Disclaimer: I don't own Freezing.

Author's Note: Last update of 2011! This marks my first year as a Fanfiction writer (it makes me proud just by saying that). Huge thanks to all my readers and reviewers!

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Chapter 10

Chiffon stood in front of the window, absent-mindedly looking at the falling snow outside. She had to suppress a shiver; the girl despised everything involved with the cold, and snow, as breathtaking and romantic as it is, was no exception. Even moving around was hard in this kind of weather, thanks to the huge jackets she was currently wearing.

"Just thinking about carnivals and NOVA fighting in times like this makes me sick." Chiffon grudgingly thought.

So absorbed in finding more and more reasons to hate the cold, she never noticed a hand crawling up her shoulder. Or maybe it was just because of many layers of clothes she had on.

"Boo."

Her heart nearly sprang outside. But before her mind got to go blank and her knees got to collapse, Satellizer's ringing laughter held her in consciousness.

"Oh Chiffon. Why do you never learn?" The blonde asked, wiping her tears of mirth. However she had reacted, it must have been hilarious.

"Isn't that my line?" Chiffon said dangerously, charging towards her friend. Or in this case, her arch foe.

"Do you really think that you can catch me in that attire?" Satellizer yelled back as she circled the room with max speed with the enraged friend hot on her heels.

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Kazuya was about to knock on Chiffon's door when he heard screeching and yelling and cursing and other things best left unsaid. One would say that he would open the door immediately to see if she was in any trouble, but he'd come to know his Pandora and her antics for a little too long for that.

So he opted for knocking politely on the door. Sure enough, every abnormal sound in the room ceased; and a second later Chiffon opened the door, as composed as ever. But she brightened up right away when she saw him outside.

"Hi Kazuya! How are you? Come on in!" She took his arm and pulled him inside.

"Chiffon-senpai, I was just… Oh, hello Satellizer-senpai. I didn't expect to see you here." He lied. He knew full well Chiffon wasn't the only one making those horrid sounds earlier.

"Hi." The blonde replied politely, all the while praying the boy wouldn't see anything abnormal on her.

"Uhm… Chiffon-senpai, Sister Margaret wants to see you." Kazuya suddenly remembered why he got here.

"She does? It must be about planning a new event for this year's Christmas." She beamed happily. If there were anything to look forward in the frigid winter, it would be Christmas. "I'd better be going then. Have fun!" Then skip away she did.

Kazuya was left alone with Satellizer in an awkward silence.

"Uhm…" He cleared his throat. "Senpai, you've got something on your…" He made a helpless gesture to illustrate the unsaid "everything" word, and then ran away for fear of his life.

Somewhere in Vietnam a diligently working Fanfiction writer could hear a girl scream.

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"Good morning Sister Margaret! Did you call for me?" Chiffon greeted delightfully. But her joy gradually waned when she saw the woman's expression stay serious.

"A good morning to you too, Chiffon-san." Despite her posture, the principal's voice was pleasant. "Please take a seat." The Pandora sat down, feeling a little nervous.

"What I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential, and in case you refuse, I'm asking you not to tell this to anyone else." Chiffon gulped. Thiscan'tbegood,she thought. The girl stayed silent though, waiting for the older woman to continue.

"A letter was sent to our school yesterday, and it contains something I can't just slip." Her curiosity perked up at this. "Here it is."

She eagerly took the letter. It was written in neat handwriting of a man, she could tell just by glancing at it. Going through the letter quickly, she looked up completely dumbfounded.

"What does he mean… There's a NOVA core hidden somewhere in Japan?"

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For the second time of the day Chiffon stood in front of the window; but this time by no way absent-minded. She was too busy thinking about the letter that she had read.

"Okay then, let's sum it up rationally." She thought, "The credibility of this issue is yet to be proven, so Sister Margaret wants it kept a secret, and at the same time plans to send scouts to take care of it." She started pacing around the room. "By some standards she thinks I'm the most suitable for this assignment."

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Flashback

"What I want you to do is go to the mentioned town and investigate this problem." After a few minutes of discussion, Sister Margaret concluded Chiffon's assignments. "You will be departing in three days."

After she finished the sentence, the Principal noticed something strange in the girl's silence. Glancing at her, she almost laughed at Chiffon's crestfallen face. Her bottom lip trembled as she spoke.

"Three days later…? So I won't be here for Christmas…?"

She looked about to burst into tears any time now.

"There, there. I promise I'll send you lots and lots of presents. And if there are any gifts sent to your room I'll forward to you too." Hardly ever did the mature Principal use this tone to anyone, but her Student Council President was an adorable exception (favorism much, but since no-one knew about it nothing was wrong).

Just as she expected, the 17-year-old baby immediately brightened up, the ever-visible smile back on her face.

"Hai!"

"Good girl." Sister Margaret wanted nothing more than patting her head right now, but she refrained from doing such a frivolous action.

"Oh, I want to ask something." Chiffon suddenly jumped, her hand shot upwards as if she were in class. "Must I go alone? I don't want to spend this Christmas by myself, especially in a middle of nowhere." She pouted at the end of her question.

"Of course you can ask your Limiter to accompany you on this trip." The woman concurred. "And another Pandora too, as long as she keeps quiet about this."

Had the room been not a little dark then, she would have noticed the striking blush on Chiffon's face.

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"I'd love to join you on this Chiffon-senpai." Pausing a little, he added indignantly. "But… why on Earth did you try to put me in the closet?"

He was already a little wary when she dragged him all the way back to her room, and when she tried to stuff him into her closet, he was all but terrified and vehemently resisted, all the while tried to reason with her. At the end, she seemed to have thought it through and told him the story on the recliner.

"Because it's a secret! No one is supposed to know about it but us!" She replied.

The door suddenly opened, revealing Satellizer standing outside. Chiffon could hear Kazuya cursing under his breath. She didn't need to wonder though, because as soon as the blonde saw the raven-haired boy sitting there, she pointed a finger at him and shouted.

"Now I got you! Don't you dare run!" With that she charged.

Having nowhere to escape to, Kazuya decided to hide behind Chiffon's small frame when she, surprisingly, stood up to defend Kazuya.

"Satella! What're you trying to do with my Kazuya?" The smaller girl said protectively.

"He had insulted me and damaged my pride!" Satellizer retorted. It's Chiffon's turn to look at Kazuya in confusion.

"I did no such thing! All I did was tell her she had something on her! How am I supposed to know it was pinch marks?"

"Pinch marks?" This confused Chiffon even more. Then she realized. "Oh."

"I didn't say they were pinch marks." Satellizer said. Realizing his mistake, Kazuya quickly shut up. But it was too late.

"So you DO know!" The blonde shouted. "I'll kill you for this!" She lounged herself at the boy. Driven in a corner Kazuya had no choice but to spring forward to block the enraged Pandora's attack.

"Please…" Before the two forces could clash, a teary voice sounded up, stopping both in their tracks. They looked to their side hesitantly to find Chiffon sobbing softly into the pillow she was holding. "Don't fight…"

Every intention to fight in Satellizer dissipated at once, and Kazuya lowered his guard. The two quickly went by the crying girl's sides, doing their best to comfort her.

A few minutes later, Chiffon had stopped crying and was currently scolding the guilty ones sitting in front of her ("Violence between friends is simply unacceptable! You guys are both my friends, so you're friends too!"). Sighing in defeat, Kazuya glanced beside him to find Satellizer also looking at him. And for the first time, their meeting eyes contained understanding and sympathy for each other's cruel fate.

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At the end of the day (or the end of Chiffon's lecture, all alike), Satellizer and Kazuya excused themselves and went back to their respective rooms. Unfortunately for both, they had to take the same route for pretty much all the way back, so needless to say the awkward silence reigned over. Eventually, as Kazuya took the parting way, he gathered enough courage to say something.

"Good night Satellizer-senpai." To his surprise, he heard her reply.

"Yeah, see you later."

Well, things between them were finally on the look-up.

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Meanwhile, Chiffon was smiling contently in her sleep.

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Later days, and I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

NCT