Usako_mamoru 3rd anniversary challenge 2009
Day 10: Christmas Trees
By Natsudori Lina
Christmastime had always been bittersweet for Mamoru. He didn't have a family to share the occasion with. He had never, to his recollection, woken up and gone running into his parents' bedroom to jump on their bed and excitedly proclaim that Santa had been there. There had never been a pile of Christmas presents for him under the tree.
He was there instead.
Mamoru's favorite Christmas trees had always been the pines. He'd loved to lie beneath them, resting his head on the bare tree skirt and looking up into the dark green needles. The scent of evergreen tickled his nostrils, the needles rustled against each other, whisper-quiet, and Mamoru closed his eyes and listened to them speak to him. The needles sounded like wind chimes in his mind: they tinkled gently and teased him. They giggled, but were simultaneously soothing. You're not alone, they seemed to say as the pine needles fell down on him in a soft evergreen rain.
"Mamo-chan?"
Mamoru's eyes snapped open from where he'd been laying beneath this year's tree. Usagi had insisted that his apartment looked too bare during the holiday seasons, and while he absolutely would not allow her to festoon his living room with statues of jolly old Saint Nick, he had conceded to a Christmas tree (…and one sprig of mistletoe).
Usagi walked into Mamoru's apartment. She was dressed warmly in a red sweater and jeans, a black coat thrown on over it. The spare key that she had only recently been gifted with was still clutched in her hand. In her other hand she held a sack filled with brightly-colored packages. She tilted her head curiously.
"Mamo-chan? What are you doing down there?"
Mamoru blinked at her from where he still lay, his arms a pillow beneath his head. "Um. Listening?"
Usagi set the sack aside. "I'll have to put the presents under there later." She kicked off her shoes and plopped to the floor, scooting forward until she reached the tree. She stopped and peered under the branches at Mamoru, who only stared back at her. She wiggled her way under the tree and laid her head on Mamoru's chest.
"Ah—Usako?" His arms encircled her automatically. He looked down at the blonde head resting quite comfortably on him. "What—
She swatted his stomach absentmindedly. "Hush, Mamo-chan," she said, eyes closed. Her head rose and fell with each one of his breaths. "I'm listening too."