---- Counting Snowflakes---

Yes, this story/one-shot is dedicated to: Vaniolel, a fellow author, friend, and devianArt Artist under the code name: Sor-RAH. I hope you see her drawings, they are so awesome!

I hope you like it, Darling! *smiles*

It was winter in Tenebreau. The castle wall were ice cold, the floors were damp with water droplets from the the ceiling above it. But....that was in the older parts of the castle.

The Fleuret family lived in Modern times: fireplaces were lit, the lights were lit in almost every room, and heat from the air vents flew all over the castle, making the family and its occupants very warm, and comfortable too.

The heir and only Princess, Stella smiled as she sat near the window, watching the snow fall. She was in her white night-gown and was almost ready to go to bed.

She put her small hand against the window and made a imprint of her hand.

Then, very carefully under her hand, she wrote:

Stella Nox Flueret, Princess of Tenebreau

The honey-blond princess smiled happily. She loved writing on the windows when she was little: drawings, practicing her handwriting, or making a little crown for her head (for pretend of course). Her parents told her not to do that anymore because it would make the windows fill up with streaks. But it was a habit hard to quit.

She finished drawing a mini-her and was about to put a crown on her head, but she heard a knock on her door.

Stella got up from the window's ledge and walked towards the door, covering herself with a robe. She opened it and groaned when she saw her guest.

It was Snow Villers.

He warily smiled and asked to come in. She was about to shut the door in his face until she saw his clothes.

They were torn, dirtied, and badly cut up. There were splats of dry blood on his chest and a cut on his right cheek.

She couldn't help but stare at his battered condition. The man sighed and asked again if he could come in. Stella silently nodded and let him in her room.

Snow shrugged off his sliver vest and tool of his black bandanna showing his messy, blond hair. He took off his huge boots and set them beside the door.

"God, what a day." He said as he took off his black gloves and put them on the table.

Stella noticed that he had small cuts and scratches on them and on his hands.

"What happened to you, Snow?" She asked annoyed, but hid the worries for her bodyguard's condition.

The man sighed again and grabbed a near-by chair.

"The Nora and Vanille were training. Heh," Snow smiled and shook his head. "Let's just say one of them needs practice and Vanille isn't so good at summonings. Well, not yet anyway."

She nodded and walked towards the window, blocking her doodles.

"So, you're okay right?" Her voice sounded uncertain and slightly nervous. Snow took note of that.

He waved and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Just fine." He touched the dried blood on his chest and winched.

The Princess quickly grabbed her First-Aid kit under her bed, opened it and took out a bottle of disinfectant, cotton balls, and bandages.

She took these items and knelled at his feet, and ordered him to stay still.

Snow gritted his teeth, anticipating the burn of alcohol as Stella took a cotton ball and poured the disinfectant, making the cotton instantly damp.

He flinched when the alcohol burned his wound. Then he felt soft dabs of a dry cotton ball taking of the dried blood and absorbing the new batch of blood oozing out of the wound.

"You can yell, you know." said Stella, amused at his pained expression.

"Yeah, yeah-Ouch!" She dabbed the cotton ball a bit too deep, sending the cold liquid deeper into the wound.

He flinched and looked down at Stella who smirked. "Oops, sorry. My fault." She said trying not to smile again.

Snow nodded and noticed something on her window. A drawing? A hand.....some thing written under the hand print.....S-Stella Nox....Fleu-

He unconsciously leaned forward, making Stella lean backwards. She looked at him sharply, but he was so engrossed of what was behind the Princess.

Her eyes followed his, then her eyes widened at what he was trying to make out: her doodles. She stood up and forced him back on to his chair, in a futile attempt to cover up her doodle.

"Snow! Y-your wound! Sit back down!" The Princess was now flustered, blushing angrily. Snow shook his head and walked slowly toward the window. "What's this?" Snow gently moved the princess to the side as he looked at the doodle closely.

She bit her lip,'He must think it sucks. I don't blame him...' She mentally kicked herself as Snow still looked at her drawing. Stella moved closer to Snow, sighing deeply. "I-I know it looks like nothing. I-It was just a doodle. That was all. J-Just a-." Her eyes saw that he was smiling.

Then to her surprise, he pointed his index finger next to mini-Stella and finished her with a small crown. Stella blushed and looked at Snow. He glanced back at her and smiled," A Princess needs her crown right?" She nodded and looked as he drew a mini-Snow beside mini-Stella.

"There, now it's complete." He wiped off imaginary dirt from his hands and sighed, sitting on the window ledge. Stella did the same. They looked outside the window where snow gathered in multiple places. The snowflakes falling slowly, making the destination at its own pace.

Silence crept and began setting between them.

"So," Snow began breaking up the quiet,"Stella. Have you ever....." He stopped, thinking about what he would say before making a fool of himself.

She looked straight at him wondering why he stopped mid-sentence. He never did that. She saw Snow look at the Snow intently as if he saw something interesting. She looked at the window and just saw snowflakes.

Looking at the window and avoiding Stella's eye, Snow asked in a mumble,"Have you ever counted the Snowflakes?"

It took her a while before she registered what he asked. Counting snowflakes?

"No....why?" she said. Snow opened his mouth, but thought the better of it. He stared at the window so intently that Stella flinched. She hit a nerve.

She reached out her arm and touched Snow lightly on the shoulder. "Sorry. I-Er.....never counted Snowflakes before. I'm sorry." She held a small, apologetic smile to Snow who nodded and sent back a forgiven one.

"When I was little, there was no snow in Pulse. Just wilderness." Stella nodded and looked out the window the sky still falling with snowflakes. "Then I came here...it had snow. Tons of it. It was amazing, beautiful, and so peaceful. Then I started counting the snowflakes. I wanted to see how many fell from the sky....they were falling so much I almost left count."

Snow chuckled and looked at Stella. Her eyes moved up and down, her lips barely moving. He blinked and laughed at her. Stella stopped, looked up and glared at him,"What? What's so funny?" Snow shook his head, smiled and lifted his huge hand, patting her head.

The princess blushed feeling his warm hand on top of her head. He stopped and asked,"So how many did you get?" Stella looked back at the window and huffily said,"15." He smirked and began doing the same.

"1....2.....3....4....5....6....7..." Snow muttered under his breath. He heard her sigh,"Can you count to yourself, Snow?"she asked irritably.

"I don't think I can. I've been counting by myself for a while. It's a hard habit to quit, you know." He said a-matter-of-fact.

Stella knew the feeling. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the subject and began counting from where she left off.

"8....9...10....11....12....13....14....15...16...17....Stella, what do have?"

"45."

"Heh, you count fast huh?"

"You have too if you're a Princess "in charge" of other things."

"I guess so. 18...19...20...."

While he was counting to himself, Stella smiled. This was comfortable. This moment of peace. Just hearing his voice....

She stole a quick glance at Snow who was still staring at the window still counting to himself.

She looked back at the window watching the snowflakes fall down from the sky.

'Now, where was I? Oh...46....47....48....49....50....'

In the middle was the doodle of a hand print, a Princess and her crown and a solider beside each other.

As close as they will ever be.

Have you ever done that? Counting Snowflakes? It seems too hard for me! *smiles*

I hope you like it Vaniolel! It's so sweet isn't it? Now make me a Stella and Snow Pic! XD

Yes, they didn't fight in this one. It was one of their "peaceful" days. Surprising, huh?

Please review my fellow fanfics!

Your Author,

~Yuki~