Hi, people! (--- I'm politically correct!) This Christmas fic is awful early, I know, but it *is* a multi-part, and I needed to get it done to enter into Teenager Kari's Jenki contest (yes, I did finally find out the proper name for the couple) so I could go back to my other one. Which, I am betting, will be released next year instead, even though I started it in May, with Reflection Reflected ending up as this year's one, but oh well. Please, tell me what you think! Oh, and thought I'd warn you that there are spoilers in here!
Happy Holidays
By Lyra of The Edge
Henry sat on the snow covered hill in the park, staring at the invitation in his hand as he waited for the other Tamers to arrive. Why would Jeri be inviting him to her Christmas party? He guessed it was because he was one of the other Tamers, but just the same, he was hoping she hadn't invited his little sister. Tamer or not, Suzy would *not* fit in amongst himself and the other 13 year olds, nor would the majority of the Digimon put up with her for more than half an hour. He sighed, then looked up as he heard the crunch of snow alerting him of someone's approach. Kazu and Kenta were trudging up the hill in his direction.
"Hey, where's Terriermon?" Kazu asked immediately.
"He's at home, with his brother and Suzy," Henry grinned. "She agreed to keep dress-up to a minimum, if they'd help her wrap presents."
"Lucky. Gaurdromon can't fit inside the house, so we hid him in the tunnel so he won't rust."
"Marineangemon was afraid she'd freeze, so she's at home," Kenta added quickly.
"Makes sense. Then I'm guessing only Giulmon and Calumon will be around today…"
"What makes you say that?"
"Behind you," Henry laughed as the two non (ok, in Jeri's case less) annoying female Tamers and Takato came wandering up the steps, their Digimon nowhere in sight, managing to panic Kenta half to death.
"Renamon has a cold, and Leomon went back to the Digital World for a little while with Ryo and CyberDramon, [A/N: I fixed it! But now I probably spelled the name wrong… but be happy with what I *can* do right!]" they quickly explained, joining the others inside the much larger than before shed that served as Giulmon and Calumon's home.
"So that's why only these two were here…"
"But, Rika, if Renamon has a cold, shouldn't you be at home with her?"
"Ah, she'll be fine for an hour without me. Grandma is watching her, and Digimon heal relatively quickly," Rika smiled softly. "But, like said, I'm gonna go home a bit earlier to check on her."
"Oh, does that mean we have to cut another snowball fight short?" Takato and Giulmon whined.
"Not likely. The forts are still there from two weeks ago, just fairly buried by now," Calumon giggled. "I've been keeping them dug out, and the snow last night was *really* deep but light, so it shouldn't take too long for the place to be ready again."
"Yeah, you tried to dig them out this morning, and I had to dig *you* out," Giulmon added, sending them all into laugh riots. There was soon an argument between Takato and Kazu, the two self-proclaimed team captains, over who would get Rika and who got Giulmon, both of whom were almost tied for strongest thrower. Finally Rika convinced them to just let her and Giulmon be the Captains, which nobody was about to disagree with.
"Alright, that's settled. Giulmon can pick first," Rika glanced over at the dino.
"Me?" he asked in his normal, squeaky voice. "Ok, I want Takato on my team," he pointed to his Tamer.
"Right, then I'll take… Henry," Rika stopped scanning the crowd, pointing straight at him.
"Me? But, I'm normally about the last to be picked…"
"Unrightfully so. I think you and Giulmon are the only one's who've actually hit me with a snowball before. Now get over here!"
"Ok, ok, I'm coming!"
**********
Teams divided, the two groups headed towards their own forts. It was amazing how they could simply forget the rest of the world and act like normal kids, as if the last year had never happened. Nothing had really been happening throughout the last month or so, so the group had decided to go back to acting as normal as possible. The snow throughout the last few weeks had really lightened all of their moods, since they'd already had 4 snow days in the last three weeks, and at the current rate of nightly snowfall, the next day was destined to be yet another one. Luckily, the events of the past few months, resulting in the last remaining three Tamers' acquiring of their Digimon, had left much less tension within the group, with the end of the 'why do you get a Digimon and I don't?!' discussions. All of this was what Henry was pondering as he sat, back against the fort wall, packing snow for the others to use. He had been distracted earlier and hit twice, at which point Kenta had suggested he do such until his mind was clear. A small snowball hitting him on the shoulder brought him back to reality.
"Calumon?! You're supposed to be throwing snowballs at the *other* team, not us!" he scolded the perpetrator. [A/N: ok, I've officially spent too much time with *my* vocab book…]
"But you ARE the other team!" he laughed, throwing another small snowball and scurrying off, Jeri fast behind, and right into the other teams trap regrettably for her. Out from the shelter of the small snow wall, she was easily susceptible to the previous random snowballs. All of which, of course, were aimed at her now. This, however, left none of the opposing team for guards, as Rika quickly alerted Henry and the two began chucking missiles at the other boys' fort, resulting in random cries of 'ow!' and 'hey!' from two guys and one dino Digimon hidden behind the wall.
"Our most successful attack this hour," Kenta laughed, throwing one more snowball across the field before returning to forming snowballs for the more experienced ones to throw.
"Hour?! Oh no, I gotta get back home to Renamon," Rika panicked.
"I'm really proud of you. A few months ago, you wouldn't have cared if Renamon was nearly dead, let alone if she had a little cold," Henry commented randomly.
"Thanks."
"Hey, guys!! Hold your fire, Rika's got to leave!" Kenta yelled, standing up. Naturally, he was pelted by about a dozen snowballs before the others headed his request.
"Why don't we all call it a day?" Kazu suggested, as everyone else came out of hiding. "I mean, we've got 3 people and 2 Digimon covered in snow," he motioned to Takato, Jeri, and Kenta, as well as the two Digimon present, "And I sorta promised my parents I'd help them decorate for Christmas."
"Ok," the rest of them agreed, retrieving whatever items they'd brought with them.
"Hey, Takato, I was wondering, if… after you're done warming up, you wanted to come over… For hot chocolate and to help me decorate?" Jeri asked him shyly.
"Sure, why not?" Takato laughed. "But do you mind of those two come too?" he motioned to Giulmon and Calumon. "They still have no idea what Christmas is, so I think it'd be fun to have them around."
"Well… ok. As long as they're not *too* destructive. My parents are used to Leomon being around, but not any others yet."
"Wish I could say the same for my parents. Last time we had Giulmon in the house, he almost ate us out of house and business," they both laughed at the *really* pathetic joke Takato had made.
"Oye, Mr. and Mrs. Goggle-head, if you want my opinion," Rika sighed.
"Yeah. Hey, at least she's not obsessed with that puppet anymore…" Henry pointed out. "Look, um, I was going to do some Christmas shopping, since this is about the first time on record I've been free from Blabber-mon, and the store I wanted to go to is right by where you live, so do you mind if I walk with you?" he asked Rika, motioning in the general direction of her walk home.
"I guess so. But on one condition. You have to help me find something for Renamon. I just can *not* think of anything to get for her. I mean, last time I got her a gift, it was an energy drink. I think she'd appreciate something better than that this time."
"Of course," Henry agreed, as they walked off down the steps. Which left Kazu and Kenta glancing around, confused, between their other two best friends, and the girls they were walking with. Apparently couples in their eyes, though they doubted either of the sets thought so themselves.
"Oh, great. So they already snagged the good girls, and left us with the only female Tamer left being Suzy," Kazu sighed.
"So? And why are they defined as the 'good ones'?"
"They're our age. Ah, c'mon, let's go."
**********
"So… exactly what were you thinking of getting Renamon?"
"I have no idea. I've never actually boughten a present for anyone within the last… 8 years? You know, any present I have to give to someone, mom or grandma picked out for me. What do you get, for a Fox-Digimon who has everything she needs?" Rika sighed.
"A gift certificate to Starbucks?" Henry said jokingly. He shrugged lightly, walking slightly behind Rika through the softly falling snow, past rows of shops.
"Not a bad idea…"
"Well, if you think so," Henry laughed. "It was a joke, actually…"
"Yeah, I know… but maybe I should get her a gift certificate, to Starbucks or maybe a book store…"
"She's into books?"
"Yeah, she's really traditional… Hey, this place looks nice… they sell old books, and candles and other traditional stuff too," Rika smiled faintly. It wasn't exactly something she did often, so Henry did a slight double take when he saw this, and watched her face carefully for a moment. "What are you looking at?"
"Oh… nothing, just something in the window past you…" he lied, putting his hand on the door knob and turning his head away, to hide the blush that was forming there. "Why don't we go look around? They might have something I could get for my mother in here, she loves traditional paintings.
"Alright, then…" she wandered through the door and into the shop, as Henry had opened the door for her. She couldn't really recall anyone having done so before… She was so tough, people liked to step out of her way and let her do things herself. But Henry was so much different, he didn't judge her by how she looked. Even before he really knew her, he'd already been different towards her, kinder, and more polite.
She smiled back at him, only to see his eyes focused in what seemed like midair to her. "Hey, you gonna just stand there all day, or you coming in? Geesh, you've obviously been out in the cold too long, your cheeks are red," she huffed, shaking her head and wandering further into the store. She listened with quite some amusement as Henry re-became aware behind her. This was getting interesting…
^_____^ oddness… ok, sorry, just feeling a bit strange at present moment, I just got back from basketball practice, and from an argument with one of my friends over whether Hermione is with Harry, or Ron. Gawd, would you look at what I do with my free time? But help us out, vote which @ CCRya@aol.com. And review this, too! bai-bai!
P.S. I FIXED IT, ALRIGHT?! Geesh… sorry… my friends just like to mislead me on these things, and specifically told me she was *not* his Tamer, so :P and I'm not trusting Skie again.