[disclaimer] :: In these series of drabbles, things may or may not contradict with the canon. Timelines may or may not be rearranged, messed up or otherwise ignored. Terms, places, phrases and spellings may or may not be 100% correct. Tiny tidbits of information may or may not be included. In short, these stories are just fun little ideas that have popped into my head concerning the characters and their relationships with each other. 100% canon accuracy isn't what I'm aiming for since the 12K world is huge and somewhat confusing. But I did my best and hope that you enjoy it nevertheless.

Youko supposed she should've considered herself (and her kingdom) lucky. Kei was not a kingdom that experienced particularly harsh winters. In the long run this made things easier for her. Her people did not have to worry as much as the more northern kingdoms did and for that she was glad. That wasn't to say Kei did not experience cold and frequent snowfall during the wintertime. Yet it was more common to have a mild winter than anything like Hou or Tai experienced. The winter this year, Youko was discovering, was very mild. In the course of two months (roughly) the kingdom had only experienced one snowstorm. The snow had barely lasted a week after, melting off quickly before it got cold again. And although less snow was good for the people, Youko couldn't help but feel sad.

She felt selfish, but the queen almost wished it would snow a little more. As she stood on one of many balconies from the Kei Palace, Youko remembered watching the snow come down this time of year back in Hourai. Even now she could still picture it so clearly. By now, Youko thought, Japan must be covered with snow. Unexpectedly, the thoughts made her homesick. Sighing heavily, Youko leaned on her arms against the railing. She watched the lights of her kingdom below the sky-sea, the water distorting the glowing image. The kingdom was at peace and although a lot was still in the process to fix the mistakes of the past, it was progressing nicely.

Shouryuu had commented to her that he was impressed with all the progress the kingdom had made already. Yet Youko didn't feel like a whole lot was changing. Everything took so much time and moved at a snail's pace that she wondered how the En King had put up with it for nearly five hundred years. When she had voiced that very thing once, he had only laughed. Thinking on it, he never had answered her question.

This world did not have a calendar like Hourai did. Nor did it have any real set system of keeping track of days and times. Everything was measured by the position of the sun and the moon. They would speak of months and days, but Youko was still not sure how many days were considered a month in this place. Either way, by now Youko was use to this system and more prone to use it. However eventually she had started calculating the time here to the equivalent of what it would be in Hourai. She had no idea if it was accurate or not and no way of ever checking. For all she knew it was summer over there while she stood in the cold here. Still, if her calculations were to be assumed correct than it was December in Japan right now. December meant Christmas.

She heaved another sigh and a voice laughed from beside her. "You're starting to sound like Keiki with all your sighing."

Youko jumped and turned quickly to face the short boy crouched on the balcony's edge. With perfect balance he stood on the slender railing, rag tied around his head to hide his long golden mane. But Youko had come to recognize his face well and she smiled warmly.

"You scared me," she told the En Taiho with a chuckle.

"I figured," Enki replied with a small shrug. "You didn't even notice when I first arrived." He made a face at her when she looked away again. "You're too serious sometimes."

Youko smiled and gazed out across the ocean. That was Enki for you. "I guess I am. Sorry, I was just thinking of the season is all."

"The season?" Enki inquired. "It seems like winter isn't all that bad here to me. En is getting lucky this time, too."

Youko laughed and straightened, leaving the balcony's edge. She walked slowly away, rounding the corner and down the narrow ledge that eventually led back into her room. She heard Enki hop off the railing behind her to follow.

"Not that season. The holiday season back in Hourai. It's Christmas there."

Enki tilted his head curiously. "Christmas?"

Unlike her home world, this world had no real holidays. There were festivals and get-togethers all the time for different occasions, but nothing celebrated universally. The closest Youko could think of was a moon viewing party that Shouryuu had hosted to welcome the coming spring. Several rulers and taihos had come to that event and she had met a few of them for the very first time. Though, sadly, many had also been missing.

"Yes. It was a special holiday that was celebrated in Hourai during the wintertime."

"I don't remember anything like that."

Youko pushed the doors open and returned to her room, Enki entering right behind her without a second thought. He bent his arms behind his head, strolling into the room as if it was his own. Youko knew Keiki would've scolded him but she personally didn't mind. He was always welcomed as far as she was concerned.

"I don't think it was around when you were living there," Youko chuckled, smiling at the kirin. "I was just… missing it, I suppose.

Enki frowned a little and turned to look at her. He recognized her forlorn expression instantly. Despite Kei's improving conditions, Enki had noticed Youko was wearing that expression more frequently nowadays. He wasn't sure why but it troubled him. Perhaps a part of him was worried Youko was thinking about Hourai a little too much.

"What's it like?"

"Huh?"

"This holiday," Enki rephrased. "What is it?"

"Well… its origins are rooted within a religion that's practiced in Hourai. It celebrates the birth of a very important figure to that religion. To celebrate, people decorate trees with brightly colored lights and give each other gifts."

Enki perked up slightly, strangely interested. "Colored lights?"

"Yes. Well sometimes white, but usually red or green…" Youko trailed off at the confusion on Enki's face. She realized that the only light he was familiar with was the light of a fire, which rarely came in any color other than orange. And although he had probably seen the type of lights in Hourai during his trips there, she doubted he had any idea what they actually were let alone how they worked.

The queen laughed. "Did you come all the way here to question me about my thoughts?"

Enki blinked and then scowled. "Shouryuu wanted me to deliver a message. Why he made me do it is anyone's guess…"

The taiho pulled free a scroll that he had tucked into the back of his sash. He held it out to her and Youko took it gently as if it might fall apart. She gathered it might have been something too valuable to give to just a messenger bird.

"Thank you, I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

Enki shrugged. "Nah. But it makes me wish kirins could disobey their master's orders. Or at least the stupid ones."

Youko laughed, a wonderfully melodic sound. Yet somehow Enki could not shake the feeling that she still looked very sad.

"Rokuta… Do you mind telling me what exactly it is you're doing?"

Enki ignored Shouryuu's question, continuing to shred the brightly colored fabric laid out before him. He had made quite a mess already with fabric strewn all over the floor. Shouryuu watched from the entranceway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. The kirin had seemed awfully lost in thought the past few days ever since he had returned to En from Kei. And now, today, he seemed to have made up his mind about whatever it was he had been thinking about. He'd spent all morning running around the palace gathering all the colored cloth he could find—some in use and some not.

The king had been watching him all day and finally was unable to keep from questioning the boy. Unable to figure out what Enki was trying to accomplish, Shouryuu found he could only watch since it seemed the kirin was not inclined to tell him. Enki was shredding a red and gold robe now, tearing at it with his teeth. It was rather comical looking and reminded Shouryuu of a puppy tearing up a rug.

"You could just ask a servant to cut it for you," the king pointed out.

Enki had tried for half the day to obtain a knife from someone in the palace, but had been denied. Everyone he spoke to had feared he would cut himself, so he wasn't able to get one. Thus he was resorted to tearing it by hand. Enki finally paused to give the En King a small glare.

"Don't you have things to be doing?"

Shouryuu smiled. "Nope."

Enki scowled and went back to tearing cloth. He grew increasingly aggravated, however, as his master insisted on standing there watching him.

"I know you have things you're suppose to be doing."

"So do you. But instead you're chewing up my good fabrics and making a mess on my bedroom floor. Can you blame me for being curious?"

"Go away, old man. You're bothering me."

Shouryuu straightened and held up his hands in defeat. "Don't go swallowing the cloth. We wouldn't want you to choke."

Enki glared daggers at the king's back as he strolled away and the taiho realized he had only left because a minister was scurrying after him. Enki returned back to his work and by mid afternoon, he had several small strips of fabric before him. All were of different colors and patterns, which he arranged neatly to the side. As for the mess, Enki casually pushed it all underneath Shouryuu's bed.

When that was done, the taiho took to wandering the courtyard. Ignoring the quizzical looks of the various palace staff, Enki started examining all the greenery that surrounded the place. He even traveled to the very outskirts, where land met sea. Unable to find what he was searching for, Enki had eventually left the palace all together on the back of his wolf like shirei. Shouryuu had watched it all from a distance, still unable to figure out what the boy was up to. He was beginning to wonder if he should perhaps contact Youko and ask if Enki had been acting this strangely when he delivered the message. But the King never got the chance. Several hours later, just as the sun was beginning to set, Enki returned with the strangest thing.

Enki carried a branch from a willow tree. It was long and almost as big as he was with drooping smaller branches and fine green leaves. Where he had found such a thing in the middle of the winter season was anyone's guess. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with it. It was just a tree branch. Enki, however, treated it like it was very special and hurried into the palace the moment Rikaku landed. Shouryuu, who had recently escaped more of his ministers, followed the taiho back to his room.

"My ministers are hounding me about you," Shouryuu announced. "They seem to be under the impress that I know what you're up to."

"It's none of your business," Rokuta huffed. "Or theirs. It's just.. something I wanna do."

Shouryuu gave the boy a curious look. Enki sat cross-legged on the floor and promptly began to tie the fabric onto the hanging branches.

"Is this something for Youko by any chance?"

Enki halted abruptly and Shouryuu smiled. "Aha. How touching." The king scratched his chin. "I know the Queen of Kei is quite lovely, but I never took you for--"

"I'm not a pervert like you!" Enki snapped, turning to glare over his shoulder. "Don't get any funny ideas!"

En Ou took note of the light blush on Rokuta's face and recognized the look as embarrassment. He chuckled and shrugged, looking exasperated. Rokuta just glared, willing the king to leave with all his might. How Shouryuu had figured it out, he'd never know. It was annoying all the same and the kirin finally relented.

"She told me about this thing they celebrated in Hourai," Enki said quietly after a long pause. "She looked really sad… like she was missing home. It just made me worried, that's all."

"So you're tearing up my good fabric and tying it to a tree branch? I don't follow."

"She said they put colored lights on trees to celebrate," Enki sighed. "I don't know what that means, but…" He held up the branch, every smaller branch now with a strip of fabric tied to it. "Close enough, right?"

He looked hopefully at Shouryuu, surprised to find the king smiling warmly at him. His face got a little redder.

"I know Youko will appreciate the thought," he said. "I think it's wonderful."

Enki left the En Palace as soon as the sun was gone. He flew on Rikaku, carrying the branch protectively between him and the youma. Shouryuu had seemed strangely satisfied that he was doing this, which made him suspicious. But honestly, he didn't really understand what the big deal was.

Isn't this the kind of stuff you do for friends?

Indeed, it was the first time the thought had crossed the taiho's mind. He hadn't even considered Youko a friend but thinking about it, he supposed she was. She was certainly his King's friend, but by now he had considered her his friend as well. Enki didn't really have many people in his life he could refer to with that title. It was kind of nice.

He reached Kei's palace in no time thanks to Rikaku and got off at his usual spot on the balcony. He didn't have to travel too far to find Youko, back turned towards him and standing just outside the entrance to her room. She was holding a long scroll, peering at it with a frown and worried eyes. Resting the branch on one shoulder, Enki let out a high-pitched whistle to catch her attention. Youko turned, startled, and then blinked.

"Rokuta…? You're back again.. What's that?"

Enki scratched his head sheepishly, averting his gaze to the side. "Well… I didn't know what you meant by 'colored lights', really… and it's not like I could carry a whole tree, so…"

Youko stared and it took her a second to realize that Enki had attempted to recreate a Christmas tree from the brief explanation she had given him several days ago. Rolling up the scroll, Youko tried not to laugh. She didn't find it funny in a mean way, for the gesture struck her as extremely touching. It was laughter more from the sheer randomness and surprise. Seeing that branch, given life by several strips of colored fabric, just made her unexpectedly happy. Perhaps it was because it was the first thing she had seen in ages that reminded her strongly of Hourai. Or maybe it was because it lacked any nobility and riches that she was constantly surrounded by here in the palace. Honestly Youko wasn't sure. All she knew was that it did make her laugh and Enki accurately observed that this was a true laugh. She finally seemed happy.

He grinned. "It's good to laugh once in awhile, right? You shouldn't be so serious all the time. After all, you—Ack!"

Without warning Youko embraced the short boy, giving him a friendly squeeze. The surprise made him drop the branch and blush lightly, embarrassed by the sudden display of affection. Youko quickly released him after a few seconds, realizing it probably wasn't proper to hug a kirin—let alone a kirin from another kingdom. She was smiling warmly as Enki scratched his head again.

"I didn't think you'd like it that much…"

"I do," Youko told him. She suspected the kirin had no idea just how meaningful the gesture had been to her. And although the queen never asked him why he had done this for her, she found that the reason didn't matter in the end.

Afterwards, the two talked briefly before Enki left. And for the rest of the season, Youko got many comments from her court about her newfound cheerful disposition.