~READ BEFORE PROCEEDING~

Warnings: Characters might appear to be OOC if you haven't read my main story "Our Days Together" first! It's my only other story, so just head to my page and you're bound to find it without problems. I highly recommend you catch up with it first before even looking at this :3

For my regular readers and new ones! Welcome to my new series :D These will be one, two-shot, etc. stories that can occur before, during, or after the main story. Feel free to leave me ideas in reviews, I'd love to know what y'all would like me to write, though I already have a few ideas to write about! (Just keep in mind, this is a winter special, so you most likely won't see this updated till after the main story is done)

This one-shot was inspired by FireStorm1991! I hope you, and all who read, like it! And for those other people who I still owe a one-shot dedication, don't worry for a second, I would never forget about you! I just didn't want to wait till next year's Christmas to post this XD

Ideally, I would've posted this after I actually finish the main fic, but it's winter themed so I really really really wanted to post it before the year was up as a Christmas present for my lovely readers! Btdubs, I didn't ask my lovely beta to check over this chapter because I wanted to post it and I wanted her to get to read it like this so sorry for any mistakes! XD

Enjoy!

Summary: Hiei contemplates his dislike of the cold, but resolves that it might not be so bad after all.

Like Chocolate

"This boy of fire will slaughter us all."*

Everywhere Hiei turned was white. Snow and wind flurried all around, stray chilly flakes catching on his face and instantly vaporizing against his warm skin with a cold sting. He grimaced in distaste.

So quiet he could barely hear it above the whistling in his ears, a giggle echoed off in the distance. Confused, he turned towards the sound. A child?

"Do not pity the beast."

He was up high, staring down; the same giggle. A familiar blue head; a flash of identical red eyes; a sad, smiling face.

An icy grave. A sorrowful cry, the first and last time he'd ever hear her voice.

"You killed my son!"

~.~.~.~.~

Hiei slowly opened his eyes, stray ice shimmering from his lashes. Putting out a hand, a single flake floated and vanished in his open palm. Snow?

Feeling the cold, rough surface of bark beneath his hand, Hiei picked himself up and looked below. Rather than greens and oranges and browns, the forest floor had been lightly coated in powdery white.

He raised a brow, puzzled. He'd only just closed his eyes for what had felt like a moment. The longer he gazed the more disturbed he became, his mouth settling into a frown.

The cold had never bothered him, but he hated it regardless. He could appreciate the pure and simple beauty of it, but it only raised memories he would've liked to leave long behind him.

He easily leapt from the tree, safely landing on the white ground and began the relatively short trek back to Genkai's shrine, the crunch of the snow that hadn't fully stuck to the ground yet penetrating the quiet of the forest around him.

Reaching the shrine, Hiei paused in front of the entrance just as Kuwabara and Yukina exited, talking animatedly. Her hands were looped comfortably on his arm and she was laughing. Hiei warmed at the sight of her smile, but he snapped his head to the side, instantly fixing an intense glare in Kuwabara's general direction at which Kuwabara promptly returned when he noticed, as had become almost customary between them. He loved his sister dearly but could not help but constantly question her ability to assess proper qualities in a partner.

Realizing she had lost Kuwabara's attention, Yukina looked down and catching Hiei's eye, smiled in relief and unlatched herself to approach him.

"Hiei! We were all wondering where you went; you were gone for so long. Ren's been really worried." Yukina said.

Hiei started, glancing around, "Where is she right now?" He began to feel the familiar pit of worry in his stomach start to burn as it had become second nature whenever he didn't know where she was, but Yukina quickly quelled his unease.

"There's no need to worry. Ren went with Yusuke and Puu to collect firewood. It's about to snow again and we want everyone to stay warm."

Hiei smirked lightly and internally scoffed; she did do silly things like that although they were both aware that he could keep them both perfectly warm.

Kuwabara crossed his arms, "Since you just up and vanished, she's been super antsy all morning. We figured keeping her busy would have to settle, so it's a good thing you finally came back."

Hiei frowned at his words and shifted to stare back towards the entrance, falling silent. Yukina stared at him for several quiet moments before turning to Kuwabara to tug at his sleeve.

"Kazuma, would you mind going back in and helping Genkai with tea? Now that you mention it, they should be back soon and it'd be nice for us all to be able to enjoy tea together with the snacks I made earlier." Yukina asked. Kuwabara blinked in surprise.

"Oh, yeah I don't mind. I'll be right back then." Kuwabara grinned when Yukina had to reach up to peck his cheek and then proceeded to happily trot back inside. Now alone, Yukina walked up next to Hiei, leaning over to glance at his face.

"Hiei? Are you alright?"

Hiei bristled out of his thoughts and glanced at Yukina, confused.

"What?"

"I just can't help but feel like you might be...troubled. Is there anything wrong? I'm here to listen if there is."

After a moment, Hiei slipped a small smile at her, but turned away.

"It's nothing." He said. A breeze rustled their clothes. "I just detest the cold."

Yukina didn't say anything, looking off into the distance, but Hiei was surprised when he found her grinning slightly as she looked towards the gray sky. She closed her eyes, letting herself be drawn back into the past. However, instead of feeling sad, she smiled instead.

"You know Hiei..." She started gently, recapturing his attention, "I catch myself thinking about the past at times. Sometimes I wish most days had never happened: I was always alone and most of my memories are only filled with pain and times I'd rather forget. However," She paused, and Hiei internally ached but her warm smile only persisted.

"Then I think to myself if none of it had happened... then we all wouldn't be where we are right now. I'm never alone anymore and I have never been so happy." She paused, glancing back to where Kuwabara had disappeared inside and continued. "I never want to take advantage of this and so I can't spend my time feeling sad when I have all I ever wanted and more right here in front of me. What happened in the past doesn't matter, and though it may hurt a little it's okay. We have to treasure what we have right now in the present."

Before Hiei could reply, Yukina's eyes brightened as she glanced over his shoulder.

"In fact, it's actually quite beautiful isn't it?" She said softly and Hiei followed her gaze just as the snow began to fall.

Followed by Yusuke and Puu's fuzzy blue body, Ren reached the top step, eyes shining in wonder as she stared at the sky. Yusuke chuckled and Puu cawed cheerfully, shaking his feathers over her and showering her in another flurry of snow. She laughed out loud, ducking under her arms and spun away, looking up.

Framed by the falling white, her long hair swept around her, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes sparked full of light and life; she was wearing a natural bright smile that Hiei silently wished would never fade.

He could do nothing to prevent the small smile that tugged at his lips just as realization dawned on her face and she began to run towards him.

"Yeah."

~.~.~.~.~

Hiei watched the snow continue to silently fall into the night from the porch, illuminated by the moon and the warm yellow light coming from inside.

The sound of chatter and laughter poured out as the screen door behind him opened, but was cut back to background noise when it was closed. Hiei didn't even have to check to see who it was.

Ren set down a small tray with two steaming mugs and smiled at him. "Mind if I join you?"

Before Hiei could even arch a brow at her, she settled herself down right next to him, also facing the snow-peppered garden.

He glanced at the small tray besides her, the warm aroma thick in the cold air.

"What is that?" He asked, nonchalant.

"Oh, I almost forgot already. Here, I brought you hot chocolate." She picked up one of the mugs and held it out for him which he eyed warily, keeping up his dismissive facade. She just laughed.

"You know you can't fool me Hiei. I know you want to try it."

He hid a smirk, but took the mug from her and coolly waited for her to grab and take a few sips of her own drink, ignoring the strong, sweet smell that wafted directly into his face before taking a mouthful himself.

He flinched and yelped slightly, jerking away from the mug and almost making Ren spit hers out in amusement.

"Hiei, it's hot chocolate. You have to be careful or it's going to burn you." She explained, attempting to stifle her giggles. Hiei only glared at her, his stinging tongue innocently poking out, which only made her turn away as she was unable to contain her laughter.

"Sorry, sorry." She breathed between laughs, wiping her eyes. "Come on, don't be stubborn now. It really is good! I won't laugh anymore." So she said, but her eyes continued to gleam with mirth.

"Hn." Hiei huffed for a moment before, much more carefully, trying to drink it again, and they fell into a comfortable silence just watching the falling snow.

Eventually, Hiei set the cup down, half-full. Ren turned her head slightly, glancing up at him, and Hiei instantly noticed the tiny, concerned downturn of her lips.

"I didn't want to bring it up in front of everyone before, but is everything ok Hiei?" She began quietly as he turned to curiously meet her gaze. "I mean, you're no less quiet than usual, but today I just couldn't help but notice that you seemed sad and then you did disappear this morning..." She trailed off, looking down into her mug, unsure.

"You would... tell me if there was anything wrong, right?"

Hiei stared at her for a few beats before smirking and even letting out a chuckle which she blinked at, "If there's anything I've learned, it'd be that, thanks to you." He continued to smirk as she flushed in a mixture of embarrassment and a bit of shame, looking away but not necessarily upset.

He went on though, "I'm sorry for making you anxious this morning; I had intended to only go for a walk, not to fall asleep."

"Oh no, it's alright!" She quickly answered, blushing and scratching her nose shyly, "I know you can take care of yourself. I just can't help but worry." Hiei almost rolled his eyes; he wasn't going to say out loud, but that made two of them.

Hiei went silent for a moment again, thinking over Yukina's words, "The snow reminded me of the past and I became unsettled, but you don't have to worry. It's alright."

Ren was fully aware of his past, Hiei himself having told her all of it. She grasped the jeweled tear that was always around her neck tightly, setting her mug down and quietly waited for him to continue.

He surprised her instead with a brief chuckle, his red eyes flickering reflectively as he took her hand that had been holding the stone into his own, "Before, when I first fought for Mukuro, at what I thought was the end, I thought to myself that I had already accomplished the only purpose in my life and that anything else ahead would only be empty."

Ren's breath stuck in her throat, but he calmly continued.

"But I was wrong."

Glancing at her face, Hiei couldn't help but feel slightly amused to see Ren's eyes were already shimmering with tears. He rolled his eyes. Sentimental fool, he thought affectionately.

Blinking back the tears, she couldn't trust herself with words so instead she just rested her head against his shoulder at which he chuckled again. She wanted to say a lot of things but she also felt that nothing was necessary so she just allowed them to fall back into content silence, her heart thrumming pleasantly, everything just right.

Well, almost right.

It wasn't long before she started shivering from the cold and Hiei rolled his eyes.

"You're an idiot." He snorted out loud and she grimaced, but before she could retort back she faintly squeaked instead when in one smooth motion Hiei had swept her between his legs, loosely resting his arms around her. She blushed brightly, but smiled, settling back into his warmth, now feeling just right.

Hiei quickly felt her begin to relax into him and rested his chin on her head, still bearing a slight content smirk. However, before he himself had fully settled there was the lightest series of nudges against his head from above and his eyes curiously flickered upwards.

A single green vine had stretched down from the ceiling to catch his attention, but now that it had been noticed it quickly retreated a few feet, but instead of fully retracting, additional delicate vines began to spread over each other followed by deep green and glossy evergreen leaves. Hiei continued to watch as white berries sprouted from nothing until the little bulbs had littered themselves throughout the little plant that now shimmered above them.

Hiei looked over his shoulder and though he couldn't directly see them, he knew Kurama and, more likely than not, the rest of them were definitely watching. He'd normally consider going after them, but that would require extraneous movement and he was too comfortable to bother moving much. A small smile grew instead.

"Hiei?" Ren had felt him stir and glanced around in confusion, noticing his amused smirk. Catching her eye, he gestured up and she had to completely turn in his arms so that she could see what he was pointing at.

Hiei grinned as he had the full pleasure of watching her face flush deeply in recognition.

"Wha...mistletoe? But it's not even-" She was instantly cut off when her lips were silenced by Hiei's own. It only took her a moment to register before she melded into him, allowing him to kiss her deeply as his arms tightened around her.

Just like this, Hiei thought faintly, with the snow lightly falling behind them, the cold didn't seem so bad.

Nose and cheeks pleasantly flushed from the cold and heat, she reached up to gently grip his face, and he felt her lips move against his as they turned up in a smile and she murmured quietly.

"Heh... you taste like chocolate."

*Throughout this one-shot, there are several references and quotes from episode 100 of the English dubbed anime, "The Secret of the Jagan" just in case anyone was curious/confused/wondering :D

Squeeeeeeeeeee XD I don't know about you guys, but my beta and I just get the sense that after Hiei becomes comfortable in a relationship, he would be this confident, over-protective, initiative-taking lover. I just imagine him flashing a sexy smile and I swoon~~~

So did I surprise some of you? ;D Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this sweet little one-shot with sibling and HieixRen love c: Please leave a review to let me know what you thought! (Is it bad that I was freaking out like a fangirl as I wrote this gaaaaahhhhh)

HOWEVER, if anyone asks me questions about the main fic, I can't guarantee I'll be able to answer it, especially if they pertain to the chapters that haven't come out yet. *smirksmirk* You know, spoilers and all.

Also, I'm just going to put it out there right now that anything and everything can still happen so don't you think for a second that you have nothing to worry about XD

Anywho, thank you again FireStorm1991 for your request! I really loved how this ended up :D

Love, InuChimera7410