Cody let out a long sigh as he hunkered down beneath his covers, trying to keep the howling of wind blocked out with headphones blasting music at full volume. It wasn't doing much good, as the gale outside his house was sending waves of sleet against the sides of his house, creating an incessant bombardment of rattling. He couldn't sleep like this, despite how late it was getting.

Outside, a snow storm of biblical proportions raged, screaming and howling and piling huge banks of snow against the rows of houses. The weather was intense even for Canada in late December, and the roads had been shut down for nearly the whole day.

In frustration, Cody finally capitulated and turned off the music, slumping onto the bed and lying limply on his back. He listened to the sound of sleet pounding away at the walls, and wondered where all of time had gone since the finale of World Tour. An emptiness lingered in him as the tumultuous night brought his mind back to that incredible, tumultuous time.

There was that unshakable feeling of lingering regret, that he had been in the midst of so much and taken away so little. His desires for Gwen had been extinguished, his ambitions of riches shot down at the last moment. For all the spotlight, all the chaos that he found himself in the midst of, it seemed that upon returning home nothing had changed at all.

A loud bang against his window jolted his attention back to the real world. The brown-haired boy spun around to see the window lift open, letting in a gust of icy, sleet filled wind into his room. And soon it was apparent it was something more. A shadowy figure clad from head to toe in covering winter gear climbed in through the window, heavy winter boots thumping against his floor as they landed on his floor inside.

Cody's adrenaline spiked and his hearted started to beat rapidly, threatening to leap from his chest. His eyes gazed at the mysterious intruder as it closed the window, easily towering over six feet tall. He could feel himself shaking in terror, the fear for his life nearly freezing him solid as his body prepared to make a run for it at the slightest hint of hostility.

But that did not come. Instead, the hood was pulled back and the heavy mask came off, revealing a familiar face in the mild illumination provided by his night-lights.

"Happy holidays Codykins!"

"Oh, it's you," He groaned in exasperation, slumping back down onto the bed and scooting away from her uncomfortably, "What are you doing here Sierra?"

"I've come bearing gifts silly, teehee~" She giggled coyly, dropping a large sack of nondescript items onto the floor as she reached down to unbutton her coat. Her hair had grown back magnificently, over halfway to the fullest extent it had been at during World Tour and tied in that unmistakable hefty braid.

"It's not Christmas," Cody rolled his eyes, "And how did you even know which room was mine anyways. I get figuring out my address, that's easy for you, but…"

"Google street view is a pretty nifty thing isn't it?" Sierra cackled, a hint of maniacal glee in her tone as she hung up her snow-laden coat on his dresser, "Oh but these aren't Christmas gifts Codykins. I just wanted to make sure you had something to eat while the roads are blocked."

Cody rolled his eyes at her incessant antics, noting she had worn a loose fitting black camisole instead of the usual tube tops he'd previously seen her in. "Okay uh, that's….nice I guess, but our pantry isn't small and we'll only be stuck as long as the storm keeps going."

"Aha, but you're four days behind on groceries," She grinned smugly, climbing out of her boots and leaving them but the dresser next to Cody's own shoes, "And I refuse to let my Codykins go hungry, not even for a day!"

"How did you…" Cody shook his head, "No, nevermind, I don't want to know how you figured that out. Euuuugh, fine," He rolled over on his side as he watched her climb out of the heavy overalls she wore, too tired to expend any futile protest against her, "So, what did you get?"

Sierra went back over to her bag and knelt beside it, fishing her hand inside and retrieving a large thermos. "You like Hot Cocoa, don't you?"

"Uhuh!" Cody nodded rapidly, his arms reaching out for the thermos eagerly. Sierra gladly handed it over, Cody clutching his gift close to his chest and twisting the lid open eagerly. Distracted by the rich sweetness of the the cocoa, his nerves began to calm down. Even during a home invasion, his sweet tooth cravings were overpowering.

With every gulp of the piping hot chocolatey mixture, his mind began to clear, grogginess replaced by a dull calm. After making it about halfway through the thermos he set it down on his lap and turned his head to the side, noting Sierra had moved uncomfortably close to his bedside in the interim.

"Why are you here?"

"To bring you yummy treats silly," She replied, "And to give your feet-"

"That's not what I mean," He cut her off, "I mean what are you doing, climbing into my window in the middle of a blizzard? The show is over Sierra, you can go home now and back to whatever strange life you had before…."

"But you are my life!" She insisted, taking both his cheeks in her hands and pulling him down towards her, "You're my everything, you're…." She bit her lip and looked up at from from beside the bed with pleading eyes, "You're….more than just a friend, aren't you?"

"I am; I mean, uh, we are," He nodded slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves that might bring them any more uncomfortably close together, "But, that was way back when we were still on the show, and that's over, Sierra."

The mocha skinned fangirl's lower lip quivered and her eyes began to well up with tears, "Y-you mean you were just acting?" Her voice changed to a dangerous, angry growl, "Or were you just leading me on hm? Trying to get me away so you could frolic off with other girls?"

Cody shuddered and shook his head rapidly, inching away from her, "No, that's not it, it wasn't acting!" He insisted. In fact there were times that he sorely wished that it had been an act, something staged by Chris. That gut-wrenching feeling of his skin crawling; as if it was attempting to leave his body to get away from Sierra of it's own accord; was vivid in his mind, even all this time later.

But it was Sierra who had carried him through the sadistic hellscape of Chris's twisted challenges. She brought him nearly to victory, and snatched him from the jaws of death. He knew by now gratitude was due, but even so it was hard to show it whilst she unsettled him; doing exactly the sort of thing that had made him revile her when they first met.

"Just because I appreciate what you did and value you as…." He swallowed heavily, "More than a friend...look, I just want to go back to a normal life where I don't have to worry about anyone climbing in my window at night, okay?"

Sierra let out a defeated sigh and hung her head. Cody didn't know if she was a moment away from a bawling fit, or a murderous rage, and braced himself for either.

"So you don't want me here?" She sniffled.

Cody tensed up and held his face in his hands tensely, his gut twisting inside. "I want you to just use the door," He groaned. No matter how much she got on his nerves now, he couldn't bring himself to send her away. Just as he couldn't leave her to die at Drumheller. She was too important to him now.

"Look, all you've done for me really means a lot, but if we're going to keep doing this you can't just violate my space like a burglar! Come to the front door, give me a call ahead of time, alright?"

Sierra rubbed away the tears welling up in her eyes, "Y-you really mean it? I can come over any time I want? To your house?"

"Yes," Cody threw up his arms, "If I'm going to have you here I want it to at least feel...normal, As normal as anything can feel with you around." He'd barely uttered the last words of that sentence before Sierra leapt up onto the bed at him in a blinding mocha and purple blur. She latched on with herculean force with both her arms and her legs, squealing with delight.

At first Cody fought and struggled to escape, startled by the sudden outburst, but as the initial shock faded he began to settle down. She wasn't fishing her hands into his pants, or forcing her tongue down his throat. She was radiantly warm and had just the right softness about her to be comfortable.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou," She cried with delight, "You won't regret this Codykins. I'll be the best friend you ever had heehee~"

Whether he'd regret it not was yet to be seen, and he had no doubt he'd regret it at least once. But as to her being the best of best friends, he had no doubts. She already was.