get her hard, but one of his snowball collided with her jaw, and she let out a sharp yelp at the icy impact. Automatically, Snow went to stop to make sure she was okay, but when he saw he saw the dangerous feral look gleaming in her aquamarine eyes, suddenly he realized that he was the one that wasn't going to be okay.
Stumbling over his massive feet, the blonde sentinel actually ran from the fight, laughing and swearing loudly as he and Lightning engaged in a lethal tango. The snow was three feet deep and with each charging step, Snow felt all his weight sink to bottom. He was literally dragging himself, trudging through the thick snow. Meanwhile, Lightning would sink a little but tirelessly spring back up without losing speed. Wherever Snow went, Lightning was already two steps ahead of me, instinctively foiling all of Snow's escape routes by blocking his path. There was no way he was faster than her!
Finally, Snow was too out of breath to keep running, not resisting Lightning at all when she came at him from the front and tackled him to the ground. They fell with a heavy crunch, the impact of their bodies—mostly Snow's—denting into the snowbank. Both were laughing, nothing but pure bliss and adrenaline flowing through their minds.
Lightning recovered first, prying herself up and pinning Snow into the icy bank even further so that she was hovering over him. And that was when, staring up into her lively gaze, Snow knew: Lightning had been toying with him, like an animal hunting their prey…letting him think that he was faster and actually stood a chance. It was all a game of dominance, letting Snow think that he was in control… when the whole time, it had always been Lightning.
"I've got you now," Lightning grinned deviously, her bright gaze impenetrable. She had him exactly where she wanted him, and she could have gone in for the kill at any time. But instead she let the tension hold. Somewhere in their brains, Snow and Lightning must have recognized the cold tearing into their thick winter jackets and lashing icy whips against their raw exposed skin… but right now, those sensory organs had been recharged to feel the exact opposite. Heat poured through their bloodstreams, and suddenly it felt like they were drowning in sweat with these enormous coats.
Snow swallowed, his heart taking flight in his chest as he still struggled to regain his breath from before. He felt the sweet syrup of intoxicating lust taking over, and with hooded eyelids, he grinned up at Lightning.
"Something tells me that we better warm up inside…"
All warmed up and dressed in comfy casual clothing, Lightning and Snow sat at the kitchen island counter sipping hot chocolate together while Lightning diligently flipped through a cookbook of recipes.
Watching her determination with adoring fondness, Snow couldn't help but chuckle at her, leaning in and kissing her cheek. When he pulled back, Lightning glanced his way and raised an eyebrow.
"What?" she asked?
"I just think you're cute," Snow grinned unabashedly, chuckling again as he set his mug down on the countertop and leaned back in his chair. "So you really want to do this? Bake something with me?"
A challenge flashed in Lightning's eyes, "You're afraid, aren't you Hero?"
Snow laughed, "Absolutely not! I'm just thoroughly amused by all of this. That and I'm just making sure you really want to go through with this."
"It's not like we're battling Bhunivelze," Lightning chided, giving Snow a patronizing look, "It's just cookies. Nothing life or death about that."
Grinning despite himself, Snow chuckled harder. "Yes, but its also you and me, two people who are completely hopeless, if not completely disastrous, in the kitchen. You don't think that Serah didn't give me plenty of horror stories about your cooking attempts? Like the time you tried making her a grilled cheese." Lightning's eyes narrowed into sleek mutinous daggers at that. Snow tried covering his laugh with a cough, but it only made things worse.
"Yeah," Snow went on playfully, "and that look is a huge reason why it's dangerous for you and I to be in a kitchen with lots of sharp, pointy, stabby objects."
Relaxing her face slightly, Lightning smirked at Snow with a knowing gaze, "And here I thought you had a taste for danger."
At her sensual tone, Snow grinned engagingly. "Oh, you'd be correct," he confirmed.
With her knowing stare still locked onto Snow, watching him, Lightning arched an eyebrow. "So it would seem that the kitchen is in fact the perfect place for us."
"Particularly when you put it like that," Snow pointed out, suddenly quite eager. Hoping up from his seat, Snow was ready to go. "Alright," he exclaimed enthusiastically, leaning over Lightning's shoulder to see the page was on. "Soooo… what do we need?"
Lightning sighed, running her index finger down the page as she mentally scanned the ingredients for sugar cookies. It seemed straightforward enough. "Apparently we need 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup butter softened, 1 and 1/2 cups white sugar, 1 egg, and then 1 teaspoon vanilla extract."
Snow nodded thoughtfully, his expression and brow furrowed concentrated. "Okay, if you list them off for me one by one, I'll track them down." With that, Snow quickly bounded around the counter, pausing before the fridge as he pulled out the carton of eggs. Triumphantly, Snow grinned over his shoulder to Lightning, "One egg. Check." He placed the carton on the countertop, starting the collection of ingredients, still grinning, "Cooking is easy. What else do we need?"
"Pace yourself, Hero," Lightning told him, raising her eyebrows at him before sighing and looking back down at the cookbook, "Try finding flour and the—" Lightning cut herself off, frowning in confusion as she re-read the ingredients. "Hey Snow, what's the difference between baking soda and baking powder?"
Snow frowned too, shaking his head, "Uhh…." He paused, rubbing the back of his neck as he wandered away from the counter to inspect the cabinets. He clumsily thumbed through all their inventory, pulling out items here and there and crowding them on the counter as he searched. Making a face, he picked up the small orange box of Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda and brought it over to the ingredient collection pile. "We only have baking soda," he replied.
Pursing her lips, Lightning contemplatively drummed her nails against the countertop. "Actually," she said at last, "I think I remember Serah saying that you could use baking soda in place of baking powder… we'd just need to double the measure that we'd need for the baking powder."
"Really?" Snow was impressed, picking up the box of baking soda and turning it in his hand. He shrugged when he didn't see anything on the box that mentioned using baking soda to compensate for baking powder, setting the box down. "Alright. That works for me," Snow said agreeably.
Lightning nodded calmly, however inwardly she was cringing with the looming sense of dread. Now Lightning couldn't remember what Serah had said; was it baking soda that could be used as substitute, or was it the other way around. Maybe she was just being neurotic…
Dismissing that feeling, Lightning got off her chair and helped Snow find the rest of the ingredients in their kitchen. Things went off without a hitch… until they reached vanilla extract.
"What the hell is vanilla extract?" Snow asked aloud after Lightning read it from the book. They both exchanged dumbfounded expressions, already knowing that nothing by the name of "vanilla extract" existed in their entire household.
"I don't think it's an actual ingredient," Lightning finally said, crossing her arms across her chest, "not in the sense that we'd buy something in the market by that exact name. Maybe it's meant to be read as "extracted vanilla", like—"
"Oh, I get it," Snow intercepted, "So we manually have to extract the vanilla?" Lightning said nothing in reply, staring at him blankly. Sighing, Snow opened up the fridge to the freezer section. "We have some vanilla ice cream. Think that would do the trick?" Still holding the freezer door open, Snow peered back over at Lightning for her approval. On her face was an apprehensive grimace, an expression that should have immediately indicated to Snow that the vanilla ice cream was a bad idea. But Snow shrugged, taking out the vanilla ice cream anyways when Lightning never gave him any vocal answer.
"Oh well. Cookies and ice cream go well together. I'm sure they'd taste great."
"Okay," Snow said, pulling out and unfolding the piece of paper that he had tucked inside his wallet. He and Lightning were walking side by side through the boisterous indoor shopping mall, passing by and peering into all the colorful window fronts as they tried to finish up their Christmas shopping for their friends. Clearing his throat, Snow he read the names off the list he was holding. "So far, we've already got Serah's gift, Sazh's, Dajh's, Fang's, Vanille's…right?" He glanced to Lightning to confirm this. She nodded wordlessly to him, and Snow's attention returned back to the list, "I still have to get the gifts for the old NORA gang… which I have an idea. So we still need them, as well as gifts for Noel and Hope."
"Seems about right," Lightning nodded again, "Any ideas?"
"Just as long as you don't give any homicidal teenage boys survival knives, I think anything we'd buy Hope would be fine," Snow joked, "I mean, I don't know about you, but I'd like to live past New Year's."
Lightning raised her eyebrows at Snow, staring at him like that as they continued walking, "I think whether or not you survive past the holidays all depends on good behavior."
"Oh, is that so?" Snow grinned to her, a boyish look in his eyes as he leaned over and kissed the side of her head. "I guess we'll have to see about that."
At that, Lightning snorted derisively as Snow pulled away. They resumed their shopping, spending times in stores and at kiosks as they progressed through the mall. While exiting one store, something in the distance caught Snow's attention and he automatically grabbed Lightning's wrist and excitedly turned to her.
"Hey, let's do it! Let's go visit and take a picture with Santa!"
Lightning's face had never looked more bewildered and cynical than it did in that moment. She raised her eyebrows sky-high as she regarded Snow, "You can't actually be serious…" she complained dully. She stared at Snow blankly, trying to interpret whether or not he was messing with her or not. He couldn't be serious…
"No!" Snow countered enthusiastically, "I mean it! Come on!"
"No," Lightning frowned, her unemotional tone leaving little room for argument. But Snow wasn't even listening to her, already dragging her behind him with all their shopping bags. "No, Sn—what the hell?! Wait! Wait, Snow!" Lightning exclaimed, belligerent and bewildered, pulling back and digging her heels in to prevent from Snow from pulling her forward any more. She was strong and defiant, but unfortunately, Snow was just a bit stronger. And more importantly, he was one of the few people who were not intimidated by her no matter how much she fought or argued.
Lightning dug her heels in deeper, but regrettably, traction was slipping away from her as she slowly noticed and felt her boots sliding forward with Snow, and her body following after. "Snow!" she hissed, "let me go!"
"Light, you're making a scene," Snow told her calmly, sighing patiently. "It's not a big deal. I promise you this will be fun."
However Lightning was in no mindset to believe him, especially when she realized she was stumbling forward with him against her will. "Snow!" she exclaimed, her eyes going wide as sheer mortification rose into her voice. Now she had no choice but to follow after Snow as he excitedly rushed them forward. Still she struggled as he pulled her with her, giggling and grinning impishly as he did. "Snow, stop! Snow! Snow! No! I don't want to!"
"If you really didn't want to, you definitely could have broken out of this hold," Snow pointed out, grinning even more impishly to her because he knew he had her. All Lightning could do was just frown at him though, keeping her mouth wrenched shut as they finally reached the line of kids and their parents waiting to visit with Santa. Snow let go off Lightning's wrist, giving her ample chance to run off. But instead she stayed, shooting Snow a murderous glare.
"I hate you," she muttered resentfully.
Snow exhaled dramatically, grinning despite himself. "Whatever you say, dear," he teased. Lightning pursed her lips, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked away, trying to look at anything but Snow or the mall Santa posing for pictures with little kids. She only turned back when she felt Snow's tender lips pressed against her cheekbone, and she looked him in surprise with almost a doe-eyed expression.
He held her gaze, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly. "You do know that I do love you."
Lightning looked to him seriously, saying nothing. Finally, she raised a groomed eyebrow at him, the corner of her mouth turning up into a smirk. Rolling her eyes slightly, she playfully shoved him.
"You're still an asshole," she teased.
Snow laughed heartily, "Ouch. But I can live with that as long as you don't mind putting up with me for a while longer."
Shrugging nonchalantly, Lightning smirked, a challenge flashing in her eyes as she threw his words back at him, "I guess we'll have to see about that."
"All done!" Snow announced, his booming voice gleeful ringing through the house.
From another part of the house, Lightning came around the corner so that she was standing in the foyer with Snow. "All done with what?"
"The Christmas decorating, of course!" Snow replied happily.
Lightning crossed her arms, confusion pinched in her brow. "I thought we finished that weeks ago. Christmas is in a few days."
Snow grinned jubilantly, practically jumping out of his skin, "Yeah, and I just realized that I had forgotten the most important detail."
Unable to help getting a suspicious vibe from Snow's elevated good mood, Lightning arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh?"
Nodding to her, Snow's gaze rose up to look at something on the ceiling. Without even looking, Lightning already knew, but she looked anyways to see the dainty arrangement of dark green leafy vines and red berries, tied together with a golden accented red bow. It was hanging from the ceiling in the space between the two of them
Lightning was still staring up at mistletoe when she felt Snow affectionately take her hand, drawing her close to him as he stepped towards her in return. When he had brought them practically chest to chest, Lightning finally lowered her gaze, meeting Snow's eyes as they locked with hers meaningfully. Lightning had always chided this silly Christmas tradition, never understanding the point of it all. And standing here, quite frankly she still did not understand the point of this silly tradition that couples did at Christmas time. But locked into Snow's intense gaze, shivering as his masculine hands caressed her torso and arms before winding around her to hold her even closer… Lightning felt that together they were inventing their own personal meaning tradition, one that didn't have anything else to do with anyone else. Just her and Snow.
"You used vanilla ice cream instead of vanilla extract in your cookies?!" Lebreau repeated, stunned and speechless when Snow recounted the tale to her over the phone.
Snow laughed defensively, "Hey, give me a break. Do you think that every person on this planet knows what vanilla extract is?"
"Uhh, yes!"
"Oh gee thanks," Snow retorted comically back.
Lebreau laughed, "Hey, you and Light can do whatever it is that you two do in that house together, but if you guys end up stopping by here to visit with us, do us a favor and don't bring any wild cooking concoctions. I've made plenty of food over here."
"Hey don't cut down the Hero like that!" Snow retorted good-humoredly, his boastful hero pride still intact, "I may not be the best cook or baker, but you won't find a better leader than me."
"That we won't," Lebreau acknowledged fondly, and the two old friends said goodbye before hanging up. Snow put the portable phone back on the rack and quickly returned to the kitchen, finding Lightning exactly where he had left her—still at the sink scrubbing the dishes and cooking utensils from their latest cooking misadventure. So far, they had three attempts, and all had been utter failures.
"That was Lebreau," Snow informed her, "They invited us to come over tonight for Christmas Eve, so I told her we'd try to see if we could stop by either before or after we have dinner at the Estheim's with everyone else."
"Well that'd be fine if we actually have something we can bring either of them," Lightning snapped bitterly, fiercely scrubbing at the cookie sheet that was caked with burnt, charcoaled cookie bits."
Trying not to laugh, Snow affectingly came up behind Lighting, hugging her and kissing the top of her head in hopes of calming her down a little before he dare tried to pry the cookie sheet out of her hands. "Hey, hey, Light, I promise it okay. We did our best, you have no reason to feel upset about that." Lightning didn't give over the cookie sheet at first, and then, frustrated and disgruntled, she relented. Setting the useless cookie sheet down in the sink, Snow kissed her head again and turned off the running water. "Besides, we already bought the Estheim's a bottle of wine that we were going to bring. We don't need anything else. And we can always stop by the liquor store when we go out if we want to when we're going to the NORA party. Problem solved."
Lightning was still frowning. "You're missing the point. I still want to prove that I'm not completely useless in the kitchen."
Snow chuckled, "Hey, at least we can be useless together." He had hoped that would at least make her smile or roll her eyes, but she gave him no reaction. Sighing, he tried again, "Okay, how about this then. Let's try again, but we'll just use the pre-boxed mixtures. That shit's foolproof, even for us!" Snow grinned brightly, rubbing Lightning's arms. "Yeah, let's do it!" he exclaimed encouragingly.
Releasing her from his arms, Snow rushed to their pantry and pulled out a box of pre-made chocolate chip cookie mix. Quickly, he flipped over the box, reading the instructions on the back, "Yeah, Light, all we gotta do is add some water and some oil and some eggs, and boom, we're in business."
Lightning had turned around to face him, her arms folded. She exhaled, shaking her head and grinning despite herself. "Alright Hero, round four it is."
Defeated and exhausted from almost having the kitchen catch on fire, Snow and Lightning collapsed together on the couch. Too tired for words, they quietly curled up together and fell asleep, Lightning resting against Snow's chest while Snow supported his own head against the plush arm of the couch. Groggily some time later, they awoke, meeting one another's eyes blearily. Noticing the charcoal on Lightning's cheek, Snow laughed incoherently and Lightning soon joined him as Snow held Lightning tightly in his arms.
"So…uh," titters of laughter were still generating inside of Snow when he went to finally talk, "Was that the cookie equivalent of the grilled cheese story?"
Even Lightning was still laughing. She grinned as she angled her head to look up at him, wiggling her eyebrows, "The fire department never had to come when I made Serah that flaming grilled cheese."
Snow let out a loud laugh, "Wow, then I feel honored that I got to experience this cooking experience with you."
Rolling her eyes fondly, Lightning smiled to herself as she relaxed and repositioned her head against Snow's warm chest. She let her lungs fill deeply with air, closing her eyes restfully as she exhaled inaudibly through her nose. Snow unwrapped his arms slightly, clasping one hand with Lightning's and using the other to listlessly stroke his hair. They grew quiet again, sleep threatening to overtake them again.
Lightning reopened her eyes, unrushed and unhurried, gazing at the clean white glow of the lights laced around their Christmas tree. Since her and Snow had first laid down together, it had grown very dark outside and since none of the other overhead lights were on in the couch, the tree's unobtrusive luminosity was the only source of light. She was at peace right here. So at peace it seemed surreal, like a dream, where all her senses highly alert of everything around her but her mind was deeply sedated. Floating through her subconscious mind was the sweet soothing drift of pine, the dented cushiness of their broken in couch, the warmth and affection of Snow's touch.
She could have stayed like this with him forever had he not said, "I wish that we didn't have to leave."
Suddenly, that brought everything back to Lightning, transporting her out of her trance back to the world where other people and obligations existed. Snow was right. They had told a few people they would try to stop by to visit them tonight. Exhaling, Lightning tried to lift her head up, suddenly realizing how heavy and reluctant her entire body was to leave. She closed her eyes again with another sigh, groaning when she thought about getting up.
Snow's lips kissed her temple, uninterruptedly bestowing a kiss right near Lightning's ear before speaking. "I know," he whispered, his low, deep voice filling her mind and going straight to her heart, warm quivers expanding in her chest, "Being with you like this… it's perfect. There's no other way to describe it."
Inhaling deeply, Lightning didn't say anything at first, languidly rubbing Snow's hand with her thumb as they continued to lay there were their fingers intertwined, their hands rested above Lightning's chest, against her heartbeat. Finally, without saying a word, Lightning turned and rolled over slowly onto her stomach so that she laying on top of Snow's chest. Snow loosened his hold on her as he let her move freely, his arms and hands returning once she was settled. Lightning propped herself up on her elbows to meet Snow's eyes full on, and accordingly repositioned his head against the armrest. Watching her, Snow couldn't help but smile, and he brushed her rosy hair from her bright, alluring aquamarine eyes as he continued to fall deeper and deeper into their beautiful hypnotic gaze.
"What?" he asked her faintly, his voice barely above a whisper. The gentle, caring smile from before hadn't left his lips. Curiously, he continued to stroke back Lightning's hair, waiting for her to either say or do something.
Ever so slightly, without breaking their gaze, Lightning shook her head. Earnest, vulnerable emotion flowed from her eyes as a timid smile found its way to Lightning's face. "I want to stay right here…. with you, Snow." Still smiling and brushing his fingers through her hair, a perplexed emotion pinched at Snow's brow initially, the fleeting confusion passing when he recognized what it was that Lightning was saying.
"You mean… you don't want to go out to see everyone else?" he asked.
Lightning softly shook her head again. "No…." she drifted off distantly, bringing her hand up against Snow's check, her fingers lightly stroking and tracing the details of his face. She slid her hand over and placed it against the side of his neck, her eyes panning down just slightly before meeting Snow's again with transformed emotion. "All I need… is right here," she confided to him solemnly, the soft gentleness in her face from before also returning, "There isn't any place or anyone I'd rather spend Christmas with. This is what I want."
Leaning forward, Lightning kissed Snow deeply, her mouth open, and she felt Snow reciprocate her actions. Their mouths molded together, the kiss holding a steady, unhurried pace. It was more than just lust; there was deep, meaningful purpose, and neither of them wanted to rush this moment.
Lightning was the first to pull back, finding Snow's eyes were already staring into her own when she opened her eyes to him. His lips were a breath away from hers, the proximity stealing all her breath away. And he smiled.
"This is what I want too," he told her, "I want you."
Watching as warmth and security filled Lightning's eyes, Snow drew Lightning back in, kissing her longer and more deeply until everything else in the world disappeared… Until it was just them.
Through it all—the whirling blizzard snow falls, decorations and lights, gifts and shopping, and especially all the cooking and baking—the one thing that had always mattered the most wasn't what was being done, but rather who was there to share the memory with. Had it been anyone else, reflecting back on this Christmas would have been so different… And Lightning was grateful Snow had been there with her every turn of the way. Through their highs and their lows and everything in between… having him in her life, sharing all of these wonderful and crazy time with her… that was all that she could ever need or ask for.
And she was happy.