Author's Note: This story is ancient (and terrible - honestly). Consider it archived.

OC Information (in case you care):
Name: Alex
Partner: Renamon
Crest: Understanding

Ken looked over the balcony at the tiny white flakes falling delicately from the clouds. A gentle breeze brushed against his cheek softly, like a tiny, gloveless hand, freezing in the cold. His eyes reflected the moonlight that illuminated the colourless sky, escaping through a small part in the clouds. Below the sky, the layer of darkness coated with glowing white stretched out endlessly in front of him, reminding him of icing sugar dusted generously on top of a chocolate cake. The snow, which had just begun falling, was the thing that drew him onto the balcony at that early hour of the morning. It wasn't, however, the reason that he was unable to sleep.

"Ken?"

Ken's eyes suddenly blurred as the scenery before him lost his focus. He looked around to his left to see a person almost his height clinging tightly to a coat that looked far too big for them as it gushed around their neck, flowed over their shoulders and spilled over the floor where they stood, pooling around their feet. their eyes were also lit up by the moonlight, its reflection dancing from the corners of their icy blue rings as they looked at its light within Ken's. For a few seconds, the small hands of ice continued to cup his cheeks as they both stood still, until Ken blinked and looked down at his feet, his mind still trapped in the cage that one would call thought.

The person's brown hair licked at their glowing face. It fell just past the massive fluffy collar and almost looked as though it was part of the coat. They tilted their head slightly and looked up into Ken's eyes from below, curiously peering into them with an ease that made Ken uncomfortable. He looked back out over the balcony to escape from their gaze. Innocently, they stood next to him and looked in the same direction, aware that even though the two of them were looking up at the same sky, they were staring at two completely different things.

"The snow is beautiful," the brunette commented softly.

Ken merely nodded, even though he was partially aware that they weren't looking - not that it mattered, because they knew the answer anyway.

A few minutes passed, and the moon disappeared and reappeared from behind the shredded clouds. The snow, however, continued to fall as though time was standing still; and in that particular moment in time, the snow fell thinly and delicately, the flakes floating like feathers rather than falling. The few minutes spent in silence allowed Ken to adjust to the other person's presence, and gather the courage to look back into their eyes. They locked their gaze with his just as he turned to face them. His cheeks burned slightly, and he could feel the breeze getting colder in contrast to his heat. They must have noticed, as a smile spread across their face. The cold hands pressed colder again against Ken's cheeks.

"Why are you still awake?"

Ken was unsure where he'd found the strength to lift his shoulders and drop them again under the weight of his nervousness – it was hard enough keeping his eyes up high enough to hold their gaze.

"Still thinking about what happened?"

The burning sensation spread like wildfire, and for the first time in what felt like hours, he felt those cold fingers retract, just a little. His vision blurred again, and he saw images of control spires and dark spirals, his defeated Digimon partner, a blue and yellow uniform – all the images he wanted to forget. Voices from all across his mind screamed and cried out in pain – the crack of a whip caused Ken to break the link between their eyes and turn around, unable to escape his cage.

"Ken."

The brunette's voice softly drifted through the darkness in his mind. Ken turned back around slowly, trying hard to find that courage again to look back at them. He expected that they were judging him for all the things that he'd done, all the innocent Digimon that he'd put to work for him tirelessly, and all the damage he'd done to a world that wasn't that different from his own. However, as he was slowly working his way up the waterfall of brown fur, a hand reached out from above and grasped his cheek, helping him up.

"What you did in the past is not something you can change," the owner of the hand said firmly. "The important thing is that you're not the Digimon Emperor any more, and you lead a better life now, helping people and Digimon alike. So don't dwell on it, Ken, you're part of the team now."

They lifted their other hand to Ken's face so that both of them cupped his cheeks, finally defeating the hands of ice with ease, the warmth overcoming even his own blushing.

"I'm your friend."

Ken's eyes widened, and he nodded slowly. The words rang inside his head like a soothing bell, brushing away the unwanted voices and images as though warding off demons. The brunette's eyes were like pools of endless blue, and Ken felt as though he was loosing himself in them, wading through the ripples. He got the impression that they were growing, that the water was going to envelop him; it was too late to act however, because by the time he'd realised that they were actually moving closer to him, their lips had captured his.

Ken froze, his eyes wide; the only part of his body that didn't go numb was his face, which was still being cupped by delicate hands. He couldn't move even if he'd wanted to – but if he'd said that he wanted to, he would have been lying. Ken realised that if he'd thought time was standing still before, it had to almost be going backward by now. Even the snow seemed to slow down, crawling down from the sky at a snail's pace, and his breath was as frozen as the ice.

When the smaller person's lips eventually left Ken's, he let his breath out. They didn't pull back, however, and when they opened their eyes Ken lost himself in them again. He was still unable to move, but was a little more responsive when they kissed him again, pressing his lips to theirs this time, a little firmer than they had done the first time. He closed his eyes, allowing his other senses to experience them as much as possible as he once again found the strength to move, placing his hands on their waist and pulling them closer to him. He felt himself melting into them as he felt their tongue flick over his lips, and he responded by parting them and greeting their tongue with his own.

After what felt like hours, Ken pulled back a little, not opening his eyes but instead pulling their body even closer to his, then wrapping his arms around them and placing his chin on their shoulder. Their hands left his cheeks and he felt the sting of Lady Ice's fingers once again, but it was barely noticed as the warmer hands found their way around Ken's neck to hold onto him tightly.

"I love you, Ken," they whispered into his ear.

Ken's tears joined the flow of fur that the young brunette wore. Those words brought forth a parade of them, dancing in the moonlight until they reached the coat.

"I love you too."