Through Frosted Windows
Yugao
Summary: It's Christmas, and Julia spends it alone. As she sifts through holiday greetings and the like, she gets an unexpected visitor who came for more than just hot chocolate.
Author's Note: My first Hwoarang/Julia fic, so if it's not up to your standards please bear with me. Also… this is assuming that these people actually celebrate Christmas, okay? Reviews of all sorts are accepted. By the way, this is a one-shot.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken and I never will.
Outside, the sky was gray, flecked with falling snowflakes. The moon, full that night, could barely be seen in the blizzard. Everything was blanketed with a soft sheen of snow.
Inside, the fire roared in the hearth. A television announced the temperature outside to be ten below zero. A three-feet-tall Christmas tree, ornately decorated with shining tinsel, lay atop an end table of polished mahogany. A kettle of hot chocolate was on the kitchen counter, and beside it a white mug.
Julia Chang was thankful to be inside that night.
She poured herself some hot cocoa and walked over to the living room. She leaned back against the couch and turned the television off. Looking around, the house was completely bathed in the orange glow of the firelight.
The Iron Fist Tournament sponsored by the Mishima Zaibatsu was nearing a close. Months before she had come to Japan for the very reason of entering the tournament, renting out the house for her use while the competition was going on. She trained, she fought, but she failed. She pushed the thought out of her head as she took a sip of her chocolate. It warmed her inside, even though the house couldn't get a bit toastier if she tried.
Dressed in a dark green sweater, a pair of jeans, and woolen socks, it wasn't any surprise that she didn't feel the least bit cold. At least, not physically.
She sighed as she picked up her laptop from its place on the coffee table and laid it on the couch beside her. If I'd gotten new mail, she thought to herself, Now would be the best time to check.
As she waited for the computer to start up, her gaze fell on the small pile of cards and other holiday whatnot on the table. Laying down her cup of cocoa she gingerly picked them up and put them on her lap.
The one on top was hot pink, with a glittering Christmas tree in front. She flipped it open, and little panda caricatures greeted her. "Dear Julia, merry Christmas! I really wish I could spend the holidays with you. Even Panda misses you a lot. But I guess the next best thing would be to send you all my happiness in this card. Take care! Love, Xiao." She felt a little smile cross her face at Xiaoyu's thoughtfulness.
The second was a colorful mix of red and green, with a fancily decorated wreath. Inside, the margins were doodled on, and she couldn't tell whether that was intentional or not. "Hey Jules! Merry Christmas! Thanks for spending time with me during the tournament. It's a wonder how we became friends in such a short time. Thanks for all the memories. From, Asuka." She grinned. Asuka was always like this, dynamic, friendly, active.
The third card was made of glossy gold paper, with angels singing a psalm on the cover. She smiled with the familiarity of it. "Dearest Julia, Merry Christmas. I pray that you are safe there, and that when you come back to Arizona I will still find the same young woman I cared for before. Promise me you'll take care of yourself. With love from your mother, Michelle." Dearly she wished the woman was here with her now. She may not have been her biological mother, but she was the most beautiful person to her since she was a child, and that made her more of a mother to Julia than anything else.
There was a fourth message, enclosed in a velvet box. She opened it, and found an engagement ring inside, with a note attached. "Merry Christmas, my dear Julia. Love, Ganryu." She was flattered with the gift, but closed it, all too glad to forget the sumo wrestler.
"You have mail," the computer's voice announced. Moving the cursor with the touch padshe opened her inbox.
The last message was from Hwoarang.
Hwoarang… the Blood Talon. The arrogant young man, gifted with fiery red hair and dark, soulful eyes. His image reappeared in her mind as she opened the message.
It contained only three words.
"Wait for me."
Puzzled, she read and reread the e-mail, trying to make sense of it. After the nth time, she turned her laptop off and laid it on the coffee table, turning instead to her hot chocolate which was starting to cool.
"Wait for me."
The words still rang in her head as if he had said them to her himself. She took a sip of her drink and leaned back against the couch and wondered.
Outside, the sounds of cars and motorcycles were the only things to be heard.
Inside, her heart beat even faster, even louder.
Motorcycles.
She chanced a look outside. The glass was frosted over, blocking out anything and everything from sight. But amidst the foggy crystal she thought she saw a flash of red hair.
Red hair.
She grabbed her boots and put them on, laying her hot cocoa carelessly on the table. She grabbed her jacket, opened the door, and went outside.
There he was, his hand poised in midair as if to ring the doorbell, when he caught sight of her. His face was almost blue from the cold, with one hand behind his back, and sheepishly he said, "Merry Christmas."
Overcome with concern, she opened the gate and let him in, leading him through the door and into the cozy living room. She lay him down on the couch, and left him to fetch a towel. As she nursed him neither said anything, because no words were needed.
She poured him a mug of hot chocolate and gave it to him, finally chancing a question. "What were you doing? There's a blizzard outside."
"I know," he said quietly.
"Then why…?"
He smiled as he took a now-soggy present wrapped in red and green paper. "I had to give you my gift."
"You endured the cold for this?" she whispered.
He didn't answer, and so she opened it. Inside was a wet little teddy bear, around its neck a collar that read those three little words.
Outside, there was a blizzard. Everything was bitterly cold and frostbitten, and Nature couldn't care less.
Inside, two people, a young man shivering on the couch, and a young woman beside him, sat. At their feet were soggy wrapping paper and ribbons, and on her lap was a wet little token of love, but it couldn't have been a merrier Christmas.
Author's Note: So? Reviews are very, very welcome.