Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. And I don't believe in being politically correct. It's Christmas. Just be Christmassy. And just so Jewish people don't get mad, Happy Chanukah. Now excuse me while I enjoy my "Non-denominational-politcally-correct-winter-break".

Christmas. It was a day that she didn't want to get up. Everything was so "perfect" and "merry". It made her want to crawl into bed and never come out. So she did.

Nobody ever came to see her on Christmas. Manabe came around sometime, but he didn't stay for long because he had to visit the family. She never did that. Mostly, they didn't notice her absence either. And the snow—it was always so unflawed. It scared her. She didn't even want to look out the window it scared her so much.

This holiday, it was so empty. Full of people pretending to love each other and the illusion of family and friendship, when it was really all deception.

Machi pulled the blankets closer around her ears. It was so cold. She had turned off the heat last night, and now her apartment was frigid. She wondered if anyone would come to see her today. She almost laughed. Yeah right, no one ever came to see her. She curled up into a ball and hugged her knees to her chest. It was going to be a long day. She wished it would end.

Maybe she'd go outside and make tracks in the fresh snow. Normally she would, but today was just so… cold. And going outside only made her feel even more alone when she saw all the people walking together, enjoying themselves. A cup of tea, that's what she needed… yes, some tea…

She was just drifting off again, when the doorbell rang. Probably Manabe… She thought dismissively. He has a key, he can let himself in… Yet the doorbell kept ringing. Machi groaned and threw the blankets off, shivering as the cold air hit her. She slipped her feet into some slippers and quickly flipped on the heat before walking towards the door.

She opened it, grumbling, "Why'd you have to come so early, Manabe?" when her eyes rested on who was standing at the door.

"Ah… Hi Machi…" It was none other than Yuki Sohma.

Machi blinked at him, and then looked at herself, still dressed in her pajamas, and then slammed the door in Yuki's face. "HOLD ON A SECOND!" She yelped, quickly taking off her clothes to put on some decent ones. She roughly ran a brush through her long brown hair before opening the door again with a scowl.

"Hi…" Yuki said again, bewildered.

"Uh hi… Um… come in…" Machi stepped aside so that he could pass through the doorway. "Sorry for leaving you out there."

"No, it's fine." Yuki looked around the room. It was neater than his last visit, although still a little disorganized. "Wow, it's cold in here. Is the heat on?"

"Yeah, I just turned it on…"

There was an awkward silence between them before Machi sighed. "Cut to the chase, what are you doing here?"

Yuki blinked innocently at her. "I just wanted to come by and wish you a Merry Christmas. Manabe said you were alone today, so I thought I'd stop by and see if you were lonely or something. If you want, you can spend Christmas at our house—I'm sure Kyo, Honda-san, and Shigure wouldn't mind."

Machi shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, but… I guess I don't really like Christmas…" She looked down at her bare feet uncomfortably.

Yuki tilted his head. "Is that so?" He handed her the bag that he was holding, which she hadn't noticed before. "Well, would you accept this anyway?"

She took it with a nod. This was the first time she had really gotten a gift that meant something. The rest were just the usual birthday and holiday money from her parents, and maybe a little something from Manabe every now and then. "Can I open it?" She asked him.

He nodded, and she carefully fished through the tissue paper and pulled out a sphere of some sort. She drew in her breath when she saw it. It was a crystal snow globe, with the "snow" swirling about inside it. In the center was a girl in a red coat, tracking footprints through the snow. It was so wonderful… she wanted to throw her arms around Yuki. But she didn't.

"T-thank you," she stammered, putting the snow globe down on a clean surface before facing him. "It's beautiful."

Yuki smiled. "I'm glad you like it. I picked the one with the girl in red on purpose. You like red, right?"

Her face flushed at what that would imply, Yuki being the "red ranger" of their School Defense Corps. "I… I'm not sure yet…" she replied carefully.

Yuki peered out the window at the flawless snow outside in the parking lots. It was pretty early, and being Christmas, nobody had come around. So the snow on the asphalt remained as untouched as ever. Such a perfectly even sheet of white, it was. "Machi…" he said suddenly, interrupting a somewhat companionable silence.

Her head snapped up abruptly from where it too had been looking out the window. Her thoughts of that promise he had made once returned to her mind.

Right on cue, Yuki said the words she had wanted to hear so badly. "Do you remember what I had said the last time I was here? Well… I was thinking, maybe if you wanted to go out and track through that snow now?" He asked, pointing out the window.

Machi was speechless for a moment. It was so stupidly wonderful how he could just always say and do exactly what she had wanted him to. It would always be at the right moment, too. It was so stupid, stupid, stupid!

Her thoughts raced as she gave a small nod, and quickly went to put on a coat, boots, and scarf. Once she was ready, the two exited the apartment, Yuki holding the door open like that stupid gentleman he was.

Outside, the both stared at the lot for a moment, unsure of what to do, until Machi tentatively stepped forward, before suddenly breaking into a run through the snow. Yuki let out a small chuckle before he, too, ran out into the lot. His laugh grew as they created tracks through that painfully perfect snow, and he felt a great weight lifting from his heart.

The two met finally somewhere in the middle of the parking lot, standing in front of each other with labored breaths and immense elation.

Machi looked at Yuki for a long time. His silver hair shone in the however dim sunrays, and matched perfectly with the snow and gray skies. His pale face was flushed and bright, and a wide, genuine smile lit up his features. It was that smile that caught her off-guard. So sincere and innocent… she quickly looked down blushing, when something caught her eye. A lone red maple leaf that had survived the harsh beginnings of winter was lodged in the snow between them. Machi knelt down and picked it out of the snow, twirling it between her fingers.

"So you really do like red, then?" Yuki cocked an eyebrow, his grin growing.

A moment of disillusion hit Machi and she looked straight into his brilliant gray-violet eyes. "No… I… I love red…" She whispered, before leaning up and placing a soft kiss on his lips, her hand clutching the front of his jacket. To her surprise, he placed his hand on her shoulder and kissed her back. The moment only lasted an instant, before they broke off, both blushing furiously, a sheepish grin forming on Yuki's face when he finally understood the true meaning of "liking red".

"I like red the most." Machi gave him a one-in-a-million smile.

"Me… I like… I like Machi the most." He replied his smile growing along with the red tint to his cheeks.

He leaned down, and the two kissed again as the snow began falling slowly around them. And if you looked carefully, you'd notice how the two sets of footprints curved around opposite sides of the parking lot, meeting together at the center to form a heart.