Ran awakened to the smell of burning wood and the murmur of voices nearby. She turned on her side and weakly opened her eyes to the cozy interior of the cabin. It took her a second to realize where she was since she was still feeling a bit lightheaded. She tried to sit up, but the movement made her feel even dizzier so she laid back down and rubbed her forehead.
How?! How did I make it back here? she wondered. She checked herself over and other than a few bruises and a bandaged leg, she appeared to be just fine.
"Ran!" a voice shouted from across the room. She turned Shinichi running towards her and an instant later he fell to his knees at her side and wrapped his arms around her. Her body stiffened in his arms; she could remember him ever hugging her, especially not this close. Whenever she attempted to give him a hug, he would shy away or try to weasel out of her grip. She melted into his embrace then slowly hugged him back. Then just as quickly as he held her, he pulled back and firmly placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Ran, what happened out there? I thought you knew to watch for thin ice! You're always daydreaming! Do you have any idea how scared I was when I found you out there?! I was afraid you…" Shinichi pushed the thought away and continued looking Ran straight in the eye. "You need to be more careful from now on. I might not always be around to watch out for you."
When they got into arguments like this, Ran always stood her ground and could match Shinichi in a shouting match any day, but this time she was too ashamed of her own negligence to yell back. If it hadn't been for Shinichi should would have died out there. He had every right to be upset with her.
The two were silent for a moment, burrowing into each other's eyes and giving time for Shinichi's harsh words to sink in. Ran looked down at her lap, trying to hide her shame sham. She has always been able to take care of herself in the past, always priding herself in her strength and tenacity, so sure of herself and her abilities. But this time, her overconfidence and carelessness nearly got her killed.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled flatly. "I wasn't watching where I was going and slipped on a patch of thin ice. I managed to pull myself out of the water, but I was so weak afterwards, I didn't even have the strength to make it up to the cabin," he voice cracked and she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. "I collapsed on the ground and tried getting up again and again and again, but I just couldn't… I thought I was going to die out there and all I could think of is how I could never see my dad or mom or Sonoko or you ever again...and all because of one careless mistake. I'm so sorry…" she sobbed, as tears began rolling down her cheeks.
This caught Shinichi by surprise and he removed his hands from her shoulders as if they were burning coals and turned his eyes away from her face, "Aw, Ran, don't start crying…" he muttered. "You know I hate it when you cry."
Ran cheeks flushed and she quickly rubbed the tear from her eyes, "Yeah, well it's your fault you jerk!" she fired back.
Shinichi chuckled, "Now that's more like it! C'mon, let's get you something to eat before you get even crankier," he joked, then got up and extended a hand to help her off the couch. She grasped it tightly, but instead of getting up, she pulled him on the couch with her and smothered him in the blankets before getting up and making her way to the kitchen.
"You're so childish," Shinichi chided as he pulled the blankets off of him and Ran stuck out her tongue in response.
"So how long was I asleep for anyway?" she asked as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.
"It's been 3 days," Shinichi said flatly.
"WHAT?!" Ran shouted, almost dropping the cereal box.
"Just kidding!" Shinichi grinned. "It's only been about 6 hours. Dr. Agasa fell asleep already, but he assured me you'd be up in a few hours. He said other than a few bruises and a gash on your right lower leg, you'd be ok, but we're going to take you to a doctor in town tomorrow, just to be sure."
"But I feel fine, really! I'd rather stay her with you two. I'm not ready to go back. I don't want to spend Christmas alone again," she trailed off.
Shinichi sighed, he could never win with her, "Well I guess if Dr. Agasa says you're ok, we don't have to go back, but we should still call your parents to let them know what's going on."
Ran nodded in agreement, hoping her folks wouldn't be too angry with her.
The cabin had grown quiet again with only the sound of Ran's chewing as she munched her cereal and the howling wind outside echoing through the cabin.
"So…" Ran began, as she played with the last few pieces of cereal in her bowl. "How did you know I needed help? Don't tell me you're psychic now," she joked.
"I was watching you," the boy simply stated. Ran paused for a moment, trying to figure out if he was serious, then burst into a giggle fit, but Shinichi didn't join in.
"Yeah, right. Even if you wanted to, there's no way you could see the pond from the cabin, there's a bunch of trees in the way."
"Just follow me," Shinichi sighed, then grabbed her wrist and then her out to the back porch. The wind was still blowing fiercely and it felt even colder now than it had been earlier that day. The two preteens huddled close together as Shinchi lead her to the end of the porch and down the narrow steps.
The young detective stopped at the bottom step then let go of Ran's hand and pointed to a clearing just beyond the woods, "You see that?" he asked.
Ran squinted towards the clearing, trying to figure out what Shinichi was pointing to. It took a moment of Ran's eyes to adjust to the darkness, but she soon spotted a dark pool standing against the pure white snow that reflected in the moonlight.
"Is that…the pond?" she asked, turning towards Shinichi.
He nodded, "From here I had a perfect view of you and the pond. I rushed down as soon as I saw you fall in and ran as fast as I could, but the pond was nearly 2 kilometers away. I was afraid by the time I could there it would be too late. I'm just glad you managed to get yourself out of there," he murmured. They continued staring at the black pond that nearly ended Ran's life or changed Shinichi's forever, then Shinichi took her hand once more and gently lead her back up the steps and into the cabin.
Ran rubbed to arms for warmth, then stared at Shinichi trying to think of what to say next. Should she thank him? It seemed redundant at this point and even if she did, what could she say that could even come close to expressing how grateful she was to him for all he had done. Plus paying him any kind of compliment always made her feel uncomfortable. She seemed to spend most of their time bickering, so going out of their way to say something nice to each other just felt…weird.
Ran put her dirty bowl in the sink then turned back towards Shinichi, "Sooo…were you out there the whole time?" Shinichi nodded.
"It must have been freezing out there."
"I had my jacket."
"Well why didn't you just come out and join me then?" she wondered.
"I told you before, I don't really like to skate. Besides…it's fun to watch you when you think no one's looking," he teased then began to spin around the wood floor in his socks in an attempt to imitate Ran's skating. She stared at him in bewilderment, he was spinning around the room as if they hadn't been talking about a life or death situation just moments before. After his third pirouette, she's finally had enough and flung a spoon at him, but he easily dodged it and took a bow.
"You know…you're a lot girlier when you're by yourself," he smirked, but she couldn't tell if he meant that as a compliment or insult.
"Oh yeah?" Ran countered, a mischievous smile crossing her face, "Well let's see if I hit like one too!" And with that, Shinichi grinned and took off running and Ran chased after him, playing there little game of cat and mouse well into the night.
The next morning, Dr. Agasa was relieved to find Ran unscathed after her brush with death and after much convincing from Shinichi and Ran, he finally decided she would be fit to stay another few days in the cabin. However, he did insist that they still call Ran's parents to let them know what's going on.
With all the excitement of yesterday, the 3 of them decided to take a break from the slopes today so the kids spent the day building snow forts and hurling snowballs towards each other while Dr. Agasa relaxed inside, perusing over his research journals and sipping hot cocoa. It was a close battle, but Ran won out in the end by capturing Shinichi's fort, so his penalty was to help build a snowman with her. The snowman stood over 5 feet tall, towering over both of them (Dr. Agasa helped them out with the top part) and had 2 grapes for eyes, a carrot for a nose, a banana for a mouth, and wore one of Ran's scarves around his neck. Ran thought he looked lonely, but since they didn't have time to build another snowman (or snowwoman) they decided to make him a little dog instead.
They had just finished when the sun was setting over the horizon and Dr. Agasa ushered them inside for dinner. They feasted on beef stew, which was really hit the spot after their day out in the cold. They spent the evening watching an old detective film called Keizoku, a favorite of Shinichi's, and even a few episodes of Kamen Yaiba, which Shinichi still enjoyed way more than he cared to admit. They had just reached the climax when they were interrupted by a knock at the door. The 3 of them gave each other a puzzled look, wondering if that was really a knock they heard or the sound of something tapping against the door. Moments later, the knocking came again, even louder this time. Who on earth would be visit this late? It was after 9:00pm and the nearest cabins all appeared to be empty.
Dr. Agasa muted the tv and got up from his chair, "Stay here children," he advised, then slowly approached the door. Shinichi stood up from the couch as well, positioning himself in front of Ran to shield her from any unwelcomed intruder, if need be. Dr. Agasa undid the latch and cautiously opened the door to see who these late night visitors were.
"Surprise!" two voices shouted in unison. Shinichi recognized those voices anywhere. He made his way closer to the door where he spotted his parents dressed up with their arms full of shopping bags of food.
"We came back a couple days early to surprise you, but when we didn't see you at the house, we called the Mouri's to see if you were over at their places and they told us you all were spending the week up here. Mind if we join in in? We brought food!" he mother exclaimed, holding up the bags of groceries. "In fact, I'd say we've even brought enough to last through Christmas," she said with a smile on her fact. Without missing a beat, his father held up a large turkey along with 3 other bags of groceries they'd picked up at the store earlier.
"No thanks," Shinichi muttered coolly, then headed back towards the couch.
"Awww…how could you be so cold to your own parents," Yukiko cried in mock hurt. "Come on, let us join in the fun! We even brought guests," she said, stepping aside to reveal Kogoro and Eri who were looking displeased about how long this conversation was carrying on. Shinichi didn't miss the six pack of beer Kogoro was hiding behind one of the bags. That old man never misses an opportunity… Shinichi thought to himself.
"Mom! Dad!" Ran shouted, running outside and wrapping her arms around both of them. "I'm so happy you're here!"
"Of course, sweetheart. We wouldn't miss Christmas," Eri reassured as she held her daughter. "After Dr. Agasa told your father and I about what happened at the pond, we decided to it time to have some real family time together. I know you were disappointed in last year's Christmas, but this year's is going to be different. No phones and no laptops for the next two days. I already told my firm not to bother calling until after Christmas. We're going to have a proper Christmas this year, all 7 of us, just like it used to be," she assured her daughter and pulled her into another hug. "Now, let's get inside before we all freeze out here!"
The next day Shinichi, Ran, and Dr. Agasa decorated the cabin while their parents worked in the kitchen, preparing Christmas Eve dinner. In addition to the groceries, their parents bought gifts, Christmas decorations, and even a small tree for the living room, everything they would need for a proper Christmas. That evening they feasted on turkey, potatoes, rice, beans, yams, shrimp, ramen, and even cake for dessert. It was the most delicious meal they'd had in ages! They spent the night huddled on the couch, watching dubbed American Christmas movies. Shinichi and Kogoro rolled their eyes and grumbled at some of the sappy parts, which earned them an elbow to ribs from Ran and Eri. The last thing Ran could remember was dozing off to It's a Wonderful Life right up against Shinichi.
The following morning, the kids roused their parents at the first sign of daybreak and dragged them out to the living room so they could open their gifts. They hadn't felt this excited in years. Having both their families together again out in this cabin, isolated from the rest of the world, just felt magical.
They all took turns opening gifts, each having about 5 or 6 to their name. Even Dr. Agasa was included in on the celebration, receiving some new, state-of-the-art lab materials the Kudos had brought back from America, as well as couple novels from his favorite romance author and a bag full of his favorite snacks from Ran's parents. Kogoro even surprised Eri with a gift this year- a sterling silver heart necklace along with a box of her favorite chocolates. She gave him a small smile then kissed him on the cheek.
Ran's favorite gift was a snow globe Shinichi's parents had gotten in New York City, featuring all the major landmarks of the city. It was so beautiful…she hoped she'd be able to visit there some day. Shinichi's favorite was another present from Dr. Agasa. This year he received a baseball cap with a small video camera built in the center. It could only fit about 30 minutes of footage, but Shinichi was certain it would come in handy on multiple occasions. A mischievous smile crossed the boy's face as he thought about all the different uses he could have for his new toy.
Despite the circumstances of their reunion, Ran felt immense joy seeing everyone together again, looking happier than they'd been in ages. This truly was one of her best Christmases ever.
A/N: So yeah…took me a bit longer than I thought, but it's also quite a bit longer than I thought it would be so yay! Sorry if the ending feels a bit abrupt. I started losing interest in the story towards the end, but wanted to give it with all of them spending Christmas together since that was a big deal for Ran throughout the story. It just wouldn't feel complete without it. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Please leave a review with your thoughts on the story- I'd love to hear from you! :)
