A/N: Enjoy and no flaming. And more importantly, Happy Belated Birthday, BlueButterflyRose.
Disclaimer: I do not own Zigfried or Leon or any of the other characters, or even Yu-Gi-Oh itself. Kazuki Takahashi owns it all.
...
Night fell over the Black Forest of Germany, shrouding everything in darkness.
Thirteen-year-old Zigfried von Schroeder stared out the window of his bedroom at the trees, bathed in silver light from the half-moon. It had begun snowing once more. The pink-haired teen watched as the flakes, silver and dark, fall obliquely against the windowpane.
Sighing and pulling the curtains shut, the eldest Schroeder child turned an left the room and walked down the hall to the room at the very end of the hallway. This room belonged to Zigrfried's younger brother, Leon.
Ever since either one of the Schroeder brothers could remember, their parents, their father especially, had been grooming Zigfried to one day succeed his father as head of SchroederCorp. And from the looks of things, that day was fast approaching. Now, the older Schroeder was doing double his normal work, taking more lessons than ever, and losing even more sleep and what little free time he had.
For Leon, it was the exact opposite. About five years Zigfried's junior and nowhere near as favored as he was, little Leon was mostly ignored by his parents, unless he was being scolded for something he didn't do or was told not to distract or bother his brother. Leon often read fairy tales to combat his loneliness, but it wasn't the same.
But now and then, Zigfried was able to sneak away from his lessons and parents to spend just a fragment of time with his younger brother.
Now was as good a time as any. Leon had fallen ill, which was natural as he had always been fairly susceptible to illness, especially in the winter.
Though they had had a doctor check on him, Mr. and Mrs. von Schroeder had not once entered their younger son's room nor had they asked the doctor anything about the child's condition.
Zigfried on the other hand, had found out that his brother was only suffering from a mild bout of the flu. Nevertheless, the older boy still decided it would be best if he at least spent a little time with his sibling.
...
Leon smiled tiredly up at his older brother as Zigfried entered the room.
"Hey, Ziggy," he whispered hoarsely.
"Don't speak too much Leon," Zigfried sat down beside Leon's bed. "I do not want you strain yourself."
"It's okay, Zigfried," the maroon-haired eight-year-old murmured. "The doctor says I just have a bit of a sore throat, nothing to make a fuss about."
"Still, it's best not to leave anything to chance," Zigfried frowned.
Leon's smile widened. It felt good to have his older brother worrying about him; it proved that he cared.
"I'll be fine," he said.
"I'm staying here," Zigfried told him.
The two brothers spent the rest of the night in silence. Leon wished that Zigfried would be more open with him, but also knew that his brother loved him, even if he didn't always show it.
He hoped it would stay that way.
...
...
I hope that everyone, BlueButterflyRose especially, enjoyed that.