A/N: Thank you to La Moonlight Lily and her amazing beta skills! You are always so encouraging, open to being available whenever I have completed a fic, provide great suggestions, and make accurate edits!

I do not own these characters; I'm having a wonderful time making them fall in love.

When Mei had finally decided to emerge from her bed to make breakfast, it was nearly time for lunch.

She glanced out the window above her sink before adding a scoop of coffee grounds to the machine that would brew up a little encouragement for her. It was a sparkling clear day. The view from the inside showed bright sunshine that was deceptively reminiscent of summer. However, the cold floor beneath her bare feet told Mei it was most definitely the dead of winter.

The aroma of brewing coffee helped trick a little warmth into her chilled skin, and she turned to pull her preferred mug from the dish rack next to her sink. She walked to her refrigerator to collect her favorite artificial and oh-so-sweet creamer that she hid whenever Kakashi visited. He didn't like sweets, and that was part of what troubled her as she checked the calendar that hung on her kitchen wall next to the large appliance.

January sixteenth. Just under a month to Valentine's Day.

Mei sighed and decided to ignore the pressure mounting in her mind. She didn't need to be reminded that she had yet to come up with a spectacular plan to mark the holiday for a man that doesn't like chocolate.

"What kind of person doesn't like chocolate?" she said aloud, pouring a portion of her guilty pleasure into the waiting mug. She used her thumb to catch a precious droplet of the mocha almond nectar before it could run down the side of the creamer carton. Mei sucked it from her thumb, closing the refrigerator door with a little more force than necessary as her mind gave the silent answer to her question: 'the kind of person that you think of more tenderly with every passing day.'

Which brought her to the rest of what was causing her to have more than a typical bout of the blues.

Up until a little more than two weeks ago, there had been a steady stream of frequent holidays to plan for, look forward to, and spend with Kakashi. Mei had spent the transition of December to January in his constant company, thanks to the snowstorm that delayed her return home after Christmas. Since New Year's Eve was so soon after that, she wound up spending the entire week in Konoha before they and several of his friends traveled to the celebration they had planned in the Mist.

Perhaps she was still tired from the stress and celebration of so many holidays in a row. The weeks that followed those holidays were always downtime for her; just one grey and barren winter day after another, until the first bright greens could be spotted pushing up through the earth.

But there was an extra ingredient to her doldrums this time around. After two weeks apart, Mei was missing Kakashi more than she expected to.

A smile threatened rebellion against her stubborn pout when she thought of the memorable kiss they'd shared the moment the new year began.

There was an unexpected knock at her door before either of the warring emotions could claim victory over her face. "Just a moment," she called, rushing back to her bedroom to grab a robe. She returned to her front door, slipping it on and tying it closed.

An unfamiliar adolescent from a delivery service stood there, with a small parcel extended towards her. "Good day Lady Godaime Mizukage." The young man's voice cracked three times during her excessive title. "Please sign here."

Mei signed her name with the pen he had attached to his receipt book and accepted the parcel that he offered to her. "Have a good day," he said, nodding to her before turning to leave.

"Thank you," Mei mumbled absentmindedly, studying the package for some clue as to what it could be.

She recognized the slanted script of the retired Rokudaime Hokage in the handwritten address on the package and all suspicions of what might lie beneath the wrapping were replaced with happy excitement. Mei set the small package down on a table near her sofa and went to gather the other necessary items she thought would make the moment better.

She returned with her sweetened cup of coffee and the pair of Kakashi's warm, woolen socks she'd decided to accidentally pack with the rest of her things before she'd left Konoha. Mei pulled the socks on her feet, relished a sip of her coffee and tore through the brown paper wrapped around the package.

Inside was a brightly-colored cardboard envelope from a photo developing kiosk. It was taped shut with an attached note that read:

'Call me before you look through these.

-K'

Mei didn't have to guess at what the envelope contained. Kakashi had brought a camera to the New Year's Eve cruise, and both of them had used it to take photos of the evening. She reached for her new phone, on its new table beside where she sat on the sofa.

He picked up before the third ring. "Yo."

She rolled her eyes at his preferred way to greet callers but smirked at his baritone voice. "Hi, you."

"Hi," he replied in a softer tone, and Mei could hear his smile.

"So, I've just had a package delivered," she let him know right away she was willing to play this game by his rules.

"Did you?" Mei heard rustling underneath his teasing as if he was moving while he spoke.

"Yes. It looks like it could be some photos with a note attached to call you before I went through them." Her excitement to see them prevented her from teasing further. "Are these from New Year's?"

"They are." Kakashi chuckled through his answer. "I developed a set for each of us at a kiosk yesterday. I tried to not look at them too closely while they processed so we could go through them together." She heard his kitchen cabinet door click open and closed as he continued. "Let me just grab something to drink, and we'll see how they turned out."

"Are you going to make coffee?" Mei closed her eyes to hold onto the vision of him sitting in his kitchen and having the same drink as she while they looked at the pictures.

"Oh no, it's too late in the day to have caffeine, water is healthier." Kakashi finished just before she could hear him run the faucet in his kitchen sink. He turned off the tap before asking, "What are you having?"

"Vegetable juice." Mei set her cup down before taking another sip.

"Oh? Good choice. I'll make sure I have some the next time you visit." He audibly set his water glass down on his kitchen table as he spoke.

"Don't trouble yourself." 'Please,' Mei added silently to herself.

"Alright, ready to see how these turned out?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes," Mei replied, sliding her thumbnail under the tape to open her envelope.

XXXXX

Mei was still laughing as she switched the receiver between her red, sore ears to continue the phone call that had already lasted over an hour.

It turned out that she and Kakashi weren't the only ones to use the camera that night. His friends shared the same sense of humor, proved by image after image of ridiculous self-portraits.

Kurenai had been the first to say she'd join them on the New Year's Eve cruise. Shikamaru and Temari agreed to come after Kurenai's daughter Mirai offered to watch their son Shikadai so they could have a night out together. At first, Gai had turned down the invitation, but when Mei told him she could give him something to help with seasickness, he eagerly agreed to join, rounding out their party to six.

Mei and Kakashi had laughed their way through almost all the photos, piecing together the evening.

"I still like the one of you three ladies the best so far," Kakashi said while they took a short break so that he could refill his water glass again. "At the time, Shikamaru said it looked like you were plotting together, and I admit, those sly smiles made me a little nervous. What were you three talking about?"

'Comparing feminine hygiene products,' Mei recalled as she replied, "A world dominated by women."

"Excellent. I can't wait." She could hear Kakashi settling himself at his kitchen table as he spoke. "Ready for the next one?"

"Yep," she said and flipped to the next image in the stack she held.

It was the first in a series of photos of the fireworks that were set off shortly before midnight. Most of them were blurry, owing to the rocking of the boat and the speed at which the fireballs had streaked across the sky. But a couple of them were clear and even captured the display's reflection on the waves. They helped to strengthen the memory of the show that night, which the pair took turns commenting on as they perused the images together.

Mei thought this was where the photographic documentary of the evening would end as she recalled everything that followed. Both her and Kakashi's hands had been too busy on each other to be able to hold the camera. She was pleasantly surprised at the candid shot that followed the fireworks. "Oh," she sighed.

"Look at you," Kakashi said quietly on the other end of the telephone call.

Mei was too busy looking at Kakashi, as he kissed her in the photograph. Apparently, they hadn't hidden themselves well enough to sneak in their first smooch of the new year. The picture had been taken from an angle that was slightly below them as they stood, the lower half of Kakashi's face hidden by her own in their intimate moment.

"Who do you think took this?" Mei asked, still staring breathlessly at the image, happy that someone had dared to disturb their privacy.

"Gai. I'm sure of it," Kakashi said matter-of-factly. "That vantage point lines up with his height, in his chair." He almost whispered the last line. "And, he's the only one I think that would be brave enough to do that," he laughed again. "You wouldn't think it, but, my rival can be pretty sneaky when he wants to be."

"Remind me to thank him when I see him next." Mei smiled down at the last, surprise photo of the holiday.

She uttered her next thought aloud. "New Year's Eve seems like forever ago and the next holiday is still almost a month away."

"Why does that matter?" Kakashi asked from the other end of the line.

"Well," Mei hastily tried to think of a way to cover her embarrassment over exposing her unfiltered thoughts. When nothing came quickly enough, she sighed out the truth. "I miss you."

"Mei," Kakashi paused after saying her name. "I thought you'd like a little time to yourself after staying with me for so long. I don't want you to become sick of me." He chuckled lightly. "I hope you would tell me if and when you want to see me."

"I want to see you, Kakashi," Mei whispered the words as she continued to stare at the photo she held.

"Then I'm on my way."

The End