Disclaimer: Do not own iCarly, nor the rights to "Why Should I Care?"

A Christmas Truce

It was almost too easy, the blonde haired ninja thought to herself. She had been walking through the park, enjoying the first snowfall of the year, when she spotted him, her personal nemesis. Stopping suddenly, she stooped down and gathered enough snow to make a baseball sized snowball. She also made sure to gather enough rocks and twigs in the mix to make it really sting. Chuckling quietly to herself, she padded through the snow, darting from tree to tree, until she was a mere ten feet from him. The brown-haired boy had his back turned to her, gazing out thoughtfully across the duckpond, eyes lost in the horizon. White ear buds poked out of his ears, blocking any sound that she might have made. Too easy, came the thought again. She almost dropped the snowball in guilt, but the devilish side of her personality won. Rearing back, she zinged it at his head, a battle cry leaving her throat at the same time. She watched the whole thing in slow motion as the snowball arced gracefully towards his head. Unfortunately for the boy, he had turned at the sound of her cry, and so caught the snowball full in the face. His arms flailed about as he tried to keep his balance, but failing, he ended up flat on his back in the snow bank. Joyously laughing at his plight, she danced a little jig at her sweet victory.

But her dance was cut short when she noticed that he hadn't moved at all, nor had he said anything. A bit worried, she hurried over to him, hoping that she remembered the correct medical steps for a concussion. She sighed in relief as she saw that he was still breathing.

Long moments passed until he finally stirred. Wiping his face of snow and debris, he slowly sat up and pulled his knees towards him. "Damn it, Sam, not right now." He growled the last bit, "Not in the mood at all..."

"Awwww, is poor little Freddie-poo hurt? Did the big bad Sam demon hurt his feelings? Or maybe his face?" she taunted mercilessly.

He shook his head and softly said, "Do you know about the Christmas Truce of 1914?" Taken aback by this tack, she shook her head. Nodding, he started again. "It was during World War I, at Ypres, Belguim. German and British troops, who had been killing each other for less land than this park has, were set to have another Christmas away from their loved ones. The Germans had decorated their trenches, and had even begun to sing Christmas carols. The British, in return, sang their own versions of the carols. Singing turned into shouted greetings, and finally some brave soul tested the good-will of the other side by venturing into the no-man's land between the two sides." He stood up and wiped the snow off of his pants. Caught up in the spirit of the story, Sam brushed the snow off from the places that he couldn't reach. Nodding a thanks, he continued, "These men, who hours before, had been trying to kill each other, were now exchanging gifts and small talk. It also allowed them to gather up their dead, to bury them with the full respect they deserved." He stared seriously into the icy blue of Sam's eyes. "Can we have our own Christmas truce, just for this day? I'm tired of our fighting, our little games..." He turned his gaze out across the duckpond, his shoulders slumped forward, his whole stance screaming to the world that he just wanted to be left alone.

Speechless, not knowing what to say, Sam nodded. She had never seen him like this. The closest had been the times whenever Carly turned him down, but this was on a whole new level. Noticing the earphones and wanting desperately to change the subject, she asked, "What are you listening to?"

"Diana Krall's 'Why Should I Care.' Do you know of her?" Freddie looked over at Sam. Seeing her shake her head, he softly said, "She's a contemporary jazz singer. Has a beautiful voice..." He took his left ear piece out and handed it to her. "Here, I'll start it again..."

Was there something more I could have done?
Or was I not meant to be the one?
Where's the life I thought we would share?
And should I care?

And will someone else get more of you?
Will she go to sleep more sure of you?
Will she wake up knowing you're still there?
And why should I care?

She stood there, listening to the soft melancholy strains of the strings and the soulful cry of the saxophone. Glancing over at the brunette boy, she watched him, his eyes closed, losing himself completely to the song. As the song ended, he sighed softly and hit the re-wind button on his PearPhone. Unsure of what to say, what kind of comfort she could possibly give, Sam handed the ear piece back and turned her gaze across the duckpond, losing herself to her own thoughts. They stood there in companionable silence for some time, a slight breeze playing across their faces and ruffling their hair. She turned to walk away, but he stopped her with, "Do you think you'll ever get married Sam?"

Turning her gaze back to Freddie, her deep blue eyes locked with the chocolate pools of his. "I honestly don't know Freddie..." she replied.

Nodding to himself, he replied back, "I don't think I ever will. There's some people that will definitely get married, like Carly and Wendy and even Gibby... But I'm not sure if I'm made to get married..." She arched an eyebrow at the last statement. "Look at my last couple of relationships, if you can even call them that... Valerie, Shannon, Leslie, Sabrina, and last but of course not least, Carly... besides the first and last one, I think I've subconsciously sabotage all my relationships. And I think the only reason I've been chasing after Carly is because I know she'll never go out with me, therefore I'm safe... I really think I might be better off alone..."

Sam looked over at her friend in shock then shook her blonde mane angrily. "Cut the chiz Freddie. You and I know that's not true. I may not let you know it at all, but I do respect you. And I think you have a lot to offer to some lucky girl... You're sweet to everyone, even me, you're kind and gentle, you're smart, and don't tell anybody I said this or I'll beat you senseless, you're even funny at times..." She glanced over at him and mumbled, "you're even somewhat handsome..."

He turned towards her with a look of abject shock on his face. "Did Sam Puckett just complement me on my looks? Oh, I'm so writing this in my journal when I get back to my room..." He grinned down at the blonde.

"Yeah, whatever. In the spirit of our little truce, I decided to give you a little ego boost. Don't read too much into it. And I knew you were the type to keep a diary..."

"It's a journal, not a diary. Not the same thing," he replied rather defensively.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Six one way, half a dozen the other..." She laughed as she watched his face begin to blush crimson. She then turned serious, "What brought all this on, Freddie?"

He shrugged. "Well, I've been out of the cast a while now, and Carly hasn't even looked at me as the boyfriend type... It's been a succession of one boy after the other, but never me... guess you were right, all I was to her was just bacon... not even foreign bacon, just regular bacon... I've just been feeling like I've wasted the last couple of years of my life chasing after somebody that will never like me in that way..." He sighed heavily, "years, just wasted..."

Sam reached over and patted Freddie on the back. "Not wasted Freddie, not yet at least. We learn from everything that goes on before. It's only truly wasted if you don't take what you've learned and use your hard earned experience in the future... As for relationships, look out there," she pointed across the park, "and tell me what you see?"

"Snow. The park. People." He looked over at her inquiringly.

"You know what you don't see. Flowers. Grass. But you know they're there. They're just waiting for the spring... It's the same with relationships. Some seem to have sprung out of nowhere, like a rose bush you come across when walking through a garden. Others, you have to nurture, water, prune, so that it can grow fully..." She looked over at him. "Repeat this conversation with anybody and I'll make sure you never get a chance to grow any more..."

He looked her up and down, and then smiled softly at her. "Who would have thought, me getting relationship advice from Sam Puckett. Anyway, when did you get so wise?"

"School of hard knocks, kid." She gently punched him in the shoulder. "You learn or you die." She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

Freddie took a second to appraise all that he knew about Sam. He knew that she had a pretty rough childhood, yet she had come out of it with a good head on her shoulders and not too much scarring. He also knew that she made much better grades than she let on, but still choose to play the tough girl. Everyday it seemed, his respect and admiration for her grew. And he cared for her. After all, he did give the semester cruise away to Missy for her. And she cared for him, she just didn't like to show it. The way she handled the whole first kiss thing showed him that. Over the years, they had evolved from enemies to friends.

He shook his head as if to rid his thoughts of any melancholy, and for the first time in a long while, felt better about the future. With a friend like Sam by his side, he could take whatever it threw at him. Noticing the slight bluish tint on her face and the light winter jacket she wore, he offered. "Sam, I'm getting cold. Care for a hot chocolate with me? I'm buying."

"Shoosh yeah!" she said happily.

He turned and walked down the path towards the closest coffee shop. Stopping a couple of feet away, he waited until she caught up with him. Once she had, they walked down the path together, their hands swinging inches from each other. "Freddie, what happened after the truce?"

He stopped in the middle of the path, turned to her, and sighed regretfully. "The day after Christmas, they began killing each other again, and didn't stop until four years later in 1918. Each day after, they died by the thousands."

Stopping also, she looked up at him, turmoil shown in the turbulent blue of her eyes. She gulped and looked down at her feet. "This has been really nice. Um, do you think things might have worked different if the truce had lasted longer?"

He lifted his hand and hooked an errant lock of blonde hair back behind Sam's ear. "Only if both sides wanted it to." They both looked at each other for a long moment, as if finally seeing each other for the first time. Sam snaked her pinky out and caught Freddie's in hers, a pinky promise offered and accepted. A slow smile spread across both their young faces as they turned simultaneously to continue down the path, pinky curled around pinky.

Unknown to the two, not too far from where they were standing, a seed from a rose bush laid in wait for the spring, ready to bloom gloriously in the fullness of time.

Fin.

Author's Note: I've driven all night, and this had been brewing in my brain the last two hours of the drive. So, I had to sit down and write this. Sorry if it's kind of rough, been up for quite a while now. Thanks for reading.