Author's Note: Hi guys! It's been a year since I posted my first seasonal fic—eh, the only seasonal fic I have...but the season is back! So many of you asked me to update and include Holly's letter and all that. I've got a better idea. I'm rewriting this Fanfiction. Not the same story, because it will have a lot of new surprises, new humour and even that letter! I thank everyone who supported me and say hi to the people reading this for the first time. I hope you enjoy a Fowlastic Holiday Season!

One look at the opposite end of the sofa was all it took to convince Artemis that he should probably just leave.

Artemis knew a lot of things. First and foremost, fairies were real and they didn't look like Irish Leprechauns or Tinkerbells. Trolls were real. They weren't short or stumpy and didn't live under bridges, but they were real. And, perhaps what appealed to him the most, the crazed fairy adventures involving trolls, goblins and murderous pixies were over. Something he was glad to know.

Now, Artemis may have had encounters with elves, dwarves, krakens and ponies, but there were certain characters whom he knew he would never meet. Or one in particular that everyone in the room just happened to be talking about.

"So, San D'Klass doesn't drop by at lit chimneys," Holly was telling Beckett cheerfully on the opposite end of the sofa. "Because at the time people should be sleeping, releasing carbon or whatever into the air is unnecessary and melts the North Pole."

Artemis put his paper down and gave her an incredulous look. "Just where did that come from?"

Holly shrugged. "Beckett asked."

Myles looked up from his spot on the floor where he'd been doing the same thing as Artemis. The Irish Genius was undeniably glad that at least one brother had taken after him. Fowls did not believe in Santa Claus. "It's interesting you should say that," said the boy. "After all, Artemis tried the same thing when he was four. He was convinced that if an old man could do it, so could a thief trying to steal his work."

Artemis tiredly rubbed his forehead. "At least my logic was alright!"

"Artemis suspected that if a thief were to drop in, it would be on Christmas Eve as a Santa. And he kept the chimney lit for the night."

Holly couldn't contain her laughter. "W-What?" she spluttered. "My gosh, were you really that stupid?"

"I was not stupid," retorted Artemis, his embarrassment hidden well in the glow of the living room's bright lights. They made his face look somewhat darker with half of it shadowed and the other half tinged in light yellow. "And it was good logic. Besides, Myles makes it sound as if I thought the immortal old man in the red suit was real."

Beckett scowled. "Santa is real. Right, Holly?"

Holly ruffled his blonde curls playfully. "Of course he is. She shot a mock glare at the Mud Boy. "Arty never gets presents because he's naughty."

Artemis rolled his eyes. "Beckett, don't tell me you're listening to this."

"I agree," Myles chuckled. "If the list was real, Artemis would definitely not fall into the Nice category."

"Perhaps he would on Cupid's list," said Holly thoughtfully. "Cupid has rather bad judgement."

Artemis sighed. I should probably leave them to talk as if I'm not here. Wait, I don't have to be here. Holly can manage on her own. He gave her a quick nod before standing up and making his way out of the room.

•••

As it was, Artemis was in for a pleasant surprise in his study. Not that he didn't already guess when it started smelling of something unmentionable and rotten five meters away from the door. He entered the study with his breath held, not doubting that the source of the smell was far worse than the smell itself.

The Dwarf on the revolving chair slowly turned to face him.

"Hello, Mud Boy," greeted Mulch, exposing his colourful tombstone teeth. Colourful as in full of unrecognizable foodstuff and scents. "Aren't I a surprise?"

Artemis scowled. "Get off my chair."

Mulch scrunched his face in a mock look of hurt. "Would you say that even after I've got you a present?"

"Oh no. I don't want to know."

The Dwarf put his tongue out. And such a sight it was. "Tell me you aren't curious, Mud Boy."

Artemis had to think about it. "Maybe so," he admitted. "But I refuse to receive it unless it is odourless."

"Oxygen is odourless. Can I say that and give you a balloon? No."

"Mulch, trust me. When you're around, even oxygen has an odour."

Mulch grinned, slowly reaching for something small that lay on the desk in front of him. "Trust me, Arty-boy, this little gift will leave you warm and fuzzy the entire holiday season."

Paper? Artemis frowned. What was a piece of paper going to do?

"Tut tut," Mulch wagged a finger. "You won't get it until tomorrow morning. You know that, don't you?"

The Irish genius, much to his own shame, let his curiosity get the better of him and said, "If that's the case, you won't get your usual portion of dinner tonight."

The dwarf scowled. "You suck the fun out of everything, Arty."

"Hand me that paper."

"Juliet is going to serve me my dinner anyway," Mulch carefully tucked the piece of paper into a pocket on his trousers. His torn, filthy trousers that had never tasted water before. Artemis winced.

"So much for odourless," groaned the Mud Boy.

•••

"In other words, Cupid was a jerk," finished Holly.

Four figures made tracks in the fields of snow, tracks that didn't have the chance to sink very deep because the crystallized flakes kept on falling and filling them. Fowl Manor's grounds were now two hundred acres of winter scenery and leafless oaks, the occasional beech and even winter's traditional mistletoe bush scattered at random intervals. The cold air stung, of course, but it wasn't to say that the synthetic fur coats weren't heavy enough. They couldn't do anything about the winter, of course, and the red-tinged skin it caused them. Artemis was rather appalled that Beckett would bend down to scoop handfuls of the snow and chuck them at his twin from behind.

"It doesn't hurt," Myles had said. "So long as he avoids my face."

The twins had resorted to playing by themselves, even if Myles's playing was more accurately defined as self defense.

A good danger-free two hundred meters away from the six-year-olds, Artemis paused to ask Holly a question.

"Where's Mulch?"

The elf shrugged. "Where do you think? Raiding your fridge, of course."

Artemis rolled his eyes. "So predictable. Which brings me to the subject on why he is even here."

Holly tucked her hands into the pockets of the borrowed blue coat she wore. Her exotic brown skin wasn't its normal colour and the cold weather brought a flush to her cheeks that simply stayed there. White earmuffs pushed her pointed ears down and kept them from exposure. Must have been a bit painful, but she wasn't showing it in the least. "Well, Mulch said that he wanted to take this chance to visit the surface so he could give you something. Some sort of present. I don't know what it is."

"Ah," said Artemis, sparing a glance back at the twins. Myles seemed to be catching on. "As curious as I am, I'm rather sure he's making a big deal out of something not worth it. After all, what can a tiny piece of paper do?"

Holly frowned. "You know, maybe we should just go inside," she said, a rare sort of discomfort in her tones. Artemis could have sworn she sounded suspicious. Not curious, but suspicious. He didn't have time for any more thinking because the elf then turned her back and began walking towards the Manor. He had no choice but to make a mad dash to catch up.

"Wait," protested Artemis, now walking fast beside her at the same pace. "Holly, wait."

Holly stopped in her tracks and looked at him. "I'll be fine inside, Mud Boy. My ears are starting to hurt."

"Perhaps you should adjust these," said Artemis, reaching for the earmuffs. "You know better than to leave me here with the twins, Captain. What if Beckett decides to start one of those accursed snowball brawls with me?"

"That would b—" Holly stopped midsentence and took a step back. "D'Arvit, don't do that, Mud Boy!"

Artemis looked at the pair of earmuffs that he now held. "You know I wasn't going to remove them. The way you'd worn them I wouldn't be surprised if it had blocked the circulation in your ears and possibly even your blood flow."

The elf scowled at him, her gloves being the only thing shielding her ears. "You made it worse, Artemis. Now my blood flow is going to freeze altogether."

Artemis sighed, stepping closer to her and holding the earmuffs above her head. Holly reluctantly took her hands off, before he immediately placed the earmuffs in place. He frowned, adjusting the gadget's position. Angling it further, he barely noticed the wrist of his hand gently brush against the tip of her left ear.

Holly immediately pushed him away.

"Holly, if you'd worn them the same way as before—"

The elf's face was now redder than it had been less than half a minute ago and he could suddenly tell that the winter had nothing to do with it. With realizing this, the same colour came to his own face. Artemis looked mortified.

"D'Arvit, Fowl," growled Holly. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

"I do now," admitted Artemis embarrassedly. "I apologize, I really do. I should have left you to do it. It was stupid of me not to remember, but I thought...a second wouldn't make anything happen. I didn't expect it to. I was certain that—"

"Shut up," snapped the elf. "Fairy ears are sensitive. You know how I would've reacted."

"I didn't expect..."

"Just never do that again," warned Holly. She hesitantly reached for her left ear and the muff over it, angling it, trying to get it into the right position. Artemis didn't dare to offer any help. She continued her efforts and it was at least a minute later that she got satisfying results.

She avoided his eyes and turned towards him.

"Would you—" started Artemis. "Would you like to go back to the Manor?"

"No," replied Holly sternly. "Let's just join Myles and Beckett. Going back would be a waste now, wouldn't it, after you've gone through all that trouble to fix these things for me?"

The Irish genius nodded wordlessly. Something told him that she wasn't prepared to forget the incident any time sooner.

The Fowl twins were actually having a considerable amount of fun when they turned up.

"Simple-toon!" shouted Beckett in greeting from under a pile of snow. It looked like he had intentionally gotten there.

"About time," said Myles, standing up from his crouched position at what seemed to be a wall of snowballs. "What took you so long? I saw you two over there and I couldn't even begin to guess what the problem was."

Holly shot a glance at Artemis. "It's nothing, Myles. Only that your brother needs to know a little something about respecting boundaries."

Artemis scowled, still slightly red. "Could we leave that behind us?"

"The effects are going to last for a while, Mud Boy," blurted Holly. It wasn't even half a second later that she realized what she'd actually said. "I mean, it's...it's..."

Whether it was sheer luck or an unfortunate coincidence, a snowball came flying their way from Beckett's direction.

The elf ducked. The Mud Boy didn't.

Myles chuckled.

•••

Minutes later, all four of them were back inside the Manor, two particular boys hogging the fireplace and gulping down glasses of hot cocoa. Mulch sat on the closest couch with his head raised proudly as a certain Irish genius searched for anything at all left in the kitchen.

"Mulch, you cannot be serious," said Artemis incredulously, walking into the room. "You finished all of it?"

"I left those biscuits!" protested Mulch.

"Yes, Mulch, five biscuits. And now Butler is going to have to stop at the grocery store and buy food to replace everything you just ate."

Mulch sniffed. "But I cleaned your fridge! It's not as if you eat that caviar rubbish anyway, right?"

Artemis twitched an eyebrow.

"I guess not," said Mulch nonchalantly. "What you should see here, Arty, is that I did you a favour."

The human rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Where's Holly?"

"Passing time," replied Myles smugly. "After what you did back there, she's not going to come anywhere near you until the...erhm, effects wear out."

Artemis scowled. "Not a subject for you, Myles."

"In other words, she's seriously attracted to you."

"Myles, keep quiet!"

"Ew," Beckett winced. "Don't say that, Simple-toon. Holly's not like that."

Mulch perked up from his spot on the sofa. "What're you saying? What happened?"

Artemis tiredly rubbed his forehead. "Alright, let's move on. Santa Claus, anyone? The concept of Flying reindeer?"

"Shooting stars," said Mulch. "I've wished once."

Artemis sighed. "Oh, you have?"

"It happened!" argued Mulch. "I wished for a pet hamster, and I got one."

Beckett seemed interested now. "When?"

"Three years later," admitted the Dwarf.

"Shooting stars don't grant wishes," said Myles. "It's a stupid prospect. Stars are made of gas and shooting stars are paths of meteors entering the atmosphere. Technically they are first meteorites, but they burn upon reaching the atmosphere so that they don't damage the Earth."

Mulch whistled. "It's scary, Mud Boy, this one's just like you."

"There is one major difference," Myles smirked. "I wouldn't touch an elf's ears."

The Dwarf's eyes widened. "Wow. Bold, Mud Boy."

Artemis groaned, turning back to the door he'd come from. He had no time for this. What he did have time for, however, was finding why Holly was really avoiding them.

•••

The elf sat outside on the platform at the entrance, still dressed in the coat and earmuffs that protected her from the cold. Artemis approached slowly, placing a hand on her shoulder. Holly didn't jump or appear surprised in the slightest. She simply looked back at him with her usual calmness.

"Mulch helped himself to the fridge," said Artemis apologetically. Of course, what he should be saying apologetically was I'm sorry for that mishap earlier, but he'd rather say what he really thought. After all, she couldn't honestly blame him for that?

Holly nodded. "Not a surprise there."

"Butler will be buying some more," he assured. "Why don't you come in?"

The elf looked away from him and gazed at the field of snow instead. "I never get to see this," she admitted. "Fairies hate the cold, but it's difficult to resist. It's just so deadly and beautiful at the same time." She sighed, the air around her a tiny cloud of fog. "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?" asked Artemis, even though he had a pretty good guess.

"For these," she awkwardly tapped on the earmuffs. "It wasn't your fault. I guess I overreacted."

And now who's wrong, Myles? Artemis barely contained his smirk and glanced at the grounds. Well, if Myles was wrong about the passing time, it meant he now had a chance to avoid Mulch for a while. At least that was how Artemis justified it. To tell the truth, he actually wanted something else, but he didn't for a moment want to think that he wanted it.

He went ahead and asked anyway.

"Care for a second look around?"

What exactly did he want? After all, Artemis Fowl wouldn't find any use in walking through ankle-deep snow. He didn't fully understand it himself.

I can avoid Mulch, said a stern voice in his head. That's it.

Holly suddenly got to her feet. "Why not?" she asked. "Come on, I'm bored. Let's walk a bit fast."

And, for some reason, his heartbeat was unsteady.

This time, two figures made tracks in the snow. One set of tracks were firm and always ahead of the other by a of minimum half a meter, while the other had a few incomplete footprints that depicted stumbling and difficulty in keeping up with the first.

"Honestly," grunted the Mud Boy from behind the elf. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you did this everyday."

Holly stopped walking and gave him an agitated look. "Someone wants to go back inside."

Artemis didn't even know why he argued. "I am just suggesting that you walk slower."

She sighed. Once again, there was that fog in the air around her. A pale background, a blue coat and two warm colours in contrast with them. Her hair and her eyes. Auburn and hazel. He had noticed only two times before, but it struck him again then. How beautiful his best friend really was. He couldn't find words to speak, and he didn't know how he missed it when she suddenly bent down and picked something up.

A snowball landed on his face.

"Feel like fighting back, Mud Boy?" The elf grinned, already going for a second handful of snow. It didn't take Artemis very long to snap out of it and wipe the thick substance out of his eyes and mouth.

"Are you serious?" asked Artemis incredulously.

Holly shrugged. "Duck."

He miraculously managed to avoid the second snowball, but as a result he landed face-first in the snow on the ground.

The elf laughed, giving way to her shaking knees and collapsing on her back beside him. "Come on, get up," urged Holly, pushing him aside and letting him fall on his back instead. Before Artemis could ask or even object, she wiped the snow out of his face in one swift move.

She stopped and looked him straight in the eyes. "It's a holiday, Mud Boy. No, forget that. An entire month free. I'm not on duty and we aren't hunting down Koboi this time, so why can't you just drop the seriousness?"

Artemis frowned. "Well, I admit I was perfectly fine before you started assaulting me with your holiday spirit."

Holly grinned. "The Artemis Fowl has never been in a snowball fight before?"

"No he hasn't, because he isn't a child."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I haven't either. I picked it up from your brothers."

Artemis was contemplating a sarcastic remark but something stopped his thoughts momentarily. They were still on the snow, their backs freezing but unnoticed, with less than ten centimeters in between them. They both looked a mess and no worse than they had looked countless times on previous adventures.

And perhaps, last but not least, they were alone, five hundred meters away from the entrance of Fowl Manor.

Artemis slowly rose into a sitting position, two gloved hands gripping the snow loosely and his knees close to his chest. Holly did the same, if a little faster, facing him with a questioning look on her face.

"Holly," he started. "The concept of shooting stars granting wishes is rather daft, but perhaps we could look out for one?"

Holly raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"I could explain the process of it."

Holly chuckled. "At least you aren't going to talk about how snow falls and what a polar vortex is."

Artemis grinned. "Is that what you want to hear?"

"Frond, no. That's what Foaly told me as soon as I found out about snow in Ireland."

The sky wasn't exactly clear; look straight up and you'd have snowflakes in your eyes. But the constellations and a few stars were plainly visible. Or, as Artemis argued, the few stars were planets because they did not emit light.

Artemis plucked a mistletoe branch buried halfway underneath the sheet of snow. "So, let's say this is a meteor." He showed her the red berry. "Ironic, it's your namesake."

Holly rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm.

"This is the Earth's atmosphere," he detached a leaf and held it under the berry. "The atmosphere has different layers. From the surface, the troposphere first. Weather changes originate at this layer. Also, transpiration, condensation and burning."

"Yeah, well you can't spend too much time talking about one layer when there are five."

"This layer is important. They all are. So, above the troposphere, there's the stratosphere. This is where the ozone layer is. Above this is the mesosphere, where meteors originate. A meteor is the passage of a meteoroid or a micrometeoroid that enters the Earth's atmosphere, incandescent from air friction and sheds glowing material in its wake that creates a visible streak of light."

Holly blinked. "I did not understand the whole of that last sentence."

Artemis sighed. "Look," he directed the berry at the thorny leaf, which it didn't pass through. "That's what happens. When meteoroids survive the entry through the atmosphere and reach the Earth's surface, they are called meteorites. In most cases, they burn off at the Mesosphere, but if and when they do collide with the surface, craters are formed."

"So you're saying that shooting stars aren't at all innocent."

Artemis shrugged. "Sometimes."

Holly sighed. "I can't believe I survived another space lesson."

"Excuse me. I used simple terms and language you would understand."

"Really?" remarked Holly with a sarcastic edge in her voice. "How about incandescent?"

"That's up to your vocabulary. You have the gift of tongues, you know what it means."

The elf rested her chin in her hands. "You know something, Mud Boy? Eight years ago—Frond, that's eleven years actually—you didn't think this day would come, did you?"

"When a human and a fairy could talk without verbal abuse? No."

Holly smiled, shaking her head. "No, when we could talk and trust each other."

"I don't regret meeting the People, even in that way," admitted Artemis. "We have progressed so much..."

"We have." The elf placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's a long way, isn't it?"

Although Artemis said nothing, he couldn't agree more. They had gone from spiteful rivalry to a grudge, to an alliance, to trust and eventually to friendship. It was a long way. He had been a broken boy and she had fixed him, and he owed her too much for that.

"We should probably head back inside," said Holly, sounding somewhat regretful. "Not give Mulch a chance to finish those last couple of biscuits."

"I agree," replied Artemis, his voice devoid of any emotion he felt at the moment. Holly wondered briefly how he could hide them so well.

Then again, that had always been what he was best at.

•••

"Oh, look!" exclaimed the Dwarf. "They're back!"

"So?" scowled Holly, shutting the door behind her. "It's not as if you cared anyway."

"Oh, I do care," Mulch bit a piece off the roasted biscuit he held. "What's new? Let him touch your ears again?"

The elf tried to contain the flush that came to her cheeks. "It was an accident, Dwarf." She kicked her boots off at the carpet and took off her gloves, along with the earmuffs. She pulled her coat off and carefully hung it where it should be, before stepping into a pair of shoes and walking across the room to meet them. Artemis took off his own winter clothes with a lot more care, except in the case of his footwear. Brown boots that he highly detested.

Holly wore a long-sleeved green top and three-quarter beige jeans. It was odd, to Mulch, that she'd actually worn something besides an LEP kit. She distanced herself from him as much as possible and sat cross-legged on the rug beside Beckett. Noticing the discreet look Mulch was giving him, Artemis chose to sit far from and opposite to Holly.

"I was telling your brothers about some occasions where I saved your butts," began the Dwarf casually, stuffing another biscuit in his mouth. "They find me quite entertaining, actually."

Holly snorted. "Entertaining? I can see why."

"They do!" protested Mulch. "At least I don't ruin the party by deserting it halfway." He gave Artemis a fleeting look. "Unlike someone I know."

"Mulch, we didn't even spend half an hour outside," argued Artemis. "And there's no party. At least not until when Mother and everyone else come home tomorrow morning."

"I think I should correct that," said Myles. "You spent one and a half hours outside, and instead of listening to Mulch, I'd rather know what exactly you did for one and a half hours. Mother told you to spend time with us, and I'm going to tell her about this if your answer isn't good enough."

Holly sighed. "I'm just going to go to bed."

Artemis stood. "Ah, yes, I think I'll do that as well. It's past eleven o'clock now."

"Seems you don't want to tell us," Mulch winked. "Goodnight, guys. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

Artemis didn't bother giving him a suspicious look. The Dwarf had probably eaten the circuits in his room or something of the sort. He didn't want to know.

•••

Mulch hadn't eaten his circuits. Despite it being a little paranoid, Artemis switched on every light to confirm it and scanned the room for any foreign objects. When all the lights had worked and the scan had come clean, he deemed it safe to expect a peaceful sleep. Something made him dust the bed twice—possibly Mulch's use of the phrase don't let the bedbugs bite—before flicking off the lights and laying his head down. You had to be paranoid when it came to a Dwarf's tricks. Especially one like Mulch Diggums.

He found himself thinking over the day's events. What bothered him was the unfamiliar feeling he'd had when Holly had said...certain things. Or rather all the time during their trek across the grounds. Sometimes he had found himself at a loss for words.

Maybe it's the clone. Perhaps I haven't fully adjusted to the people I once knew too well.

Maybe.

Something fluttered on the bedside tabletop. Acting on instinct, he immediately switched on the lamp, expecting to see something out of place, but the only thing the light fell on was a folded piece of paper with a smaller piece attached to it.

It was the same paper Mulch had shown him earlier.

Artemis sighed. Mulch had wanted to give him the present early. He reached out for it and read the smaller note first—the dwarf's explanation.

Hey, Arty boy! Wanted to give this tomorrow but after something Myles told me, I thought I'd just let you read it now. You're going to have hilarious dreams. Like, hilarious if I knew what they were. Thanks for the food. XD Imagining your face after you read it. –Mulch.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. That was...entertaining. He didn't waste a second before opening the second note, which was written on a different kind of paper and definely not Mulch's letters. Well, these letters had been written carefully and, oddly enough, the paper was scented. At least it was evident that it used to be, because it didn't smell half as bad as Mulch's note.

Arty.

Look, there are some things I have to tell you. Laugh all you want but there is no way I am saying it to your face. The note was Caballine's idea and I'm asking you not to talk to me about anything I've written here. You know we've been through so much, I'm sure you could understand. At least that's how I explain it to myself, it's the only reason I feel like this.

We were enemies once, Artemis. We went from rivalry to grudges. Grudges to alliance. Alliance to trust and trust to friendship. I can't help thinking that we're progressing even more now.

I love you, Arty.

Don't expect me to say anything about it the next time we meet. I have everything under control and I don't want you messing that up. Frond, you already messed me up enough for a lifetime when you gave yourself to the Berserkers. Don't you dare do that again.

—Holly.

PS; Just get rid of this stupid note before Foaly gets his hands on it.

By the time he had finished reading it, Artemis's eyes were wide and shock coursed through his entire system, his mind struggling with how to react. Half of him wanted to test it for authenticity while the other wanted to visit Holly right then and...and what? Ask her why she'd written it? Or if she'd written it at all?

In another time.

There was only one explanation as to why Mulch was the one to give it to him. Holly had never intended to give him the note anyway.

But the Dwarf had been right about one thing. As shocked and questioning as he was, he didn't in the least feel the season's chilly air that had crept into his room. The heater in the corner of the room seemed to have doubled its capabilities. It was warm, it could even be called pleasant and he noticed his suddenly heavy eyelids.

He actually wanted dreams.

Holly is pretty good at hiding emotions herself.

Who would have guessed?

From friendship to love.

He knew what he'd have to face in the morning, and he knew that he couldn't tell Holly. But it didn't matter at the moment. He had been a broken boy and she had fixed him.

It was no wonder she felt the same.

•••

Author's Note: Whew! There you go! I hope you guys enjoyed this, pleeeeeasee leave a comment because this was a lot of effort to write. Meteorite stuff credits go to Wikipedia and last year's Geography syllabus. To be honest, the concept confused me a little too. Have a Fowlastic Holiday season! Milk toffees to all my readers for being awesome!.

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