Ice

"Have you done this before?"

"Been ice skating? No, why?"

Why? Because she was gliding around on a nearly frictionless surface like an olympic skater while he was struggling just to stay standing.

"Jealous, Bruce?" Diana teased, giving him a little twirl before coming to a stop beside him.

"Maybe a little." He muttered. He simply didn't understand how she could skate around the frozen pond so easily, not having lost her footing at all yet.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me or are you going to join me?"

Grumbling something probably unkind about Amazons, he pushed himself in her direction, sliding slowly over the smooth ice. She shot him a wide smile and he returned it without thinking. He seemed to have gotten ahold of it when he tried to come to a stop beside Diana, and unceremoniously fell on his behind.

"Pfftt…"

"Stop laughing at me." He deadpanned, splayed out on the ice, completely unmoving.

Her laughter slowly subsided, Bruce watching with a slight smile on his lips as she fought to keep her laughter in.

"Sorry," She apologized, extending a hand to help him back onto his feet. "But it's not every day you see the great and terrifying Batman fall on his butt learning how to ice skate."

"That hurt," He complained, rubbing his back with his free hand.

"Here, I'll help you." She grabbed both of his hands in hers and started skating backwards, pulling him with her. It was considerably easier than skating on his own, and he was grateful for her help, though he'd never admit it.

"Think you can do it on your own?" She asked after a while.

"Probably not." He chuckled, but let go of her hands anyway. They only got a feet further when Bruce stumbled again, and feel forward, right on top of Diana. They both groaned when they collided with the ice, Diana's body cushioning most of Bruce's fall.

Bruce sighed into the fabric covering Diana's stomach, reluctant to get up.

"That does hurt…" Diana murmured.

He smiled. 'You didn't believe me?"

"Not really. Do you think we cracked the ice?"

He chuckled. "I hope not."

He stood up first, managing to keep his balance for long enough to help Diana up as well.

"Do you think you could do a jump?" He asked when they were both on their feet again.

"Maybe… If I use my powers. Why?"

"I don't want you to waste all of your time out here helping me learn how to stay on my own two feet. Try a jump." He prompted.

"First of all, I'd gladly spend all my time out here helping you. But… I'll try, if you really want me to. Although, I suspect you only want me to try to see me fall."

He didn't respond, but watched her skate toward the center of the pond and take a deep breath. She skated forward a foot or so before pushing off the ice, turning her body in the air before landing back on the blades of her skates.

But her landing was unsteady, and she stumbled forwards before falling, face-first, into the snow surrounding the pond. Her following shriek mixed with Bruce's loud laughter, frantically pushing herself out of the snow and sitting back on the ice.

"It's cold!"

Bruce's laughter only made it harder for him to skate over to where she was sitting on the ice. Snow had tangled into her raven hair and stuck to the front of her coat.

When he finally calmed down enough to ask if she was okay, she responded with, "Looks like I've fallen for you again."

He smirked, holding her gaze as she stood. "Was it as painful as the first time?"

"Not quite."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Princess."

"Don't be. You've got plenty of time to make up for it."

"Maybe I can start with some hot chocolate?"

"That does sound nice."

They traded out their skates for boots and headed inside the manor, making a beeline for the kitchen. Alfred was already there, pouring hot chocolate into two mugs. They thanked him and took their chocolate to the sitting room where Alfred had put up the Christmas tree.

"You should have at least helped him you know." Diana spoke first, ending the comfortable silence between them that was before only broken by the crackle of the fire in the hearth and the occasional sip of a drink.

"Alfred. With the tree." She explained when he gave her a confused look over the lip of his mug.

"Oh." He lowered his drink. "I haven't bothered with a tree in ages. Alfred's always done it since…"

He didn't finish the sentence, nor did he need to.

"Next year, we're putting a tree up together."

He turned to look at her, their gazes meeting. His paranoia urged him to say something along the lines of 'there might not be a next year' but he knew that she already knew that. Any number of things could happen to either one of them on the next twelve months.

But if she wanted to put up a Christmas tree with him next year, he'd try his best to make sure that happened.


A/N: So it's officially been a year since I posted my first oneshot, Snow, which was extremely short and cringy. (I tried to relate this oneshot's title to that one, idk) I think I've definitely improved since then lol.

Merry Christmas, friends, and if you don't celebrate it than happy day/ whatever you do celebrate!

~Uni