I wanna thank all the reviewers and people who helped me with my story! Especially shortnsweet615, because she's always been helping me and motivating me to write this story. Thanks to you to, Twilight Smash and xxheartBreAkiNgxx and shortnsweet615 once more as well for being the first to review and to keep continuing to review.

Also you other reviewers too! Thanks for taking the time to read the story and review!

And vote on my poll! Maybe even read Denying Buried Feelings if you're a contestshipper/ikarishipping or support just one of them, because you can always skip over the ikari/contest parts. They'll interact, but later.


Marina's POV

I got up early for a change. I was surprised at myself for waking up this early, since when I looked over at the clock it was 4:50 a.m. I sat up in bed and stretched, yawning. Looking out the window, I saw frost covering it and realized it was the first day of the Mid-Winter Break, or December 16th.

"Hey, Marina, how cold is it?" I heard Dawn call. Looking over, I saw her at my door.

"Not that cold, exactly," I answered.

"Okay," Dawn nodded. "I was wondering how you felt since it's snowing outside and I'm not cold, so…"

"Hey, what are you doing up this early?" I called to her as she almost left the doorway.

"I could ask you the same question," she replied, "but I couldn't sleep. And it's tradition."

"I just woke up, actually," I grinned. "Wanna go downstairs and do something?" Dawn shrugged, a gentle smile on her face.

"Why not? I'm bored anyways, and it is what we usually do."

"Yeah! How about the Game of Life or something?" I suggested cheerfully.

"Sure! How about the rest of us can play too?" Misty pouted, her tall and thin figure coming out from behind Dawn's tall and slender frame.

"Everyone else is up?" I said in confusion. I had forgotten about that tradition.

"Well, duh!" Lyra exclaimed. "It's the first day of Mid-Winter Break, or, even better, Christmas Break!"

"It's tradition!" Leaf added. "Remember?" I smiled sheepishly.

"How about May?" I asked hopefully. "Is she here?"

"What about me?" May asked, coming out of her room, rubbing her eyes.

"How about a game?" Dawn asked cheerfully. "C'mon; we haven't played a game since Vera Town!"

"I guess…" May looked uneasy. "Well, why not?"

"Seriously, c'mon. Let's go!" I said excitedly, bounding downstairs into the living room, which was one of my most favorite places in the large house.

The walls and floor was mahogany that was usually cold to my bare feet. Three couches, two couch chairs, and two ottomans were in the living room as well, and their covering was a light, sandy shade of brown. On the ground was a wheat-colored soft, fluffy, large rug that we sat on. There was a T.V. in there as well along with a crackling fire in the white stone hearth. Misty and Leaf set up the board while May and Lyra got some food that we could snack on.

"Like, morning!" we heard Lily call. We looked up the stairs to see all three sisters walking down and they entered the living room as well.

"Do you, like, mind if we, like, decide to watch some T.V.?" Daisy asked.

"Go ahead," Misty said, after looking at us to confirm her answer. Daisy, Lily, and Violet sat on the couch facing the screen as we sat a little off to the side. They did it to a movie that we all recognized. It was a romance flick so we ignored it as we played.

"I choose 1," I said automatically, taking the blue car. We all had our 'assigned' cars but that never stopped us from teasing each other.

"3," Leaf said, grabbing the green car, even though she had teased Dawn by nearly taking the purple one.

"4," Dawn exclaimed, reaching for the purple car, which Misty handed over.

"8," May immediately interjected when Dawn had received the car. May grasped the red car and drew back to her original position.

"10!" Lyra called, and took the white car. Misty took the yellow car.

"That leaves me with 2," Misty laughed. "Spin the wheel, Marina." I nodded and spun it. The needle pointed at 3.

"Oh yeah! I get to go first!" Leaf cheered. She spun the dial.

"Hey, who's the banker?" Lyra asked. We all turned to May, who looked back at eyes with too-wide eyes.

"Who? Me?" May asked innocently. She was always the banker and it was fun to play words with her this way.

"Yep!" we chorused. She laughed and took the position. Dawn took the cards to her side and I had the stack of LIFE cards beside me.

"I got five spaces," Leaf reported. "That's what I got last time."

"Go on, then," Dawn laughed; she knew what it was.

"What!" Leaf cried. Misty leaned over to look at it and grinned.

"Go to Sonne for vacation. Pay 25,000," Misty read aloud, laughing.

"Like, Leaf, that's such an awesome place to go," Violet said from the couch, not looking away from the movie.

"What a waste of money," Leaf grumbled, throwing the money to May, who wagged her finger at Leaf.

"Temper, temper," she scolded teasingly, making us all laugh.

"Me have a temper?" Leaf exclaimed. "Well, excuse me, Ms. Red, you're the one who blows up even at the mention of Drew!" May's eyes narrowed playfully.

"At least I don't like an egotistic idiot!" she teased back.

"What? I don't like Gary!" Leaf protested.

"Who said I meant Gary?" May teased. "But yes, he is an egotistic idiot."

"Oh…well, at least I don't like an arrogant jerk," Leaf shot back.

"Guys…" Misty tried to stop the 'argument'.

"Hey, you're the one who likes a dense idiot, so stay out of this," Leaf said to her best friend, irritated.

"What? Ash?" Misty asked. "Yeah…I sort of like him."

"He's the only dense idiot I know of," Dawn laughed.

"That's true," Misty admitted, laughing as well.

"Who do you like, Lyra?" Dawn asked.

"No one at all!" Lyra said cheerfully and truthfully.

"I could buy that. Good friends with Khoury though, right?" Leaf asked.

"That's right," Lyra said, nodding her head, a grin on her face.

"How about you, Marina?" Lyra asked me. I jerked back.

"Hm? Oh…no one really," I said quietly, hoping a blush wasn't on my face.

"I bet you it's Jimmy!" Lyra sang out. I smiled softly, but thankfully no one saw.

"Isn't it weird that we seem to like the Lions?" Leaf asked.

"I don't!" Dawn said quickly; too quickly. I grinned at her.

"Right," Misty raised her eyebrow skeptically. "You don't."

"Seriously!" Dawn insisted, averting her eyes and making her hair fall in front of her face to cover it. May laughed and gently pushed the hair out of Dawn's eyes. A faint pink blush was covering her cheeks.

"Right," I teased, glad the attention was off of me.

"What? Why would I like that cold, emotionless jerk?" she shrieked. Geez. If Dawn was calling someone a jerk, then that person was really a jerk; at least to her.


Paul's POV (here ya go, xxheartBreAkiNgxx)

"Has it ever occurred to you that you two might get annoying?" I snapped at Gary and Ash, who were talking ad arguing incessantly like bees.

"Has it ever occurred to you that you might like a girl completely different than you?" Drew asked.

"Now that was irrelevant," Gary remarked.

"Totally," Ash agreed.

"It seemed a good time to ask," Drew shrugged.

"No," I answered bluntly. I had a feeling that Drew was talking about Dawn, though. What's there to like about her anyways?

All she is, is an annoying, too-cheerful girl who has a bouncy spring in her step (that makes me cringe just thinking this) and nothing else! She's loud, annoying, troublesome, cute, infuriating…wait, did I just say cute? Argh! Forget I said anything!

I regained my composure on time and glared at them.

"Are you sure? You seem to be bothered by something," Drew persisted.

"You," I grumbled, turning away. We were in Drew's house currently and in his room. I was looking out the window at the snow.

"Hm. Well, I've thought about it for a while," Drew said.

"How many times?" Ash asked.

"Under ten," Drew said.

I relaxed.

"Thousand," he finished. I stiffened once more.

"Stalker much?" Gary asked.

"Of course not. Anyways, I'm sure it's all established that Jimmy likes Marina, you like Leaf (to Gary), Ash likes Misty, and Paul likes Dawn. Khoury may like Lyra but it's mostly a friend thing for now."

"It's established that you like that bandana-girl," I growled.

"Sure, whatever," Drew sighed.

"Hm…I wonder if the girls like us back?" Ash wondered.


"Thanks for playing with us May!" Dawn said cheerfully, cleaning up the board. Misty had won with Marina close behind, Leaf and May failing miserably and Lyra and Dawn in the middle.

"Don't be so formal," May laughed. "I'm not a waitress at a restaurant."

"Right!" Dawn said cheerfully. "What do you want to do now? It's hardly nine o'clock yet."

"I know!" Lyra decided. "It's thick, fresh snow in the backyard!"

"Surprisingly," Daisy called from the kitchen. "This is the city, so it's been a while since then. Enjoy yourself while you can.:"

"Oh, we will!" Lyra said cheerfully. They grabbed their coats and scarves and ran outside.

"Wow, this is amazing," Leaf exclaimed, breathing in the cold, crisp air.

"I love this! But remember in Vera Town?" Marina asked wistfully. "There was the sharp scent of pine trees as well…"

"Oh yeah, that was great," Dawn sighed.

"Hey, girls!" Ash yelled.

"What are you doing here?" Misty demanded, annoyed.

"Your sisters let us in," Gary replied, packing the snow into a ball and throwing it artfully at Leaf, who caught it perfectly and launched it back.

"Snowball fight?" Lyra suggested.

"You're on!" Jimmy told Marina, who giggled.

"Boys against the girls!" May exclaimed. The boys looked at her, surprised, but a glare from Misty and Dawn warned them not to say a word.

"No problem," Drew smirked. "Boys will so beat you."

"Yeah right!" May challenged.

"Do we have to do this?" Dawn asked, shivering. "I'm cold already." The girls looked at Dawn, shocked. "Please?" she begged. "I mean, can I just go inside?"

"I don't want to play either," Paul interjected. Dawn's eyes brightened.

"Then come inside with me! Have fun, you guys!" Dawn exclaimed, pulling Paul after her, who stumbled and glared at the cheerful blunette. Drew opened his mouth to speak but received a mouthful of snow. He glared at May.

"I see you've gotten your aim back," he smirked.

"Like, duh!" May exclaimed, grabbing another snowball and throwing it at his hair, causing Drew to instantly duck. For payback, he threw one at her, catching her in her exposed neck. She spluttered.

"Ha!" he taunted her. May growled, but then Leaf knocked her over and spun away as both Drew and Gary threw snowballs at them. Misty and Ash had gone out of the line of fire and was watching them with amusement.

"Aren't they just the cutest?" Misty gushed; she was a sucker for romance.

"Sure they are, sort of…" Ash was confused.

"Never mind, Ash," Misty grinned. "So hey, you're going to the field trip, right?"

"Yep, I'm in the same class as Dawn and Paul." Ash suddenly frowned. "Paul and Dawn argue nearly everyday. It's pretty annoying." Misty laughed.

"Same with Gary and Leaf! They argue about the most stupidest things! It usually ends up Gary trying to look as dignified as possible while Leaf kicks him harshly in the knee." Ash laughed as well.

"Hey, when's the sequel to the book you're reading coming out?" Ash asked suddenly. Misty looked puzzled, then realized what she said.

"Oh, that. Um…" Misty thought for a minute. "In February."

"Oh, that long?" Ash said sympathetically. But an excited gleam was in his eyes; luckily for him Misty didn't see it.

Perfect.


"The field trip; I can't wait until the field trip!" Dawn was cheering excitedly the next week.

"I know! I can't wait either. It's next year," Leaf exclaimed. Everyone stared at her. "Hey, it is. It's after New Year's Break." Everyone shrugged.

"That's true," Misty pointed out.

"Terrific!" May cheered. "I hope you guys have fun."

"Yeah, you're with your significant other," Marina teased.

"Did you know you guys are going to be paired up with a boy?" Lyra asked them. They stared at her.

"No way…" Dawn exclaimed.

"Yep, you are," Lyra laughed. "The teacher told us! I went after school to talk to her, and she let me have your three!"

"Who is it? Who is it?" Leaf was jumping up and down, trying to find it.

"Wait." Lyra stopped them. "In each small group, it's either girl, girl, and boy, or boy, boy, and girl."

"Why?" Misty wailed.

"They want to go for variety, apparently," Lyra shrugged. "Anyways, just buck up. I'll tell ya if you guys want."

"Of course!" they exclaimed furiously.

"So, Misty, you get Ash and Melody." Misty cheered.

"Leaf, you get Gary and Giselle…"

"Sweet!"

"And uh…Dawn, you get Barry and Paul." Dawn stared at Lyra. (A/N: Call me whatever you like, but I just thought that since Dawn was the most girl-like it's more funnier this way)

"Oh my god!" Dawn screamed. "Why me? Why do you guys get a girl in your group?!"

"I'm sure you're not the only one…" Leaf attempted.

"Nope…she is the only one."

"Curse it…" Dawn muttered, stomping upstairs.

"Geez…of all the people it had to be Dawn."


So Sudden…

"Christmas is in a few days!" May chirped excitedly. "It's the 23rd today!"

"I can't wait until Christmas," Dawn sighed in contentment.

"Why? Hoping for a gift from a boy?" May teased. Dawn jerked up.

"Of course not," Dawn protested. "I just wish we got to go home."

"Me too…" May agreed.

"I can't wait until it though! Even though I'm going to stay upstairs the whole night," Dawn declared.

"Dawn! Check the mail, will you?" Daisy yelled.

"Sure!" Dawn turned to May. "Come with me?" May nodded.

"Of course."

They walked down to the mailbox and saw gifts.

There was one from Drew to May. It was a ruby rose with a jade stem and jade leaves on a yellow gold bracelet. It was a charm bracelet, actually, with all the same sparkling rubies and shining jade.

There was a gift from Ash to Misty. It was a bound book. The two girls didn't want to ruin the gift so they didn't open it, but they both had a pretty good idea of what it was.

From Gary to Leaf was a white gold necklace with emerald leaves and a diamond soccer ball. It was a thin, fine chain and it had glittering emeralds and a sparkling diamond.

From Khoury to Lyra was a peppermint striped scarf that was made of soft, fine material. It was like creamy silk to the touch and the two friends were sure that Lyra would enjoy it immensely.

From Jimmy to Marina was a stack of celebrity magazines and a pair of silver earrings shaped in hearts. There was a note saying that The hearts aren't romantic, just because I know you like hearts.

And from Paul to Dawn was a rose gold chained necklace with a pendant of a rose gold circle. In the middle, held by four rose gold prongs, was a perfectly round pink sapphire, and it was encrusted with diamonds.

"Let's put them under the tree," Dawn said. "I sort of feel bad for looking at it already."

"Me too," May admitted.

"Well, let's keep it a secret from the others," Dawn suggested. May grinned.

"Right with me!" May replied. Dawn laughed, happy to have her friend back once again.

Now only if she would stay this way.


Hehe…slightly different than what I planned it but I'm too bored to rewrite it. Maybe later, but it's not a really bad chapter. Oh well.

Vote on my poll if you haven't! Oh yeah, and (this is posted on 3/7/10) Love Overcomes Everything is going to win for sure…I think.

Review please!