A/N: This is a series for the strifehartwinterweek2k16 happening over on tumblr all this week. Each day will centre around a particular winter theme, but will follow a modern AU narrative. If you want to become involved with the event, head on over to tumblr and submit your own entries, or send me a PM with a link to your story here on , and i will link you through my blog.

Day One:

Fireside

"That the last of them?" Leon asked, setting the box down by the side of the couch, his gaze sliding over the scattered, disorganised belongings that littered the once empty living room. Cloud was knelt by the fireside, struggling to get the kindling to catch a flame. He nodded distractedly, and tutted softly as the taper fizzled out again and left the yawning fireplace cold and empty.

Leon rubbed his hands together, feeling the bite of the chilly air. "Here, lemme." He offered, crouching down beside Cloud and he took the taper and matches from his lover's cold hands.

"Sora okay?" Cloud enquired, watching with quiet blue eyes as Leon lit the taper easily enough and held it to the kindling, the small flames taking root as they spread quickly through the dry wood.

"He's fine, he's asleep already." Leon replied quietly, sitting back on his heels and held his hands out to the warm and inviting heat. Gods but it was cold. He'd have to take a look at that boiler first thing in the morning.

"He warm enough?" Cloud reached for the comforter he'd already unpacked and pulled it down off the arm of the couch.

"He's fine, I promise." Leon told him, a firmer tone to the edge of his voice. Cloud didn't take offence, Leon always was a little more defensive when it came to his son. It was something Cloud had had to learn to live with.

Permanently, Cloud thought to himself as he considered their new home. First night and the boiler was already on the blink. And with Christmas just around the corner it couldn't have come at a worse time. Leon would fix it though. He'd always been handy with a tool box. And fires. Cloud added.

"Don't forget I'm taking him to get the tree this weekend." Cloud reminded the older man, throwing the blanket around his shoulders and holding the edge out invitingly for Leon to slide into. The fire was building up nicely, the side of Cloud's face growing hot and flushed with the heat.

"Let's just get everything unpacked first." Leon replied, ignoring the offer. Cloud let the blanket slide off his shoulders and frowned a little.

"Everything okay?" He kept his tone quiet and gentle. Any accusation would trip Leon's defences and he'd never get another word out of him the whole night. "You seem kind of... distant. More than usual." Cloud amended, and watched how Leon distracted himself with poking the fire. Deliberately avoiding looking at him like he always did when there was something on his mind. Sometimes, just sometimes, Leon was easier to read than he thought he was.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." The sullen tone told a different story. Cloud sighed deeply, uncaring that he was being obvious.

"This is about Sora, isn't it? About Rinoa?"

Leon seemed to tense around the shoulders and Cloud knew he'd guessed right. It wasn't a new issue; Rinoa was a sore subject for Leon and always had been. He rarely spoke about her and Cloud thought maybe that was half of the problem.

The love of his young life and mother of their son hadn't left or cheated or simply stopped loving Leon. She had died. And the loss of her had crippled Leon for years after.

Cloud scooted a little closer and placed a hand over Leon's forearm, distracting him from tending the fire.

"Did... did we do the right thing?" Leon eventually asked after considering Cloud's gentle fingers against his skin for a while. "Moving, I mean." He turned his head and fixed Cloud with uncertain eyes. Grey eyes filled with doubt and loss and insecurity, and Cloud stared back, out of his depth in many ways yet still so sure of Leon; certain of what they had. He stood, leaving Leon's question unanswered for a moment and disappeared into the next room, returning a few minutes later with a small framed photograph. He knelt and placed it on the hearth and the familiar picture of the woman smiling proudly with a small child in her arms seemed to bring an instant homely feel to the room. As if it where the very heartbeat of the house.

Leon's gaze was sad and steady, his eyes reflecting the flickering glow of the fire as he looked at the picture of Rinoa and Sora. He had been a year old when the photo had been taken, and the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree could be seen in the background. They had shared their first Christmas in the house they had bought together and had dreamed of living a life in. Never making room in their fantasies for the possibility of a premature death. A year later, with Sora two and Rinoa's health failing, she died on Christmas Eve, leaving behind a man who would never quite be able to get over the pain of losing a future that had seemed so perfect.

"I know it seems like leaving that house feels like you're leaving her behind," Cloud began quietly, pulling Leon from his bittersweet memories. "But you're not." There were many things that Leon was: quiet, introspective, sometimes so closed off it drove Cloud to paranoia, but Leon had never been disloyal. He carried Rinoa with him constantly. And although he had found it beyond painful to celebrate a time of year that would always be painful for him, he'd wanted to give Sora a Christmas; he had put aside the loss and had given his son the childhood that he had never had. Sometimes, Cloud worried he'd put it aside a little too well.

"He doesn't remember her," Cloud said gently, because that fact hurt Leon the most. "All he remembers is you, and so long as he's got you it doesn't matter where we live."

The move had been necessary, Cloud had been certain. He had no qualms about living in a house full of ghosts and memories, but even Cloud had seen how much they had been holding Leon back. Five years was too long to spend stuck in the past.

"Then why does it feel like I'm betraying her?" Leon had never asked such a personal question before; had never revealed so much insecurity in so few words. Cloud couldn't deny they stung just a little. After all the years they'd been together, it was leaving that house that put the distance between them. It was a symbol for both of them, for so many different reasons.

Cloud wasn't prepared for the question so he let the silence hang, and in that silence he felt like maybe Leon would interpret it the one way Cloud didn't want him to. Like an agreement. So instead Cloud reached out and captured Leon's cheek, cupping it gently with his fingers and distracted him with a kiss. Slow and meaningful, deliberate and profound. And when he pulled away Leon was watching him with a quiet, expectant gaze.

"You think too much." Cloud told him with a crooked smile, bringing their foreheads together in gentle affection.

Leon let go of a soft breath of mirth and closed his eyes, enjoying the simple comfort of the man who knew enough to understand him.

"You've got no idea." He murmured with a coy smile.