Disclaimer: I have never been to Russia, and have very little idea what it's like (and I'm sorry for using the idea of Russia as a 'backward other', it just fit into the storyline), so please don't be offended if my description is very wrong (My ears are peeled if anyone would like to educate me).

Also, this is my first Orphan Black piece, and I don't think I've properly got the characters, so any tips would be lovely.

And I apologize for tuning an angsty prompt into a fluffy one, i couldn't help it.

xxx

Not to be melodramatic, but if Cosima had to spend another day of this damnable holiday without Delphine then she was actually going to tear her hair out. And that shit cost an arm and a leg.

It had been two months since they'd last seen each other. Cosima was still trying to sort out all her cloning issues whilst Delphine had managed to escape to an exciting new job offer in Russia (in the back of the beyond of course).

The whole set up was temporary, one way or another, but that didn't make it any less traumatic. As much as Cosima was used to drowning herself in work, it was far more pleasant to drown with someone else. And that was number 5 out of about 98 reasons why Cosima was spending her time feeling pathetically miserable. It almost felt like she'd lost a limb or something (that was reason number 3).

So choosing the alternative to decimating her hair, Cosima had booked a plane ticket. Of course the only one she'd been able to make was the Christmas Eve flight, and she'd spent the journey wrapped up in notes and equations and measurements, ignoring the decidedly warped Christmas spirit echoing around her.

Making her way to Delphine's place had been an adventure in its own right, involving several train rides, and no less than three arguments with taxi drivers (not helped by the fact that Cosima's Russian was limited to about twelve words). But eventually she'd made it, tramping up a snow laden lane, laden down with heavy bags and a cheerful grin. A quick check of her watch assured her that she still had ten minutes until their scheduled skype call. The tiny cottage was like some idyllic image from a postcard, particularly dressed as it was in a thick layer of snow.

Cosima stepped up to the door, shaking snow from herself as her knuckles rapped against the solid wood door. No reply came. She knocked again. And again, no reply. Starting to get worried she tried again. It was that moment that her phone went off, a ridiculously cheesy Christmas tune that she'd downloaded for some reason. Dropping half of her stuff on the floor, she managed to grab hold of it before the tune finished.

"Delphine!"

"Hey, I was just ringing to see if we were still on for that skype call tonight." God it was wonderful to hear Delphine's beautiful voice again.

"Errrm sure babe, can you just do me a favor and go look outside your front door first?"

"My front door?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Just do it." Cosima was really trying to keep the impatience out of her voice, it was bloody cold out in the snow.

"Well you see there might be a bit of a problem with that." Uh oh, that didn't sound good.

"What's the problem?"

"This was meant to be a surprise, but I'm not actually in Russia right now. I'm outside your apartment. Surprise!" At those words Cosima's stomach gave a little tumble. No one had ever been that desperate to see her before. But crap, it also meant that their Christmas plans were about to get seriously fucked up.

"That's funny because…well…I'm currently outside your house. In Russia." The gasp on the other end of the line almost had Cosima giggling.

"Well I guess that means one of us is going to have to travel back. Give me a minute and I'll look up plane times."

"There's no point, I already checked when I was booking. There's nothing else left until after Boxing Day." There was no way to keep the melancholic tone from her voice.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few minutes, leaving Cosima cursing their luck under her breath. All they'd wanted to do was meet up over Christmas, and now it had turned into a complete disaster.

"Right, I tell you what, my landlady lives down the road, go get the spare key from her. Then go and turn my computer on. Christmas isn't over yet." Cosima loved it when Delphine got bossy, and so she instantly jumped to follow her instructions.

That's how Cosima found herself curled up on Delphine's sofa, one of her girlfriends sweaters wrapped tightly around her so she could feel as if she was right there with her. She'd strung up the miles upon miles of decorations she'd brought with her and a steady little fire was burning in the fireplace. On the skype screen, it was really surreal to see Delphine's face pop up in her apartment.

In the end it didn't turn out to be the worst Christmas ever. They talked all through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of both time zones, laughing at their little farce and toasting with large glasses of sherry. It almost didn't matter that they couldn't touch, or cuddle or kiss each other. They only stopped talking when Cosima drifted off, still bundled up in Delphine's sweater, empty glass clunking against the floor.

As nice as talking had been, nothing could come close to the feeling Delphine had on Boxing Day morning when she was awoken by a gentle tap to the shoulder. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she saw the only thing that she had ever wanted for this Christmas, Delphine. In a matter of seconds they were wrapped up in each other's arms, clutching tight so they could never let go. Despite all the kerfuffle, Cosima actually had to admit that this had turned out to be the best Christmas ever.