Beverly shivered a little as continued to walk next to Deanna. When she had agreed to come to Earth on shore leave with her, she hadn't realized that they would be spending the holiday season in Kiruna. The days were short that far north, and there was more snow on the ground than she had seen in years. But, it was what Deanna had wanted, and so she had gone along with it, wanting to keep her happy.

"Breathe in deep, Beverly. It's not like we'll get the real scent of pine trees back on the ship. And the artificial scent is nothing like this, wouldn't you agree?"

She tipped her head down to look into Deanna's face, taking in the open, playful, look there, and gave a hesitant nod. "I suppose that you're right, but we could have gotten this same scent in a place a little warmer than this."

"Ah, but then we couldn't share our body heat so effectively." The teasing tone in Deanna's voice caused her to giggle a little, and Deanna just smiled a little wider as she threaded their arms together and continued to lead them further into the woods. "Now come on, our cabin isn't that much further in the woods."

Beverly nodded as silence fell over them. As she gazed out at the skyline in front of them, another shiver, this time of wonder, passed through her body as she took in that peculiar pinkish grey colour that dominated the early evening. As her senses became more in tune with nature, she let herself be taken away by the sight and the hush that fell over the entire landscape as night fell around them. "It's so beautiful," she murmured, knowing that her voice was almost too quiet to be heard, even by her partner. From the way that Deanna squeezed her forearm, however, she knew that her partner had overheard her thoughts, and that idea filled her with happiness.

Finally, on the horizon, she began to make out the faint trail of smoke on the sky, and she smiled a little as she moved closer to Deanna, letting her steps slow as the cold air filled her lungs, suddenly awakening a feeling of contentment to just be there with her partner in that moment. "We can't stay out here forever, Beverly. Unless you want us to turn into ice sculptures."

She laughed a little as she shook her head, reaching up to cover Deanna's hand with her own and squeezing it softly. "No, that would be tragic, but we can still take our time to reach the end. After all, I'm certain that we can find a good way to warm up."

"I'd imagine so." Deanna rested her head against Beverly's arm and let it stay there as they continued to pick their way through the fresh snow. The closer they got to the cabin, the more light seemed to bathe the area surrounding the cabin, even as the sky continued to darken into the black of night. "I never figured you for a poet."

"I think that you're trying to get me to protest too much and then turn a pretty phrase. You've always known me to have a romantic side." She sighed as she thought about the relationships that she'd been in before, and could almost tell the exact moment that Deanna started to blush as her thoughts turned slightly more salacious. "Even a ghost knew that I was romantic," she teased, trying to set her more at ease.

"Please, let's not discuss that issue, Beverly. We're here to focus on us, and our shore leave, and Christmas. Mother will be here later this week, which means that we only have limited time together before Ian and she descend. And I would bet you ten bars of gold pressed latinum that that first words out of her mouth will be 'Where's Jean Luc?' and you are going to have to come up with some excuse or tell her about us."

There was a slight edge to Deanna's voice, something she hadn't expected to hear, and she sighed a little as she stopped them on the step outside the door, turning to face her as she reached out and cupped her face gently, tipping it up so that she could look into Deanna's dark eyes, searching them out to see what was buried there, beneath the edge. It seemed as if she was desperately trying to shield away a part of herself, and Beverly felt a few tears prickle at the edges of her eyes before she looked away from Deanna.

"I'm not ashamed of you, if that's what you think. You're the one who wanted to come to this remote location for the holiday season, and convinced me to use my shore leave instead of just letting Barclay program us a holodeck setting. I'm sorry that you feel this way about me." Letting go of Deanna completely, she stepped off the stoop and made her way back to the trees.

"Beverly! Wait!"

She was past waiting, though, and she scrubbed at her eyes, trying to stop crying. While she hadn't expected things to last a long time between her and Deanna, she had still wanted this relationship to mean something. Beverly didn't really pay attention to where she was going, only that it was away from Deanna, and soon she was deep in the trees once more.

Taking a few shallow breaths, Beverly sank back against a pine tree, trying to control her breathing without giving in to the weakness in her legs. She didn't particularly relish sitting in the snow, knowing that she would become cold even quicker. Her body chose to betray her, however, and she slid down the tree until she was on the ground, and she drew up her legs to her chest as she gave in to her tears.

Beverly didn't know how long she was sitting there crying, only that she was frozen to the bone when a gentle hand touched her shoulder. Looking up, she found Deanna standing there, tears frozen to her cheeks. "You were difficult to find. It seems when you want to get lost in the woods, you truly do get lost in the woods. And I couldn't read your mind, to try and navigate towards you. You really have developed some good shields."

"I just didn't want to be found, I think," she said lowly, looking away from her partner. Deanna went to kneel down next to her, and Beverly shook her head as she reached her hand up, clasping Deanna's tightly as she levered herself to her feet. And then, she was being wrapped up in Deanna's arms, pulled tight to her chest as they both breathed deeply. "There was just something about your tone of voice that hit all my insecurities. I'm…"

Deanna silenced her words by placing her gloved hand against her lips, shaking her head a little. "Please, don't apologize for how you feel. There's nothing to be sorry for when it comes to that." Removing her fingers, Deanna leaned up and gave her a gentle kiss. "Now, let's get back to the cabin and get you warmed up."

Beverly nodded a little, welcoming Deanna's arm around her waist as they briskly walked in the direction of the cabin. "You, you would think that my being a doctor would preclude me from doing something stupid like courting hypothermia."

"Well, that's why we have our communicators. And the cabin has a replicator, so I could always create the things that you would need to heal yourself." Her hand squeezed the dip of Beverly's hip reassuringly, and she nodded once more. Thankfully, the lights of the cabin were soon in view, and their steps picked up speed until they were once more on the stoop. Deanna fumbled for the keys to the cabin and then let them inside.

She stumbled over to the sofa in front of the fireplace and pulled off her boots with shaking, stiff, fingers as Deanna started to build the fire in the fireplace. "So, even though this cabin has a replicator, the only heat source is the fireplace?"

"Hush, this is supposed to be romantic, Beverly. Of course, there's central heating, which my mother insisted upon when she invited herself to our holiday getaway. If you're truly that cold, though, I could turn it on. I just wanted to share a little of my body heat with you as I reassured you that our relationship has a firm foundation."

Beverly blushed a little at the heated look Deanna threw her, and gave a small nod before setting her boots next to the side of the couch and scooting over into the corner so that Deanna could have the middle. She was slightly disappointed to watch her partner leave the room, only to smile as a woolen blanket was thrown at her. "Did you pull this off our bed?"

"Yes, I figured that we could make good use of it out here. Now, get out of those cold, damp, clothes and wrap the blanket around you while I do the same." She nodded and quickly managed to unzip her coat and pull her arms out the sleeves before tossing it to the floor, and stripping down to her underclothes before pulling the edges of the blanket around her. "Look up."

Beverly glanced towards the ceiling, only to see Deanna standing above her, holding a sprig of mistletoe. "As if you needed an excuse to kiss me," she murmured before puckering her lips a little. Deanna winked before leaning down and kissing her softly. "Merry Christmas, Deanna."

"Merry Christmas, Beverly."