Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Zabuza's eyes opened. The snow was gone. How was he alive? Perhaps he wasn't. This certainly wasn't hell so he must be alive. But what was life worth without Haku? He opened his mouth to say something and realized that his bandages were back. He closed his fanged teeth once more, realizing he had nothing to say. He'd shown emotion. Emotion for Haku and that was weakness. So why wasn't he dead? Perhaps Kakashi has done something to prevent him from dying? He certainly wouldn't deny someone like Zabuza a warrior's death though. His eyes shut once more as the questions began to build behind them. Where was he? How long had it been? How was he alive? But then he heard a voice. The voice.

"He still hasn't woken." Haku's voice said softly. Haku's voice. It couldn't be Haku's voice because Haku's voice had died with Haku on that forsaken bridge. And yet, Haku's voice had just said those four simple words, as if he hadn't been dead moments before when Zabuza's eyes had fallen shut. Snow. He remembered snow. He remembered pain, not the pain of the assorted sharp objects sticking out of his back, or the pain in his no longer useful arms, but pain in his chest. Where his heart should have been. A throbbing heat that the out of season snow did nothing to cool. He remembered thinking the snow must have been Haku's tears, raining down on him. Haku would have shed tears if he had seen the mess Zabuza had dissolved into. Curiously he attempted to move his arms. Their limp forms did nothing. Kakashi either permanently paralyzed them or he hadn't been unconscious for that long. "Please leave." Haku's voice sounded pleasant, something that opposed the words he was using. It was a threat, delivered with Haku's adorable smile no doubt. The sound of the door opening and then closing behind someone reached Zabuza's ears and he registered Haku's approach. He had to be dead. There was no other way this could be happening. It was the only explanation that answered most of the questions that were building behind Zabuza's retinas. "I know you're awake but if it pleases you, you may rest longer." Haku said gently. "I will answer all your questions when you wake."

"How?" Zabuza's mouth was terribly dry and his voice sounded hoarse from disuse.

"It takes more to kill me." Haku said as he handed Zabuza a glass of water. "Although, it did paralyze me for an unfortunate amount of time, and caused considerable damage."

"A blow like that should have killed you." Zabuza growled as he pulled his mask of bandages down to drink.

"And the amount of damage you took should have killed you." Haku said taking the empty glass. "I heard what you said." He added.

"I assumed you did." Zabuza said. "How long has it been?"

"A few months." Haku said. That would mean all the injuries either of them had sustained were nothing more than scars and bad dreams now. Bad dreams of lying in cold wet snow dying. Dying hurt less than thinking he had lost Haku. Each snowflake served as a reminder that it was Zabuza's fault.

"We need to lay low for a while." Zabuza said. "And I need rest."

He would never regain the use of his arms and Haku would never think of him the same. But, with the way Haku smiled at him, maybe he didn't need things to go back to the way they were before. Something new was between them. No longer was Haku a tool to be used, he was a friend, a confidant, a partner. And the new role suited them both perfectly. They looked out the window at the snow falling silently, finally, it was winter.