Don't

by Veronica A. Riley

After Jann-Lee returns from training in the mountains, he gets and unexpected Christmas gift, as well as a realization... ++COMPLETE++

A/N: Yo, yo, yo! What up my homey-g funk yo's?? Okay, I'll stop. Well, I'm fired up and shootin' guts! ((Not really, but it sounds cool)) I guess I finally got around to writing another Jann-Lee/Lei-Fang ficcy that you people so graciously cried out for. I think I'll actually be revising my last one since I didn't do that when I finished it. :P Well, anyways, they'll definitely be more rants at the end of the fanficcy, whatever they maybe, so just sit back and enjoy my second one-shot ficcy! Au revoir!

++Michael++

* * * * *

"I really think you should open that gift now."

"I'd rather wait…I'm not in the mood for it right now."

"Aww…c'mon, the rest of us opened our gifts! It's a Christmas tradition—"

"Not in China."

"Whatever."

"…"

"Just open it."

"…"

"It's not going to blow up or anything like that."

"…"

"And it won't be some dude from your past that's going to demand revenge for something you did to them in the past."

"…"

"Would just open it already?"

"I told you before, I'm not in the mood to open anything right now. And why are you so eager for me to open it anyway?"

Hayate blinked at Jann-Lee and looked away, turning his attention to something less interrogating.

"No reason…" he mumbled.

"No reason, my ass. What'd she make you do?"

"She?" Hayate's attention was brought back to Jann-Lee and he quickly slipped on an innocent look. "I don't know who 'she' is."

"Did anyone ever tell you you're a horrible liar?"

"A liar? Me? Never."

Jann-Lee and Hayate stared at each other for a long while before Hayate finally let out a breath rolled his eyes.

"Fine. She made me promise not to get drunk unless you opened a gift."

"Jackass," Jann-Lee said, picking at a piece of lint on his silk embroidered shirt. He eyed if for a moment and then flicked it into the space in front of him.

If anyone would've asked him where he'd be on Christmas Eve this morning, he would have said he was just going to stay home and relax. He'd been training at a mountain shrine on the east side of Hokkaido for the past three and a half weeks. After getting back this morning, he just wanted to relax his muscles. But sadly, no, that wasn't possible. Hayate had arranged a welcome back party for him and apparently, he'd gotten everyone in on it.

Sparklers and balloons littered his apartment, not to mention a giant Christmas tree in the middle of his living room. Everyone from Hayate to Christie had joined in on the scheme. The only few people that weren't there were Bass and his daughter, Zack—which to Jann-Lee's amazement, wasn't doing very well in America, and Lei-Fang. He didn't expect less though. The fact that she didn't like him was an understatement. He'd known that since their first battle.

But he couldn't help but wonder why she wouldn't be here. She was always so spirited and optimistic. The idea that she would miss something as happy and cheerful as this was astonishing. Even if the something happened to be for someone he supposed she highly disliked.

So far, everyone was having a great time, save for Jann-Lee himself. He knew the consequences of a party like this. By the end of the night, his apartment would appear ransacked and inside out. He'd be stuck with cleaning up whatever mess the guests made. Damn well, he knew Hayate would be out cold before midnight—and that wasn't far away. Even though she was his sister, Kasumi, try as she might, couldn't stop Hayate from keeping the alcohol down.

"Hayate, dammit, get down here, it's your turn!" came Kasumi's cheerful voice.

Not ten minutes ago, the group had decided to play twister. Jann-Lee had hoped they'd take his answer that he didn't own the game truthfully, but somehow, they'd gotten smart and brought their own board.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" Hayate turned back to Jann-Lee. "Come on, man, just open the gift. I don't think it wants to just sit there all night long."

Jann-Lee rolled his eyes.

"I don't even know where the gift is. All the gifts under the tree have been opened." He pointed to the tree. "See? None left for me."

Now it was Hayate's turn to roll his eyes. "You know what, I give up. I'm not going to sit here all night and argue about a damn box. When you find it, just open it, okay?"

Jann-Lee pursed his lips and shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

Hayate then turned and made his way into the cramped living room. He knelt down and spun the plastic black arrow and Jann-Lee couldn't help but watch as he tried to squeeze himself onto the packed Twister board.

He noted how Hayate and Kasumi looked at each other, as well as Ayane. As odd as it sounded, they acted like a family. They memories of how their past had been intertwined flashed through his mind.

In the past few years, nearly everybody standing in Jann-Lee's living room had gone through so much. Too much, in fact. A little part of Jann-Lee was happy that everyone had decided to throw him a party. It made that little part of him that felt so alone disappear. Everyone here felt some sort of kinship—himself included—and as a result, seemed not to care about all that had happened in the past.

Memories of that past held deep with Jann-Lee's mind. Even though his hated most of those memories, he couldn't bring himself to forget them. They had become a part of him, somehow defining who he was.

At that moment, he wondered briefly what kind of man he was.

Ayane's squeal broke his quiet reverie. He looked up to see the group on the twister board had collapsed into a heap of laughing people, struggling to untangle themselves.

He watched as Kasumi and Ayane grabbed each of Hayate's arms and pulled him from under the pile of bodies. He watched as they fell together, laughing hysterically. He watched as Hayabusa helped Christie up and tumbled next to Hayate and the others. He watched as each of them laughed at each other's mistake on the Twister board.

He watched, and wondered where his best friend was. His opposite, his comrade, his ally, his lover, his…his…Lei-Fang.

The thought struck him like a pile of bricks. His head felt like a brain freeze had barreled through and left him shivering in its wake. Slowly, he set his bottled water down, and raked his hand through his short, spiked hair.

Where did she come from? He thought. Why did I think of her all of a sudden?

A little part of him wanted to say just that. That she was his opposite.

Jann-Lee slumped against the stool he sat in and turned to lean against the counter.

"But…she hates me…" he mumbled to himself. He brought his hands up and covered his face, then slowly dragged them across his head, leaning it back.

A cool sweat had gathered on his forehead, and he questioned exactly what the temperature was in his apartment.

He stood up on shaky feet, still recovering from his thoughts.

"Yo, Jann-Lee, you okay?" Hayate yelled across the room.

Jann-Lee looked at him over his shoulder and waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just need to cool down."

He dragged his feet to his bedroom at the end of the hall and reached for the door, grasping the doorknob and leaning against it. Then the awareness that there could possibly be something large and dangerous in his room dawned. He stood for a moment and contemplated his next move.

This is ridiculous. I'm acting like I'm in a fight, he sighed, and slowly opened the door, peeking his head in.

Nothing that seems dangerous, he thought as he scanned the room. Good. And with that, he swung the door open and flipped on the light. He wiped his hand across his forehead and sighed. Then a bright shape caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned.

A box.

There was box. A very large box. Just sitting. On his bed. On the edge.

What the hell? He thought, amazed. He walked over and eyed the box carefully. The top was a simple pull off with a large bow adorning it. A small tag slipped away from the bow and sat near the edge of the top.

Jann-Lee reached for it tentatively, and plucked it from where is sat. Opening the small card, he read the contents.

Jann-Lee,

Hope you like the gift. It's special, very rare and was a major

bitch to get wrapped.

Enjoy!

A quiet chuckle escaped Jann-Lee's lips and he set the card next to the gift on the bed.

"Are you going to open it, now?"

Jann-Lee turned to find Kasumi standing under in the door frame. She looked calm and happy, though seeming to catch her breath from something.

He shook his head. "Not yet. I don't feel like opening it when others are around. Call me selfish, but I like my privacy, even with something a trivial as opening a gift."

"Alright. I'll accept that, " Kasumi said gently. "I won't act like my brother and pester you till I'm blue in the face."

Jann-Lee laughed quietly. "Thanks."

"Just…be careful. And be gentle. It took a lot of effort to get you that gift. In fact, I think Hayate completely missed the point of asking nicely and just lunged for it. I'm not sure." The soft tone of Kasumi's voice seemed to hold a thin air of uneasiness.

"I understand," Jann-Lee turned and head towards the door, gently setting a hand on Kasumi's shoulder and maneuvering her in the opposite direction. "Come on, let's get back to the others."

"Um," came Kasumi's quiet voice.

Jann-Lee blinked and looked down at her.

"I know I said I wouldn't bother you about opening it, but…I highly suggest you don't wait too long." The uneasiness still held true in her voice.

Jann-Lee nodded. "I know, I know. Don't worry about the box, I won't leave it just lying there until next Christmas. I'll open it soon enough."

Kasumi sighed as nodded.

With that, they turned and headed back into the living room.

* * * * *

Finally! Jann-Lee thought thankfully as he ushered the last of his guests out.

It was nearly 3:00 A.M. and he was just now getting Hitomi and Christie to leave. He was right when he'd guessed that Hayate would be drunk before midnight. Kasumi and Ayane had to support his weight when they left around 2:30 A.M. Now that the ringleaders had left, he was finally able to get the rest of the group out.

He rolled his eyes as he remembered Kasumi seemed to be only other sober one left—save himself.

"Poor Kasumi…" he mumbled. Hitomi'd gone and gotten herself drunk, then slithered her way up to Jann-Lee. He couldn't help but remember how Kasumi struggled to dissuade Hitomi when she tried to hit on him.

"Anyone sheen Lei Fang? *hic* I have shum strw berrish to share wif her…" she said as she wobbled her way out the door with Christie in tow.

After closing the door, he turned and scanned the remains of his living room. A crumpled Twister board lay in a mess under the coffee table and various paper plates were scattered about the room, not to mention the leftovers once on the plates. A stack of beer bottles sat on the coffee table among napkins, Styrofoam cups, and paper plates. The cushions on his couch were possibly stained and smudged with food and drink. Jann-Lee didn't doubt he'd have to get a few things dry-cleaned later on.

His kitchen seemed almost as bad as his living room. The seven pizzas they had ordered were nearly gone save for a few pieces still in the box. Some of the boxes still had leftover crust in them from those who disliked the crust and one or two had a pizza without the crust.

Aw, geez, Hitomi, don't waste pizza, he thought as he closed the open boxes and stacked them on the counter. He'd dump them in the garbage later on.

Jann-Lee cringed as he peeled a half-eaten piece of pizza off of the fridge door and bit his lip when he'd realized he'd stepped on a good two or three pieces of it on the floor. Various drinks and food items had been spilled in the sink and on the counter, and the stench of beer was faint, but still noticeable.

After reviewing the kitchen once more, he threw his hands up in frustration and headed back into the living room, sitting on the arm of the couch. He leaned back and set his elbow on the top of the couch, sighing. He stopped mid-sigh, and closed his eyes.

Somehow, something very disgusting had spilled across the top of the couch without Jann-Lee's noticing and now he'd gone and stuck half his arm into it.

I guess I should clean it…sometime, he thought mildly. Eh…too tired right now…I'll do it in the morning.

Normally, he would have done something about it immediately, but the night's events made him too tired to care.

Contrary to what he thought at the beginning, when everyone had surprised him with the party, he'd actually enjoyed it. He got to see everyone again, and this time, he got to enjoy seeing them. He hadn't had to taunt them and drag them into a fight. He hadn't given a battle cry and tried to beat the life out of them. He had just hung around with them on a Christmas Eve and enjoyed it, like a normal bachelor would. He got to see everyone as friends, not opponents.

He smiled lightly at the thought of everyone being friends. It wasn't something he got to enjoy often, and he wasn't about to let the idea of having friends at all slip away. Everyone had acted as friends, and he'd gotten to see everyone in a different atmosphere.

Everyone except Lei-Fang.

She hadn't left his mind since the moment she'd popped into it. Every time turned to Kasumi or Ayane or Christie, she'd appeared in his mind and the more it happened, the more he hated it.

All he wanted to do was enjoy his time tonight, but now matter how many people had crowded themselves into his apartment, a little part of him still felt empty.

He sighed and slumped forward. "No use worrying about it now…" he mumbled.

Slowly, he stood, quickly wiping his arms against a dry part of the couch, and stretched his limbs. Then turning, he made his way back to his room. It was dark when he reached it, and the moon outside gave the room a soft glow. The windows on either side of his bed were cracked open and a silent breeze caused the translucent curtains to float lightly.

The box sitting at the edge of his bed caught his attention.

In the dark, the wrapping paper he noticed before seemed dull and uninspiring, simply decorated with green bows and jolly, red-cheeked Santa's. He made his way towards it and picked up the small card he left on the bed before. Opening it, he read over the murky words scribbled on it. Unable to read them clearly, he tossed it onto the top of the box lid.

After staring at it for a good amount of time, Jann-Lee shook his head and crossed his arms. "Well, it's not gonna move itself."

With that he put both hands around it and moved to lift it. A large object inside thumped softly against his left arm and Jann-Lee stopped, dropping it back onto the bed.

"What the…?" He muttered.

He unraveled his arms from around the box and stepped back, blinking. He gazed at it questioningly and brought his arm up to give it a small push. Another thump was heard with the object inside hit the adjacent side. He snatched his hand back but quickly regretted it. The box, at first, began to lean to the side, but suddenly tilted the opposite way and started to topple over.

Jann-Lee sprang forward and attempted to catch it, only briefly scraping at the sides. The large box crashed to the floor, causing the lid to fly off. Hundreds of small 'S' shaped popcorn tumbled out along with a large object that dropped out onto the floor.

Jann-Lee had swung a leg over the other side of the box in his futile attempt to catch it. Now he stared intently at the large object that had fallen out of the box.

It was hard to see what it was in the dark. All he could make out was that it was large and possibly smooth and seemed curled up. Light bandages seemed to snake their way through the popcorn and thin strands of string fell lazily among the contents.

Perhaps…hair? The thought seemed insane at first, but within moments, his curiosity piqued and he stood. Swinging a leg over, he made his way quickly to the light switched and flipped it on.

When he turned back to the fallen box, the colors seemed to jump out at him. A gasp escaped his lips.

No…! He thought frantically.

Porcelain contrasted sharply with pitch black and white bandages strewn themselves wildly around the box and scattered popcorn.

"No…!" He whispered to himself

He bounded forward and knelt against the box, quickly wiping away the popcorn and bandages, but the bandages seemed attached to the object. His fingers caught and tangled themselves in the mass of pitch black that was hair. He struggled against it frenzied, screaming at himself to calm down. When he finally untangled them, he reached back and pulled the box away, letting the remaining popcorn scatter about as well as, to his utter amazement, a pair of legs.

Throwing the box into the corner, he quickly brushed away whatever popcorn was left and knelt over the body. He'd finally realized that the thick bandages were covering a body, which, ironically, happened to be completely naked.

Jann-Lee's hands shook before him as he reached out towards the body. The arms were tied together and lay near the face. The mess of long black hair obscured the face even more.

God, please don't let it be…

Slowly, he inched closer and curled his fingers around the shoulder, pulling it away. He brought his other hand forward and tucked it under the other shoulder that lay against the floor. Carefully, he pulled the body towards him and leaned it against him, the lower back lying softly in his lap.

Please, no…

His hands still shaking, he turned the face towards him and wiped away the mess of hair covering it. His breath caught in his throat when he caught a clear view of who it was.

Lei-Fang!

Jann-Lee pulled her body up so that her head could rest against his shoulder. He crossed his legs and pulled her to sit in his lap. The bandages covered her whole body, wrapping nearly everything. His gaze followed her body down her long legs to the tips of her toes, noting that her ankles were binding tightly together.

When he brought his gaze back to her face, he realized the bandages wrapped around her mouth a few times.

He struggled to pull them from her face and when he did, he let them drop around her neck. Carefully, he patted her cheek with the palm of his hand.

"Lei-Fang, " he whispered. "Come on, Lei-Fang, wake up."

When she didn't move or make a sound, he looked around the room for some sort of liquid to try and wake her up with. After finding nothing, he looked back down at her, frantic.

Abruptly, he became aware of a very distressing fact: she wasn't breathing.

"Oh, god, no…" he whispered.

Quickly he laid her on the floor, checking for a pulse. When he found a faint one, he sighed, but was far from relieved. He gathered his wits and forced himself to calm down.

Jann-Lee then pinched her nose shut with two fingers and opened her mouth with his other hand. He checked briefly in case she was breathing shallowly, but when he found nothing, he swiftly brought his head back up and took in a deep breath.

He mouth closed over hers and blew in the air he'd inhaled. He did this three more times and then checked to see if she had started breathing better.

Again, nothing.

He tried again, closing is mouth over hers, and on the third try, her lips seemed to tighten against his and suck in what little air he had left.

He brought his head up and watched as she coughed thickly and hoarsely, arching her back in an attempt to breath in more air. Grabbing her, he pulled her back into his lap and hugged her body to him.

"Oh, thank god…thank…god…" He whispered in a cracked voice.

Lei-Fang continued to cough until she slowly began to catch her breath. Her chest heaved and she leaned into Jann-Lee's embrace, shuddering. He tucked her head under his chin and forced himself to calm down.

While he calmed his nerves and tried to regain what little composure he had left, he carefully untied the bindings at Lei-Fang's hands and wrists.

They sat there for what seemed like forever. The silence in the room grew thick and the air seemed to take on a lighter form. Jann-Lee closed his eyes and continued to hold Lei-Fang's limp body against his. He cracked an eye open and looked down at her when her hands clutched the thin black shirt he wore. Her body trembled slightly and although she had stopped coughing, he breath was still heavy and ragged.

She moaned quietly into Jann-Lee's neck.

He moved slightly and felt the grip on his shirt tighten. "Co…cold," he heard. Looking around, he surveyed the area for anything resembling a sheet or blanket.

The closest one, he thought, is in the hall closet.

Instead going after the blanket in the closet, he reached behind him and pulled the thick black comforter off his bed. After pulling it halfway off, he wrapped what he could around Lei-Fang's shivering body.

He could feel Lei-Fang rest her palms flat against his chest and push slightly. She brought her head up and looked at him through the thin strands of black hair that hung in front of her eyes. He brought a tentative hand up and brushed away what he could.

"A-are you okay?" He asked quietly. She responded with a gentle nod.

"Good, then I can get you something to wear." Jann-Lee moved to get up, but was stilled by Lei-Fang's hands carefully pushing him down.

"No," came her reply, barely audible.

Jann-Lee blinked and looked at her. A thin blush crept up her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She looked down quickly, letting the loose hair hide her face.

He quirked an eyebrow. "But your—"

"N-naked?"

"—cold, but that latter is true as well."

"No, don't go. I'm…warm here." Her voice held an uneasiness in it and her fingers quivered against his chest. She leaned against him and set her ear near his heart.

Jann-Lee set a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong, Lei-Fang?"

The quivering in her hand seemed to travel through her body, and soon Jann-Lee could feel her shaking against him.

"I…I c-can't remember…"

His eyebrows scrunched. "What do you mean?"

"W-what…hap…pened."

She's crying.

The comforting hand on her shoulder dragged down and wrapped around her body, pulling her closer. He purposely moved her face towards his and turned so that his ear was closer to her mouth.

She sniffled. "I…can't remember…h-how I got here…"

Jann-Lee leaned his head against hers. "I think I know what you're talking about. Can you calm down and explain to me a little more?"

She nodded, or rather, Jann-Lee interpreted the gesture she made with her head as a nod.

Slowly, she sat up and curled herself tighter in the comforter. Taking a few deep breaths, she forced herself to calm down and brought her face up to look at Jann-Lee.

Her voice was barely above a whisper, "Y-yesterday, I went to the gym in Hong Kong, near where I'm staying with my aunt. After a few hours…I saw Kasumi and Ayane standing at the entrance."

She'd brought her hands out from under the comforter and fiddled with a loose thread.

"They told me you were coming back today. I didn't really know how to reply…they said they wanted to get him a really great…gift," she held in a sniffle.

"When I started walking home, they followed me, and turned me down this alley. When I wasn't looking, someone blindfolded me. I don't remember much else…I guess they must have slipped me something to knock me out…"

Damn them! Thought Jann-Lee angrily. Damn Hayate and Kasumi and Ayane and their little family! No wonder he wanted me to open the damn gift!

Lei-Fang leaned into him and buried her face in his shirt.

"I-I don't think I've been so scared before," she mumbled.

Jann-Lee looked down at her head. "Heh. I don't think I've believed in God so much before," he said, trying to lighten both his mood and the mood.

Lei-Fang looked up at him. "W-what?"

"We were both scared," he sighed. "I thought you were dead when I first found out you weren't breathing."

"I-I wasn't…breathing?" She asked, astonished.

Jann-Lee shook his head. He'd adjusted himself and set Lei-Fang on her knees so that he could stand up. She sat on her calves and wrapped the comforter tighter around her.

"I could have died!" The once scared tone in her voice was replaced with an angry, high pitched one.

Jann-Lee nodded and looked down at her. "That's why I did the only logical thing I could do."

Lei-Fang inclined her head and blinked up at him.

Jann-Lee sighed and gave her a indifferent look. "CPR."

At that moment, Lei-Fang's face took on new shade of red as the realization of the rules of CPR flashed through her mind. Jann-Lee could guess that looking up at him wasn't one of the things she wanted to do right now after his recent comment. He moved the comforter away from her shoulders and placed his hands under her arms.

She retaliated with a comment as Jann-Lee heaved her onto her feet, "B-but what if the CPR didn't work?"

"Then…you wouldn't be here right now, talking to me."

"I mean i—ahh!" Right as she spoke, she moved to take step forward, unaware that her ankles were tangled in the thick comforter. Instead, she fell forward and slammed into Jann-Lee, causing both of them to topple onto the floor they just barely had gotten up from.

"Ow…" Lei-Fang mumbled as she picked her head up from Jann-Lee's chest. He lifted his as well, barely aware that the fall had caused them to move ever so much closer, and that his face was possible mere inches from hers.

He noticed that she realized that too, due to the blush that slowly crept up her cheeks.

"Maybe I should just carry you…"

* * * * *

"Um, yeah, you're going to have to excuse the apartment. That jackass Hayate planned a damn welcome back party and left me to clean it all up," Jann-Lee said as he motioned to the living room.

Lei-Fang stepped over whatever contents lay splattered across his floor. She picked up and overturned couch cushion and dusted it off, careful to get off any unwanted food stuck to it.

Jann-Lee had managed to find a small enough shirt among his closet to fit Lei-Fang as well as an unknown hair tie he'd found in his dresser drawer. She no longer needed the thick comforter to cover herself now that she was clad only in a slightly baggy brown shirt with her hair in a ponytail.

"Er…I don't really have any underclothes that you could wear considering I'm not, well, a girl," he'd told her. "But first thing tomorrow, we'll go out and get you some decent clothing."

"Well he's a jackass in both our minds and when I get my hands on him…ooh, he'll regret it!" Lei-Fang steamed.

She picked at the little things that sat on the coffee table, organizing the garbage so that it would be easier to clean up.

Jann-Lee watched her out of the corner of his eye as he prepared a glass of water. He walked over and brought it to her on the couch.

"Is there anything you want? Maybe something to eat? Noodles? Pizza crust? Pizza without crust?"

Lei-Fang blinked up at him after taking a sip of the water.

"Pizza, without crust?" she quirked an eyebrow.

Jann-Lee waved a hand and headed to the bar counter, sitting down on one of the stools.

"Hitomi doesn't eat the pizza. She only likes the crust."

"I see…"

Once again, they sat there in silence. Jann-Lee stared at Lei-Fang's profile as she surveyed the mess that was his apartment. She took a sip of the water and he couldn't help but notice how the graceful curves of her neck contorted when she swallowed.

"So, uh, what time you do want to go pick a plane ticket tomorrow?" He said quickly when he caught himself staring.

"I…don't want to." She now stared out the sliding glass doors at the back of his apartment onto the balcony.

"What?"

"I…want to stay. I haven't been in Japan for so long. I miss it." Her voice was calm and content.

"But…won't your aunt worry about you?"

"I'll call her tomorrow and tell her I decided to take a spur of the moment vacation. She'll understand."

"But—college."

Now she turned her head and stared at him over the top of the couch. "Are you trying to get rid of me? Do you…hate me that much?"

Jann-Lee's eyes widened at that remark.

"What? No! I mean—your college! Your things! God! I don't know what I mean!" He leaned forward and set his forehead in the palm of his hand, letting his other hand hang loosely over his knee.

Think before your talk! Why can't I ever know when to just shut up! He screamed at himself.

He heard a rustle and then felt a small, cool hand take hold of the wrist near his face and pull it slowly. Looking up, he saw Lei-Fang staring down at him. There was an unusual look on her face.

It seemed like the odd mix of sadness and hope.

"I don't…hate you…so, please don't hate me." She pulled his hand up and turned the palm upward, setting it against her soft cheek and cradling her head.

Jann-Lee sighed and closed his eyes, letting his head drop. He shook it slowly. "I don't hate you, Lei-Fang," he sighed. "God knows I don't hate you."

Was that a sigh of relief he just heard?

"But…at times like these I wish I did." There was a sharp intake of air. "Then it wouldn't be so hard."

"H-hard?"

He looked up at her through thick lashes. "To see you. To know you can be this close to me. To—to miss you."

What…am I saying?

The look of sadness disappeared completely from Lei-Fang's eyes and was replaced by amazement. The hope seemed to blossom into something different; something Jann-Lee couldn't decipher.

"Jann…Lee." Her eyes filled with tears that simply sat on the edge of her eyes, ready to spill over. But they weren't tears of sadness.

At that moment, Jann-Lee realized exactly what he'd seen in her eyes just now, and why she'd said what she did.

He brought his other hand up and cradled it against the opposite cheek. She leaned into it and a tear welling up in her eye cascaded down softly, wetting the skin under his thumb.

Bringing her other hand up as well, she curled her fingers around his lower palm. Her tears now flowed freely, one delicately sliding down the middle of her cheek.

He pulled her face closer to his, watching was her eyes fluttered shut, until it was centimeters from his.

"To miss you…" He closed his eyes and leaned up, setting his lips gently against the corner of her mouth where the tear had fallen.

"And…" he whispered quietly against her skin, his voice shaky. "…to love you."

Then, tilting her face slightly, just enough, curved his lips over hers.

They tasted barely like salt, be he didn't care. They were soft and small and fragile, yet they seemed to fit against his perfectly. They moved against his perfectly, yet they seemed so opposite from his.

Her kiss was light and feathery, while he seemed to want more from her. Hers was thin and delicate while his was thick and rough. She kissed as though she had the rest of her life to just stand here and enjoy this. He kissed as though the end of the world was coming tomorrow and he would never have the chance to experience this again.

Yet, as opposite as their kisses were, they were absolutely perfect for each other.

Reluctantly, he pulled his lips from hers and set his forehead against hers. He didn't dare open his eyes. The atmosphere around them was perfect and he didn't want to do anything to ruin it.

"I…" came her smooth, quiet voice.

"Shh…" he gently hushed, setting a thumb over the corner of her mouth. She inclined her head slightly until the thumb was in the middle of her mouth. Jann-Lee could feel her tenderly press her lips against his callused thumb and the corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile.

Lei-Fang leaned into his body, letting his arms fold around her. He set a rough cheek against her pale, soft one, keeping his mouth near her ear.

"I know, Lei-Fang…" he whispered. "I know…"

~Fin~

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A/N #2: Woo, that took a long time to finish! I must say, this story was a page turner, even for me. And I'm the one who wrote it! But seriously, I had a specific direction I wanted this story to go in and it was going that way pretty smoothly until somewhere along the road, it turned off the path drove itself off a cliff. Right into big, pink fluffy clouds. At that point, the whole concept of me writing this story just sorta when 'capoot!' Oh and yeah, I know. The beginning of the story had a bit of humor in it. It was my pathetic attempt at making you all laugh ((which, most likely, you didn't do. Oh well)) Please, no flames against it, I do have feelings. ((sniff))

Other than that, I think it went pretty smoothly, don't you? I had the basic idea in mind that I didn't want a Lei-Fang story. In my last writing, Jann-Lee was made out as this punk jackass who couldn't see his hand if front of his face while Lei-Fang was the "I'll-try-anything-once" kinda gal that almost had her heart ripped out. I just wanted something where both of them could realize their feelings at the same time ((or almost the same time)).

What can I say? I'm a punk-ass, try-to-be-tough teenage girl who deep down is hopeless romantic just like the rest of you saps. Oh well, what can you do about it?

A/N #3: The title was a total buttplugger to come up with. At first I was gonna call it "Merry Christmas" since Lei-Fang is naked inside a giant Christmas Box ((don't ask about the naked part 'cause I don't know where that came from)) but then I decided against that since is just doesn't fit the theme of the story too well ((not that there is a theme)). Then I thought about naming it "God knows…" but that just seemed too sacrilegious for it, you know? ((Although, I honestly don't think I've ever heard Jann-Lee believe in God so much)). So then I consulted my wonderful human beta reader, Kochan ((who, by the way, writes his own fanfiction on ff.net. Check it out, it's great stuff!)) and he didn't really help me much 'cause I was still out of a title. Then FINALLY my best friend Babbit helped me with a title. SO YAY!

Anywho, I hoped ya'll enjoyed it. I know I did! ^_~