Title: When the Sun Meets the Sea
Author: Twelf Bell
Type of Writing: One-Shot Fanfic
Summary: AU ; A Christmas Story. There's this one customer that comes by and stares at a certain item behind the window of the store where Watanuki works and then leaves, his golden eyes burning of hope. DouWata.
----Pairing: DouWata! DUUH.
Disclaimer: I do not own xxxHOLiC – CLAMP does. But at least I do own my ideas.

A/N: This is one of those stories that I write in the wrong season. Well, anyways, hope you like it! //;SEi

Note: Watanuki DOES NOT KNOW Doumeki and vice versa. Keep that in mind!! You'll also learn some different stuff as you read.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Snow days were the most boring days that Watanuki Kimihiro had ever experienced. Watanuki hated it when he had to sit at the counter, waiting for a customer to come in and buy... no, he hated it when he had to sit and wait for something interesting to happen. That 'something interesting' might as well be the person standing outside of the store window.

He's here again, thought Watanuki, and staring at the same thing as always...

Watanuki watched as the man named stared at the pair of olive mittens longingly. It always amazed Watanuki how much time passes when he watches the man and the mittens. This time, an hour passed until the man finally looked away from the mittens and walked away, with a determined face – though you wouldn't really notice for that man, Doumeki Shizuka, was known for his stoic behavior and face.

Watanuki loved looking at Doumeki's eyes. They were golden and bright, unlike his dull blue ones. Those golden eyes sometimes turned into a rustic and wealthy color, making Watanuki want to reach out and touch them. But the only time those eyes became like that was when the owner was stubborn – as when he wanted something very badly... as the mittens – and... when they were protecting someone.

The only time Watanuki saw those 'protecting' eyes (and up close) was when the stoic man saved him on one of those random shopping days he went on to buy the things Yuuko-san, the owner of the store he worked at, needed. That day was the day that he almost supposedly died, but thanks to Doumeki who was passing by, he was saved of his fate. It was a day to remember, but Yuuko-san said that it was a day to forget. Watanuki had not understood what she meant at the time, but she was always right so he believed her then. But now that Watanuki had passed that fateful day, he remembered, while blushing, that she was totally right. He had forgotten something that day, as well as gaining something new to remember. There's a sacrifice for everything, Yuuko-san had said. And it was true.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

It was night, with the stars shining their mightiest in the sky that seemed to stretch in every direction. If not for the full moon that was out, Watanuki would have got lost in the dark streets of the town.

That damn witch, forcing me to buy wine for her in the midst of night! Watanuki trudged through the layers of snow that filled the quiet street, anger rising at every step he took, nearing the toy/clothes store that Yuuko-san (the so-called witch) owned, and where Watanuki lived as a live-in housekeeper on the second floor of the store - which was the also the home of Yuuko and her daughters Maru and Moro, and their pet 'bunny' Mokona.

Maru and Moro's father, Clow Reed, had died two years after the twins were born, making them unable to remember anything about the man. Ever since the death of Clow, Yuuko-san began drinking. She never seemed drunk though. She always seemed to keep her seriousness and motherly behavior.

Suddenly, Watanuki stopped in his tracks. Before he left the store, Yuuko-san had said something in a serious tone that Watanuki couldn't forget, even as he stood there in the freezing cold. Be careful and be cautious of everything... especially really dark places. Watanuki shivered and hugged himself, surprising himself with a jolt on the back from the wine bottle bag that he accidentally swung in the process of warming himself from his fright of Yuuko-san's words.

As he continued walking, he spoke to himself quietly, assuring his soul that nothing was going to happen, nothing was going to jump out and scare him, nothing was going to make him go near dark places, nothing... is the something that is hiding out there. As soon as he thought that, a rustle in the nearby bushes made him stop abruptly in his tracks, scared to death of what was to come. Thankfully, luck was on his side and his 'death' was postponed until another time. It was just a black cat. A black cat! Was luck really on his side?

The black cat hissed at him, before it walked across the street, it's eyes sharp and glistening red and pale with its desire to kill and the moonlight. Watanuki clutched the wine bag tight to his chest, taking one step forward and then running towards who knows where. He was freaked out of his mind. Why had Yuuko-san picked this one specific day? It's not like it was Halloween – Christmas was in three weeks!

His will to run away overpowered the words that Yuuko-san told him. He ran and ran and ran towards a direction he did not try to know. When he stopped and came to, he was panting and out of breath, supporting himself with a wall – a stone wall, he noticed as he felt it with his hand. But the thing he noticed the most was that it was dark. Very dark.

Shoot! Watanuki whacked his head, finally remembering what he was supposed to have remembered. Especially really dark places, Yuuko-san had said. This place was darker than ever. He couldn't see anything. He tried looking up, but all he saw was darkness. The stars were no longer shining. The moon wasn't there, either.

He reached out and tried to grab something. Anything. No use. All he felt was the ground below him. … Ground? He reached down. There was nothing. Nothing but air and space. He tried to reach for the wall from before, but all he felt was the same as he felt from the ground. Air. Space. Nothingness. And he hadn't even moved! Or... was it not him that moved but the space around him?

Watanuki closed his eyes... rather, he tried to close his eyes. Other than the space around him, he couldn't even touch himself. It felt like his whole body was separated into different parts, only the beating of his heart he could hear. But no... that couldn't be his heart. If it were his heart, it would be in a panic, beating so fast because of his fear of something. The heart he heard, it was calm and beating at a regular pace.

"-y!"

Now he heard a voice. It was as calm as the heart that he was listening to, but with a bit of persistence in it. The heart then began playing a very fast song. It seemed to be scared, like Watanuki. Thump, thump, thump! All of a sudden, a light appeared in front of him. It was pale and blue, it's light reaching toward Watanuki. He could finally see his body and he felt his strength come back to him.

Watanuki wondered what the light was. Am I.. dying? wondered Watanuki. But he didn't care. He had enough of his life. He reached his hand out for the light. Losing his parents in a car crash and living by himself all till high school and then finally finding a job that suited him well... He hesitated. He thought of Yuuko-san and the twins. They were getting along well this past year. I... I don't want to die yet... he said aloud, to no one in particular.

"Hey!"

The voice was coming from inside the light. Without him reaching for it, the light surrounded him, blinding him with its brilliant volume of brightness. As he went closer and closer to where he felt he heard the voice, he felt suffocated. Something was covering his mouth and he didn't know what it was. Then the suffocation was over, leaving a taste of melon in his mouth. Melon?

He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was gold. Pure gold. He was about to reach for it, when his hand touched something. Ground. He was on solid ground... but his head felt like it was on something soft... something softer than the snow that covered the ground...

"You okay?"

The voice. It was the same voice that he heard from before. Breath. He felt someone's breath on his cheek. Eyes. The gold was of someone's eyes. Arms. He was in someone's arms.

… Someone?!

Watanuki shrieked, but his voice didn't come out. Rather, he was so shocked that his voice box seemed to have been closed tight and locked up. All that showed up on his face was a big O-shape mouth and wide eyes.

The person... I mean, man – judging by the voice – who was holding Watanuki repeated himself. "You okay?"

Watanuki tried to stop his heart from beating so fast. Finally obtaining the key, his voice box opened and what came out was not his regular voice but a raspy and shaking one. "Y-Yeah."

The head of the man - which was so close to Watanuki's own - backed up, gold eyes and all. Watanuki felt like screaming to get the gold irises back into view, but he didn't dare. The situation he was in.. and the position, was all the embarrassment he could take for now.

"You don't sound alright."

Watanuki got up, lifting himself with the hand that touched the ground, and not bothering to use his other hand, which was on the man's chest. "No, I'm really fine." His voice seemed to be back, he noticed.

"You sure?" The man seemed to be concerned. In his voice was doubt and something else... something like he wanted to say something other than what he already said.

Watanuki looked at the man's face. The moon was on the side of the night sky that let Watanuki see the gold eyes. It was probably impossible for the man to see Watanuki's blue ones, but it didn't matter. "What is it?"

The man was quiet for a second. Then he asked, "What?"

"What happened to me? How did I end up..." he looked down at the man's chest, "...here?"

"... You dropped like stone."

"Excuse me?"

The man pointed somewhere. Watanuki followed it and looked at the stone wall – supposedly the same that he had stopped at. And he was right. "You stopped here and then suddenly, you collapsed like you were having a heart attack. Since my house is near here," he pointed to a house nearby, "I saw you outside my window and I rushed out to see what happened. And man, did it give me a heart attack myself..."

"What do you mean?" Watanuki looked back at the golden-eyed man. The eyes were of worry and memory.

"You weren't breathing and when I checked your heart, it seemed to have stopped. So I tried CPR on you."

That explained the suffocation... and the melon taste in his mouth. He blushed.

"Thank god that worked. I was about to call the hospital when your heart finally started beating again and you said something like, 'I don't want to die yet'."

Watanuki lowered his head. He didn't understand what happened to him, but thankfully, this man saved him. He needed to thank him. "Th-Thank you!"

The stoic man seemed to be surprised, his eyes widening from the words that came out of the other's mouth. "N... No problem..."

It became quiet. Watanuki heard the night life once more. Sleeping crickets and the wind howling in content. A chilling breeze reminded Watanuki of what was awaiting him at home.

"I..." Watanuki began, "I better get going. Yuuko-san is going to get angry for being late..." He got up from the grassy ground and began heading towards a direction that he thought was where the store was. He turned back and said, "See you later! And.. thanks, again." He bowed and ran off.

The man, Doumeki Shizuka, sat there in the snow, uncertain of what to do. Yuuko-san...That's the owner of the toys and clothes store at the corner of Holic Street... Maybe I'll meet him again, if I go there...

Doumeki suddenly realized something. He didn't know how the man looked like, except that he had on appropriate wear for the winter and had dark hair – or so he saw, in the moonlight. He couldn't see the other man's face. He at least noticed that he was a bit shorter than himself and he remembered the cheerful but high-pitched voice, plus... the longing gaze.

He looked at his hand in the moonlight, and made a fist with it. It still had the warmth of the other man's liveliness. He's alive.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

That day was about three weeks ago. Christmas was tomorrow. Doumeki still could not find the man he had saved, but he had found something else that caught his eye. The green mittens. They had the feeling of warmth in them – the same warmth that came from the man he saved. The day he saw the mittens was the day after he met with the man who's heart seemed to have stopped. With the hint 'Yuuko-san', he had come to the store in search of the man. But after seeing the mittens in the the store window, he came everyday just to look at them. The mittens with the familiar warmth of being alive. Nonetheless, he did not forget the man.

It was hard to forget, actually. It was just that the mittens reminded him so much of the man. He wanted to buy them, but he didn't have enough money. The place he worked at had become bankrupt and he was currently still looking for a job. It was until his neighbor asked for someone to cut wood for him that he got a job and was able to get a salary. The mittens cost a lot but he was determined to get them. If he couldn't find the man, then he at least had the mittens to remind him of him.

Doumeki looked at the mittens. Only a few dollars more, he thought. Suddenly, he felt a gaze on him. It was the same gaze that he had felt from the man he had saved. The longing kind. He looked around, trying to find the source. He looked at the empty street that lay behind him. No one. He looked inside the store. No one was there.

He sighed and walked away. Only a few dollars more. He brightened up. After that, I'll definitely find him.

* * * *

Watanuki had been called by Yuuko-san just when Doumeki felt the longing gaze on him and turned his head this way and that just to see who was staring at him. He had sighed and then walked upstairs to where Yuuko-san was waiting, hands on her hips.

"What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry," apologized Watanuki.

Yuuko-san sighed and smiled. "It's alright."

"So what is it that you called me for?"

She walked over to the dining table and sat down. She gestured to Watanuki to sit also. He did. "Tomorrow's Christmas."

"Yes, I know," he said.

"That's good." She grinned one of her sneaky grins. She was up to something.

"What is it?"

She went straight to the point. "Do you have anything you want to give someone?"

"No, I--" He paused. His mind went back to Doumeki and his eyes. The mittens. "Yes. Yes, I do. I have something I want to give someone."

She looked at him long and hard. "But you don't have it."

He shook his head sadly. "No, but you do."

"I do?" She leaned back in her chair. "What is it?"

He gripped his hands together. "The green mittens in the window case."

Her eyes went wide and then she began laughing. Watanuki stared at her like she was out of her mind, but his grip in his hands released. "Wh-What's wrong?"

Yuuko-san clutched her stomach as if she was going to die from laughter. When she finally calmed herself down, she said, "Those mittens are not mine! They're yours!"

"What are you talking about? I made them for the store, so it's yours!"

"Sure, you made them for the store, but you were the one who made them. They're yours."

Watanuki was shocked. What kind of logic was this?! "Then that means that I can take them from the window case and give them away?"

"Of course. But just remember to replace it with something else."

What an unexpected thing he learned. "I-I..." He was speechless. If he had known this earlier, then he would have took it and gave it to Doumeki the first time he came to the store! He got up and bowed. "Thank you, Yuuko-san."

"Why are you thanking me? I should thank you instead."

Me? "Why?"

"Because you are the one who made everyone happy for tomorrow, Christmas." She was smiling.

Watanuki smiled back and bowed again. Then, he went downstairs. The first thing he noticed was that Doumeki had left. Oh well. He took the mittens from the window case and inspected them. They still looked as new as when he made them. He blushed, remembering that he had made them while thinking of his savior – Doumeki. That day, his mind was full of the man who saved him. He remembered the song that Doumeki's heart was playing and the melon taste that filled his mouth. He had decided to make mittens because the only thing he remembered – other than the golden eyes – was the hands that held him. They were very large hands.

Watanuki held the mittens close to his chest. Soon. Soon I'm able to meet him face to face again. Soon. No... tomorrow. Tomorrow.

He went back upstairs to his room and got out a box and wrapping paper that Yuuko-san had given him as spare for the customers that wanted their purchases gift-wrapped. The wrapping paper was plaid and had the colors of Christmas. When he finished, he got out a ribbon and tied it around the box. The ribbon was gold, matching with Doumeki's eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Christmas was finally here. Unlike yesterday, the streets were filled with laughter and cheerfulness. It became crowded near noon and then it finally dispersed as night came by. Watanuki was busy not in the store – there weren't many customers – but in the house upstairs. Maru and Moro wanted chocolate cake and Yuuko-san had wanted something sweet also. This was his first Christmas with the family. He was aiming to make it special. He was doing a good job so far.

Yuuko-san was at the counter with the customers, and the twins were organizing things. They were all very happy due to the atmosphere, as well as what they were getting as a treat. Their jolly mood brightened up any sad customers that could not afford to buy what they wanted and calmed down customers that were doing last minute shopping for presents.

Watanuki was waiting until the specific time that Doumeki had always come to the store. He glanced at the clock. Two more hours. He stirred the chocolate with a newfound energy. He was like a girl that couldn't wait for their date to finally come. Two hours. It was tiring to wait, but it was the only thing he could do.

When the chocolate cake was done, an hour and thirty minutes had passed. It was still very hot so he waited thirty minutes more for it to cool down and for Yuuko-san and the twins to finish up their business and close the shop. It was time. As Yuuko-san and the twins went up the stairs, Watanuki went down the stairs, and fled outside. In his hand, he held the special present for Doumeki.

No one was there yet. He sat down in front of the store window that Doumeki always looked through, and sighed. Ten minutes passed before he finally realized that he wasn't wearing a coat. Night was creeping like its usual creepy crawlers and the cold was becoming more intensifying. He shivered. He wasn't going to go inside and get a coat now. Doumeki might show up any minute. It was ten more minutes when he finally fell asleep.

* * * *

Doumeki ran as fast as he could. He was late. Late for what, he couldn't really say, but he was late. Really late. It was supposed to have been an hour ago that he was to leave his neighbor's house and head to the toys and clothes shop on Holic Street, but something had stopped him. One of his other neighbors had fallen sick due to age and his wife was home, not able to cut any wood for the fireplace, for she was very fragile. He had went over and helped her get the fire ready but an hour had passed by the time he realized it.

White puffs of breath came out of his mouth at a fast rate, as he ran and ran. As he ran down the streets of people, he heard glimpses of something about the store that was his goal in this race.

"--smell.. chocolate.." "--you get... presents.." "--cheap.. good.." "--closed early..." "... Christmas..."

It was closed early due to the holiday?! Damn it! He ran to see if it was true.

It.. was true. The store's sign was switched from 'Open' to 'Closed' and it was dark inside. All the lights were off, except on the second floor which was giving off.. a chocolate smell? It smelled really good. It reminded him of the mittens... and the man with the longing gaze.

As he drew closer to the store, he finally noticed the man sitting outside the store window. His eyes were closed and his breath seemed to be shaky. Doumeki noticed that he did not have a jacket or coat on. He took off his own and carefully placed it around the man. He sat next to the sleeping figure and asked aloud, "Did you come to the store thinking it was open (but it was closed), too?"

He reached over and patted the sleeping figure's head. From the sudden touch, the sleeping figure moaned. Doumeki took his hand away but something stopped him. The man's hands caught Doumeki's before he took it back. The sleeping figure opened his eyes and still painted with sleepiness, he looked at the hand that he had caught. It felt warm and it was large. He held it to his face. It felt familiar. It felt like...

Watanuki's eyes widened and then looked from the hand to the owner. It was Doumeki, golden eyes and all. In a quick movement, he dropped the hand and backed up. "I-I'm sorry..."

While Doumeki was getting his hand back, Watanuki spoke, and that made a spark to Doumeki's hope. It was the voice he had heard that day. The high-pitched but cheerful voice. It was him. He looked at Watanuki and studied him. He had dark hair, as he had thought, and he seemed to be shorter than him – though he couldn't tell from his sitting position. Doumeki then noticed the eyes. They were blue. As blue as the clear sky... no, it was a little darker.. like.. the sea. It was blue like the sea. It looked dull at first but as he stared at them, he felt something like a calm but wavering feeling.

"You..." "You..."

They had spoken at the same time. Watanuki chuckled and said, "You go first."

"... You are... the one that I... saved... that day, right?" Doumeki was still staring into the sea-colored eyes.

Watanuki tried looking away but he was mesmerized by the golden eyes that resembled two stars.. no, the sun. "Yes..." He smiled. "And you are the one who saved me. You've also been coming to the store everyday."

"How did you know?"

"Because I work here," he gestured with a hand, the inside of the store that was behind the window.

Doumeki stared at him and then looked at his hand. He closed his eyes and hand on his head, he began chuckling to himself. "That means I've been searching for you all these weeks and you were there all along..."

Watanuki just smiled. He then remembered something. He took the wrapped present from where it landed while he was sleeping, and presented it to Doumeki. "Here."

"What is it?" Doumeki took it.

"It's a Christmas present... I thought you would like it."

Doumeki inspected it as if it was something he had never seen before. Then he turned to Watanuki and said, "Can I open it?"

Watanuki nodded.

The stoic man first took the ribbon off and placed it on the ground next to him. He then tore at the wrapping paper, trying his best to keep it clean, for he somehow thought that if he made a mess, Watanuki would have to clean it up for they were outside the store after all. When the wrapping paper was all gone, in front of him was a white box. It said, "To Doumeki Shizuka", and then below it, "From Watanuki Kimihiro" in perfect script. He smiled to himself, finally knowing the name of the man he saved, and then opened the box.

Inside was the mittens. The mittens he had worked so hard for. The mittens that reminded him of this man.. the man he was sitting next to. Watanuki. He turned to Watanuki and said, "I was planning to buy these."

"Yeah, I know... but I just had to give them to you..." Watanuki looked away, embarrassed.

Doumeki put them on. He looked at his mitten-covered hands. It felt warm... not just warm, but.. it gave another feeling. A feeling of... love?

Love. Doumeki smirked to himself and turned to Watanuki who was still looking elsewhere. He reached out and pulled Watanuki to him. He hugged him and whispered in the other's ear, "Thanks."

Watanuki was burning from the heat that Doumeki was giving, and burning from the love that passed through that single word. Thanks. Doumeki backed up, giving space between their faces and then said three perfect words. I. Love. You.

And they kissed.

THE END.

A/N: I can't do anything but smile right now. Smile smile smile. I'm finally finished with this fanfic. :) I'm very happy.

I'm sure you noticed some OOCness in them but I hope that didn't ruin the story for you. I'm not sure if that was a good ending or not but as long as it's fine.. ^^;

I think AU's are easier for me to write than a regular fanfic. I don't know why. It's weird, but I think I might be writing more AU's in the future. Do hope you read them :)

Also, I think I have something with 'eyes'. Just like CLAMP. But at least they didn't lose their eye or eyesight and whatnot. Well, anyway...

Please review, thankshu very muches.

//;SEi :D

Listening To: Lacrimosa – Kalafina (Kuroshitsuji 2nd ED)

EDIT 07/17/09: OS! I finally finished the drawing ^^ Here is the link: http://imposterable[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/You-Were-There-All-Along-129890549