Thunder: Hello there! Long time no see! I know I haven't updated in a really long while, but I thought this would make a nice little start. Merry Christmas to all of you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.

Snow, Chocolate and Strings

"Mommy, Mommy!" a seven year old Yoh shouted throughout the house, excitement barely contained in his voice.

"What is it dear?" His mother called from the kitchen. Yoh came skidding to a halt next to his mother and brother. Hao stared at him curiously, smudges of chocolate decorating his cheeks but then took advantage of the distraction to lick the chocolate covered spoon in his mother's hand.

"Mommy the birds are losing their feathers really fast!" Yoh exclaimed, taking notice of Hao's attempt and giving him a shocked look, only to receive pleading eyes from the other.

"What exactly do you mean, sweetie?" Keiko asked her youngest son, smiling gently. Hao kept changing his gaze from the huge bowl of chocolate to his mother.

"Mommy, it's raining feathers outside!" Yoh exclaimed and pointed towards the window, quickly mouthing "Hurry up!" towards Hao and jerking his head towards the door. His mother had turned her head towards the scene outside and Hao used the moment to snatch the bowl and swiftly run outside the kitchen, stopping shortly to give his brother a grin and thumbs up then vanished from view. The sound of chuckles brought Yoh's attention back to his mother.

"Sweetie those aren't feathers, they're snowflakes!" She said, smiling brightly. "Why don't you go wear a jacket and play outside for a bit?" She suggested and Yoh beamed happily and pretended to run towards his room. His mother smiled and turned to where Hao would have been standing, he's been quiet for a while now.

"Okay, Hao, do you still want to help me bake this cake or…" She trailed off as she realized that her son wasn't in the room to begin with. She stared at his spot for a bit then shrugged it off, turning to the counter and reaching out towards the big wooden spoon…only to find it gone. What the… The bowl was gone too! No…they didn't,…did they? She stood there staring blankly at the now empty counter for a few moments then shook her head with a tired sigh. Who said that raising twin boys would be easy?

OOOO

Yoh climbed the ladder to their makeshift tree house that his father had helped them build. He poked his head inside to find Hao putting his red jacket on. Once he saw Yoh climbing in, he handed him his orange one.

"Mission accomplished!" Yoh said as he gave Hao a high-five.

"We're getting better at this." Hao commented with a chuckle as they both sat down on the rug.

Their tree house was still new but they had already made it their own little hideout, it had a roof to protect them from rain or, in this case, snow and had a window. A couple of drawings were taped to the wooden walls and a rug with cute, big eyed baby tigers was where they'd usually sit together. On the other corner some of their coloring pencils were scattered around, it was their own private little home.

"So did you get a spoon for me?" Yoh asked as he scooted closer to Hao.

"Nope, sorry. We'll have to share." Hao told him with a sheepish smile. Yoh pretended to pout but a giggle escaped him anyway as Hao held up the chocolate covered spoon and stared at it like it could save his life any day.

"Are you going to admire it all day long or can we start already?" Yoh joked as he reached out for the spoon, taking the first hungry lick. Hao followed suit. They took turns licking; the chocolate had smudging their clothes and faces.

A sudden strong gust of wind shook the tree, causing them to bump into each other, dropping the spoon in the process.

"It's getting cold…" Hao grumbled. "I don't like the cold." Yoh simply giggled at him and shook his head.

"We can make chocolate ice cream just by putting this outside! Would you like that?" Yoh told him as he held up the said spoon. Hao gave him a look. "You know mom wouldn't like that." He told him and Yoh smiled sheepishly.

"No harm trying, right?" He said and approached their window. He was about to stick the spoon outside, where it seemed like it was snowing without end but was interrupted by a well known mew.

Matamune, their pet cat, jumped in through the window, violently shaking the snow off its fur. The twins laughed and Yoh bent down and stretched the chocolate covered spoon towards the cat. Matamune stared at it in bewilderment, sniffed multiple times then finally brought out its tongue for a quick lick. The twins watched in anticipation for the cat's reaction. Unfortunately, it wasn't something remarkable; the cat simply dodged the spoon and poked its head over the bowl curiously, only to be pulled away by Hao and ending up on his lap instead. Yoh took a lick as he walked back towards his brother.

"Kids!" Their mother's voice cut through their little peaceful moment. They both looked at each other with mischief and regret in their eyes. Finally, Yoh decided to poke his head out.

"Yes, mom?" He asked with the sweetest voice he could muster and the cutest innocent look he could come up with. His mother raised her eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, unconvinced. Yoh sweat dropped and smiled sheepishly at his mother. Then Hao came and poked his head over Yoh's.

"Yoh, Hao, sweeties, would you please return the bowl of chocolate now?" Keiko asked her sons who feigned innocence.

"But mommy, what makes you think that we have it?" Yoh asked with a grin on his face. He knew that his mother already knows, but it was always fun to play with words, as Hao would call it. His mother tapped her foot on the snow covered ground and pointed at their faces.

"I think the chocolate gave you away." She said with a satisfied smile. The twins looked at each other's faces and broke into laughter, Matamune joining them with curious mews. Soon they climbed down the tree house and handed their mother the bowl. She took one look at its content and heaved an exasperated sigh, her shoulders slumping in the process.

"Let's just hope there's enough to cover most of the cake…" She said then trailed off, giving both of her children a pat on the head then turned back inside.

"What do we do now?" Yoh asked. Hao didn't even have time to think when his mother cut him off.

"Well, I'd recommend washing your faces for now." She called out before sliding the door shut. Hao poked Yoh's cheek, wiping away some chocolate and liking his finger, then gestured for him to follow. They both went inside, smiling happily, Matamune in tow. They washed their faces then went to their room.

"So…now what?" Yoh asked. Hao walked over to his closet and pulled out his mittens, waving them at Yoh.

"What's the use of snow if we don't make a snowman?" He told his grinning brother. Yoh quickly went and pulled out his own and soon they were outside, kicking snow with their boots, scarves trailing behind them as they ran around the garden. A snowball fight soon ensued and Matamune decided to take refuge in the safety of the tree's high branches, shaking snow off its frozen paws.

The cat was about to close its eyes before it was hit with a cold ball of snow, causing it to fall off the branch with a startled mew. Matamune glared at the grinning twins and shook the snow off its fur, walking away to try and find a new napping place. The twins giggled away and started rolling up the three snow balls that would make their snowman.

It didn't take long, the first two balls were easy to put, but the last one however required more cooperation. Yoh rolled up the snowball and Hao carefully climbed on Yoh's shoulders, balancing almost perfectly from earlier practice, Hao placed the snowman's head, wrapped the scarf around the nonexistent neck, Yoh passed him the tiny little rocks he'd kept in his pocket, forming the eyes, mouth and nose.

Yoh gracefully tipped backwards, throwing Hao in the process and they both landed on the soft, fluffy, cold snow, instantly making snow angels and giggling. Matamune decided that what they're doing is interesting enough to leave its safe hideout and padded over to the two, jumping on Hao's stomach, taking comfort in the relative warmth. Hao sat up, lifting Matamune onto his lap and placing his snow hat on the cat's head. Matamune simply tilted its head, one ear popping out of the hat and let out a curious mew. The two laughed together, even Matamune was enjoying itself.

"Kids, come back inside and help me decorate the Christmas tree!" Their mother called out from the window and the two scrambled inside, shouting what they'd be taking charge of.

"I'll do the lights!" Hao said first, pushing his way past Yoh and into the house, Matamune in tow.

"I want to hang the shiny balls!" Yoh called out and so on until they reached the tree in the main hall. Their mom had placed the decoration boxes in the middle of the room, the tree resting in the corner.

"I'll do the top of the tree and the bottom part will be all yours, okay?" She promised the two with a smile.

"We want to put the star on the top!" they both said simultaneously as they pouted and crossed their arms. Keiko simply chuckled, covering her mouth with the hem of her sweater. "We'll figure out how to do that later." She said more to herself than to her children. Mikihisa was up in the mountains again, too far away to make it in time for Christmas eve, usually they'd each lift one of the twins and they'd put the star on together, but now…

OOOO

An hour passed by, filled with lights and decorations tangling with each other, shiny spheres tumbling down from too much bumping into the tree and small ornaments scattering around. Keiko stepped back and eyed their work; they had finally finished the seemingly impossible job of decorating the Christmas tree.

"Now for the star!" Yoh stated happily and both twins reached up towards their mother. She sighed, contemplating what to do. She had to tell them the facts, last year she was barely able to balance while lifting Yoh so high up, the boys were growing up after all and now she had to lift both of them. She had to find another way. In the meantime, the two simply stared up at their mother, curious as to what she's thinking about.

"Okay, here's what I can do…" She mumbled to herself and walked towards the rarely used 'modern' guest room and came back with two wooden chairs. "Now, you two come and climb on these while I hold them steady…then I'll give you the star and you can both put it on." She instructed them as she set the chairs next to the tree.

Yoh and Hao looked at each other and nodded towards their mother, carefully climbing the chairs. As planned, they took the star from their mother's hand, each of them holding an edge and reached up. Their mother helped by slightly bending the tree's tip closer to the two. Finally, a loud Hurray! Resounded in the room, signaling the mission was accomplished and then the usual high-five followed.

"Now gifts?" Yoh squeaked as he looked at his mother with innocent puppy dog eyes. She responded by giving him a side look, smirking and shaking her head. "Gifts tomorrow morning. Dinner first." She said. "Then cake!" Hao piped up excitedly. "Yes…cake." His mother repeated, giving them both a look that made them grin sheepishly in return.

OOOO

Dinner went by fairly quickly; the cake was a funny surprise though. The twins kept laughing for quite a while at their little deed, or rather, their mother's half-pleased face, it was half covered with frosting and half with fruit to cover for the missing chocolate.

OOOO

"Hao, Yoh, wake up. Don't you want to open the presents?" Keiko popped her head over her sleeping children. It was quite obvious that they had stayed up most of the night waiting for Santa, now they can barely open their eyes.

"Mmh?" Hao mumbled as he sat up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He looked down at Yoh, still cuddled up next to him. They had set up a makeshift bed near the stairs, thinking they might catch Santa while he jumped down the chimney, but no such luck.

"Come on Yoh, rub that sleeping powder out of your eyes, Santa made us fall asleep before he came in." Hao mumbled while shaking Yoh awake, who in turn just stared up at him and attempted to return to sleep. Their mother only chuckled and shook her head.

"Come on you two, Santa brought you both presents." She said nonchalantly but the magic words had already made both boys jolt up and run down the stairs. She barely reached the last step before the sound of present boxes toppling over reached her ears. She hurried to the living room, not wanting to miss her children's expressions.

OOOO

Presents! It was finally time to open the presents! The twins started fishing out the ones that held their names on it, three for each, two for Matamune, one for Keiko and one for their absent father. "Now kids, wait for all of us to come over." Keiko called out, a smile barely contained on her face. Matamune on the other hand came out of one of the halls, stretching lazily as it walked towards the living room, curious to see what the commotion was about. It slowly padded towards the squirming twins, wondering what those shiny boxes were.

The three of them plus Matamune sat around the tree, Yoh had already sorted out the boxes and was now sitting impatiently, waiting for his mother's permission. "Alright, on the count of three." She stated, holding up three fingers. "One…" The two tensed in anticipation. "Two…" They reached out to the first box they'd open. "Three!" And wrapping paper was flying in the air the next second, sounds of ripping filled their ears and she could see Matamune's slightly startled gaze.

"Oh, wow, look! Look, mommy, look!" Yoh and Hao exclaimed simultaneously, each one holding up their first gift that was from Santa.

"Mommy, these are the BEST coloring pencils that have ever been made! Look, look! With these I can make many colorful pictures!" Yoh exclaimed, holding up the huge coloring box that he got.

"Mommy, I got the training flute that I've always wanted! Now I can finally learn how to play!" Hao exclaimed after Yoh, holding up the flute in amazement, he'd been staring at it in awe, mouth gaping for the past five minutes before responding at all. Matamune came closer, curiously sniffing the flute. Hao giggled and pulled out one of the presents that were for Matamune.

"Here you go Matamune! This is from me and Yoh." He told the cat as he slowly unwrapped the gift. Matamune would occasionally try and rip out some of the wrapping but failed and gave up. Hao finally took out the contents of the little box, a smile on his lips as he helped Matamune put on his brand new blue snow boots, a blue scarf and blue ear warmers. The orange cat wriggled its nose and moved around, then gave a happy little mew. Yoh snatched the other box and swiftly opened it, taking out the small ball of colorful yarn and rolling it in front of the cat. Matamune's eyes instantly widened and he pounced after it, becoming oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Merry Christmas!" They both said in unison and handed each other the gift they had bought for one another. Yoh opened his first, pulling out a glass ball. Yoh smiled and shook it gently; orange leaves started swirling around the leafless tree. Autumn, Hao knew it was Yoh's favorite season of the year. Yoh loved colors and autumn was full of them, spring too, now that he thought about it, but Yoh always seemed fascinated by autumn.

Yoh smiled happily and looked up at his brother, watching as he started unwrapping his present. Hao carefully opened the box and found a thick little rectangular piece of wood, attached to it was a weird cylinder with little needles poking out of it from certain points, and right next to the cylinder was a set of tiny metal plates that resembled keys. Hao noticed that there was a little switch at the other corner of the wooden board and switched it on. The cylinder started rolling and the needles would hit the keys, each key making a different sound. Hao looked at it in fascination; it was just like a tiny automatic piano! The melody it played resembled some sort of lullaby. Hao looked up at Yoh and pulled him into a warm hug. Thank you wouldn't be enough to express their happiness, but they said it anyway.

Next they turned to their mom's present; they held it together and gave it to her. "Merry Christmas, mommy!" They said together. Keiko took the neatly wrapped green box and opened it, taking out a little heart shaped necklace; it was small and pretty, a wonderful gesture from her twins. She put it on around her neck and glanced at it, then turned to her children, smiling. "Thank you." She said and gathered them in a hug.

"Now I hope you two like what I got you." She said and handed each of them a tiny box. They took it happily and opened it, each one pulling out a tree ornament. The ornaments were like a legacy in the family, each member had one, even those from earlier generations, and now they had their own ornaments to add to the tree! Yoh's was an orange maple leaf with streaks of green on it, attached to a silver string while Hao's was a bright yellow spiral sun, attached to a golden string. They both hung their ornament on the tree and sat back down, eyeing their special symbol with glee. "Thank you mommy!" They sang in unison. Their little family was happy, carefree and most importantly, they were close to each other, that was all that mattered to them.

A sudden crash startled them out of their little moment and they all walked towards the sound. Matamune's ball of yarn was no longer a ball, strings were crisscrossed all over the floor, tangled between the legs of tables, chairs, one of which was tipped over, and of course, Matamune was in the middle of the tangle, mewing angrily as it tried to free itself uselessly. The three of them laughed. Hao and Yoh soon walked up to the grumpy cat and helped untangle it from the strings, along with everything else.

Thunder: Thank you for reading, and please don't judge the presents they got, if I was the one receiving those, I'd be jumping around in joy.

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