Author's note: Okay, so this works more or less along the same principle as What if?, only it's about Shinichi and Ran. It's supposed to be following the seasons (I know, there's only four seasons a year, but let's assume there's several years to this, okay?). It happened because I realized I had a lot of ideas about Ran and Shinichi which didn't really fitted in Tales, so they're all going to be in this.

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Winter storm

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Ran curled up by the fireside and stared into its swirling, red-orange flames, which leaped up and down like thin ribbons disappearing into smoke. She was so close to it she could hear sparkles rocketing and sizzling near her hair. Shuddering, she rubbed her hands against her forearms and tried not to think about the storm that raged outside, about the thundering wind that hit the closed shutters, about the snow-crushing footsteps she almost imagined crawling closer to the fragile shed… and closer… and closer…

Something creaked above her, and she jumped. She opened her eyes and lifted them to the wooden staircase, where Shinichi was standing on the upper landing, holding two brown things that looked like rags.

"Okay," he said, carefully closing the door he'd emerged from, "so this must be some kind of skiing hut. People must have come here and rested a while. There's a couple of bedrooms up here, but they're cold and there's no fireplace." He opened his arms and Ran saw that there were three brown things, not two. "How did we get stuck in here again?" he asked with a twisted smile.

"Got lost in the storm," Ran mumbled, and she was surprised to find her voice much firmer than she'd thought. "Sheltered here." Her mind, however, seemed to be still too cold to get out of telegraphic style.

"Oh yeah, I remember." Shinichi grinned, and she wondered how he could be so lively. He started down the steps. "I found blankets. They're a bit worn out but they'll be warm enough."

"Aren't these animal furs?" Ran asked a little worriedly, watching him advance towards her across the freezing room.

"Oh, come on, Ran," he pouted, handing her one of the blankets. "I know you're an animal-rights activist, and that you spend your week-ends cutting up banderols for the sake of badgers, but would you rather die of pneumonia?"

Ran smiled a little at this and took the blanket. She wrapped it around her while he flattened the third one – a bit larger than the other two – on the mat by the fireplace, and they both sat upon it.

"What time do you think it is?" Ran asked after a few moments' silence.

"Dunno," Shinichi shrugged. "It was three when we left the camp. I think the night fell when the storm began, but I have no idea how long we wandered." He looked around him. "Lucky we've found this place. If we have walked only two yards farther to the left, we would have missed it."

"Yeah…" Shinichi could say whatever he wanted, Ran couldn't rightfully think what was happening to them was lucky, shelter or no shelter. They were obviously stuck in here for many hours, as the storm didn't seem close to calming down.

"They'll come and fetch us when the weather'll be better." She looked up and saw that he was smiling at her. Like always, he could guess when she was okay and when she only pretended to. His voice was warm and soothing, just like when they were two kids and she was afraid of ghosts. Sometimes he would laugh at her unfounded fears, but sometimes he would act like this, try and comfort her.

"You know," he said, she thought more to make her hear the sound of his voice than really to talk. "You really should try and get some sleep. How's your ankle?"

Ran's fingertips brushed against her injured member, which had prevented them to come back to the camp before the storm had begun. She had never skied really well. She winced as a flow of pain gushed beneath her skin, but met Shinichi's eyes with a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine. It's okay, tomorrow it'll be all gone."

Shinichi didn't seem convinced, but he didn't argue. "Sleep then. That way tomorrow will be there sooner."

"But–" She was sleepy, but the idea of them being both asleep while anybody could come in meanwhile was quite frightening.

Shinichi must have followed her train of thoughts. "It's okay," he said. "I'll stay awake and watch over you."

"No!" Ran protested. "Wake me up when you're sleepy and I'll take over the watch…"

Shinichi sniggered a little at this – he knew all too well Ran wouldn't stand to stay awake all alone in such a lonesome shelter, in the midst of a winter storm, while himself was sleeping. She would make up fears and monsters, and take any noise outside for a werewolf approaching. In the morning she'd be so nervous she'd probably welcome their rescuers with karate.

"For now, sleep," he said softly.

"Okay," Ran mumbled listlessly, and settled herself against the chimney, firmly decided NOT to fall asleep.

This was easier said than done. The fireplace and fur blankets had deprived her conviction of the cold that might have forced her to keep conscious. Now, she lay in a small nest of warmth and quietness, while everything around was quite black. She dared not glance at the staircase now. It was too dark up there, and who knew what kind of phantoms could hide in corners Shinichi had not explored? Outside, the storm was thundering against the fragile shed, and Ran, in her absurd fears, thought that it was concentred on it, and that it would never stop, that they might never be able to get out, that they would stay here forever, until they died of exhaustion and hunger…

She opened her eyes warily; she had almost been blown away by her daydreams, and her eyelids were falling with tiredness, as heavy as lead… she fixed her attention upon Shinichi, who was leaning against the chimney as well, staring at emptiness. The fire was swaying and glowing only a few inches from him, and its swirling flames were reflected, slightly darker, in his eyes. They sent gleams of red and golden on his face, streaming sparkles on his hair like a spot of black upon a background of warm light. He hadn't noticed she was watching him, and yet her sight was already misted by the ever-swaying fire and its shimmering…

Next thing she knew, a great crash drummed in to her ears and her eyes snapped up as she awoke convinced that the door had been double-axed open by some psychopath. She hadn't seen anything more than a greyish darkness and a twirling redness that a hand laid on her shoulder and she opened her mouth to yell – but it was Shinichi's hand, Shinichi's eyes that stared into hers and Shinichi's voice that asked worriedly, "Ran? Are you alright?"

"Yes," she said, feeling foolish and angry. So it had been a dream, ne? And she'd gone afraid just for that… "I heard a noise…"

"The shutter," Shinichi said – then, remarking her puzzled gaze, added, "The shutter banged. The storm's calming down but the wind's still strong."

Ran looked over and saw it: a thin slit of grey narrowing and widening slightly in the dark window frame. She felt more foolish than ever.

"I've slept, then," was her flat remark.

"A couple of hours," Shinichi said. "Was it a nightmare or something?"

His thoughtfulness and the care for her in his voice were almost painful. "I don't remember," she lied, drawing up her knees. The storm had really calmed down, but the wind was blowing and its smashing against the snow reminded her vividly of crushing footsteps. She stared into the reassuring gleam of the fire and as asked as though unconcerned, "You don't think anyone could be near, do you?"

"Not in such a storm," Shinichi firmly replied, and then surprisingly, started laughing. "So that's what was worrying you, wasn't it? did you expect some kind of murderer to come up and cut us to slices?"

Ran felt more frustrated than ever. She answered, with less justice then she thought he deserved, "You, Hattori and dad are corpse-cursed, Shinichi. I'd rather not have ourselves as corpses this time…" She shuddered. She knew that in the morning all those fears would seem to her as absurd as they now seemed to him, but the only thought of the world outside, so large and stormy, when they were all alone in a small shed, with no more defences than some karate training, was just too frightening.

She looked over at Shinichi, who was grinning softly at her, as though a way to make her understand how much he thought all of this silly. She observed – not for the first time – that his chest was broad, his arms long, his hands nervous. How comforting it must be like to have those arms around her, to feel this chest under her head, to sense those hands running through her hair…

"What kind of criminal?" He seemed to enjoy himself very much.

"A psychopath with a double-axe," she answered bluntly, but Shinichi only grinned wider.

"You should go back to sleep," he said, softly. He added as an afterthought, "That way, if your psychopath comes and does murder us, at least you won't feel anything since you'll be asleep."

"Oh, yeah, that's a real comfort," Ran exclaimed, and he laughed.

The fire crackled and sizzled for quite a long time before they spoke again. It seemed to be burning higher and higher, Ran remarked, but the night wasn't over yet – what would happen when it would be close to extinction? They only had a few logs to go… she watched them with apprehension each time Shinichi stretched, picked one up, and placed it in the fire. Only nine, eight more left… seven… six…

She lost contact with time. Seconds were passing away at the same rhythm as hours, for all she knew… anyway, what did it matter? the night seemed endless… and it would be, once there would be no logs left, no fire, no warmth…

"Ran."

"What?" she answered without even looking up.

"Do you know you're shivering?"

"I am?" She hadn't noticed. The brown fur had slipped from her shoulders, but even after she lifted it absently back up, she still shuddered. Whether it was from cold, she wasn't sure. Five logs left…

"Hey."

The fur had slipped again, and Shinichi had had to put it back himself, probably thinking she was asleep, since her eyes were only partly open. She hadn't noticed before his hands brushed against her shoulders, and her head shot up. He stopped cold. His face was only millimetres from hers and his fingertips were still grazing against her clothes.

"We-weren't you asleep?" he stammered, and at the sight of the deep blush invading his cheeks, Ran understood.

He loved her. She loved him. Where was the problem? She confessed to him when he was Conan – all right, she didn't know it was him… - and he'd practically told her after he'd defeated the Organization with the aid of the FBI. Heiji and Kazuha had interrupted him that time, and he hadn't tried to tackle the subject again. Their relationship had backtracked to what it was before, as though nothing had ever broken the routine, as though she'd never cried on the phone because of his absence, as though he'd never asked her to wait for him and said he'd come back to her, even if he were dead. They were on the old track all over again, the old lullaby of best friends and not married couple, when they both knew they loved each other.

When she'd been so shy all the days that had followed his coming back, everything, right now, seemed so absurd, as absurd as her own unfounded fears. Why was she seeing that now, when she could've discovered it any time in the whole year that had elapsed in the meantime? Maybe because they were now more close to each other than they'd ever been since 'Conan' had disappeared, maybe because the cosiness of the fragile, closed shed, with the crackling fire and the warm blankets, appeared as a repetition, in less safe and secure, of the winter evenings they'd spent together.

Why had they tried to avoid the questions they were asked all the time, when the answers were just beside them? Why had they kept the relationship they used to lead, when their lives had been altered in a way that permitted no coming back? They'd lived in pretence of the past, when the future was already there, all ready for them.

Was she really the only one to see that now? Couldn't Shinichi discern, too, that truth which had just swooped on her? No; he was drawing back, with a apologize in his words and a smile on his lips… his lips…

She reached out and gave them a very short, rapid kiss. His eyes widened as he looked down at her in astonishment. Actually, he fell back on the rugs and stared.

"Ran…" she had never seen his face so astounded.

"Good night, Shinichi." She smiled at him before she closed her eyes and leant her head back against the mantelpiece. She could imagine him very well now, kneeling by her side with one raised hand, hesitant as to what to do. She wondered, forcing herself to keep her eyes closed, what he was thinking of what had just happened… in the end she'd done the first step…

His lips had felt soft, had tasted bitter. It wasn't a repulsive contrast, but, at the same time, it wasn't what she had expected.

The same lips pressed a soft kiss, as rapid as hers had been, to her cheek.

"Good night, Ran," they murmured to her ear – she felt his warm breath before he drew back.

Strangely enough, when she fell asleep again, she wasn't thinking of ghosts anymore. There were happier memories to remember, and the promise of a white, brand new world waiting for them in the morning, a world on which to build a whole life.

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Right, that was random. I didn't even know what I would be writing next line, and the whole thing unfolded itself completely. Not so much the perfect beginning for a long series as this is -supposed- to be, ne? Ah, well…