Ardea's POV

Azalea kept giving me weird grins for the whole day. It was Christmas Eve and it was rolling by very quickly. I was already sitting down for lunch. My curiosity about my present from Azalea had been building all day. What was it? Why was I getting it before Christmas? Why did we have to go out somewhere to get it?

The suspense left a fuzzy excited feeling in my stomach. I needed to know more about what was going to happen. What should I wear? I should go ask. After all, she might be taking me to some posh restaurant or something and I didn't want to go in sweats or whatever. But then again I don't want to go to a concert in a nice dress.

"ZAYLIE!" I called at the top of my lungs as I sped upstairs to her room. I couldn't help it I was excited!

Zaylie was just exiting her room as I came up, so I dragged her into mine, the magazine she was reading being flung to the floor.

"Okay, about tonight—"

"No I am not telling you what is going to happen, stop asking!" she protested, flinging herself onto my bed.

"You could at least tell me what to wear!" I cried. "I mean, should I wear jeans and a t-shirt?"

"Nu-uh. You want to dress up a bit but not too much," she replied sitting up, seemingly as excited as I was. She jumped up off the bed and sauntered off into my wardrobe, me bounding in behind her.

"Okay," she began, looking around. "We want to be dressed casual, but nice." She gave me a secretive smile and I wanted to hit her in frustration. So the attire gave away no clues. Damn.

She rooted around in my wardrobe for a little until she came out with a cute little sky blue skirt. It was pleated and came to about mid-thigh on me. I purposefully glanced outside at the snow.

"I know, I know," muttered Azalea, who then moved to a draw and pulled out a very long pair of black socks and flung them at me. I laughed and she poked her tongue out at me.

Next she moved on to look at tops. Scanning through the rails she eventually picked out a white t-shirt, which had sky blue swirl detail on it. Then she moved onto jumpers. I was watching her carefully, not really knowing what else to do, so when the mischievous look crossed her face, I saw it. She stopped looking for jumpers and turned to me.

"Done!" she smiled, smug.

"I am going to freeze. Didn't you notice the ten inches of snow outside?" I asked her, not believing she was dressing me in hardly anything.

"Of course. But trust me, you'll be warm." She smiled at me deviously. My eyes narrowed in suspicion. She was up to something…but what?

Hurry up and come already 7 o'clock!

But no, now the day decided to start dragging by. I can't count how many times I glared at the clock, trying to force time to move faster. Eventually however it was time to get ready. That's when time decided to rush me and me and Azalea where running out of the door to make it in time. The rush of cold air swamped me as I ran outside in my thin t-shirt. Azalea was crazy for making me wear this! We better be inside. Luckily I had decided to wear my black boots, so at least the cold snow wasn't soaking into my socks. Fashionable and practical.

Our plan for the evening was to do some Christmas shopping for half an hour, and then we would go off to do whatever this surprise thing was. I hated leaving any of the shops to go out into the cold with no coat. Azalea had to apologise every single time I glared at her, and promise me that we would be warm soon. Despite being freezing, I did enjoy our shopping. Me and Azalea were so alike in taste that we had a good time ogling over all of the amazing clothes and accessories (and buying most of them).

Eventually we began to make our way to whatever my surprise was. I could now ignore the cold because of the heated excitement building up inside of me. I had been waiting for this for ages!

"Can you tell me where we are going yet?" I asked Azalea, almost hopping down the road. She smiled at me secretively.

"No, wait until you get there," she replied mysteriously to my frustration.

"I hate you sometimes," I told her, but there was no seriousness in my voice, and she laughed. Then we came to a sudden halt and Azalea looked up at me.

"Oh no, I forget to get my present for Tamaki!" she cried. Then she was running off down the street. "Stay there, I will be right back!" she called behind her shoulder.

"Wait! Can't we go together…?" I called after her. She didn't hear me. Then she turned out of sight. Rather than risk getting lost, decided to go into the closest warmest shop, which just so happened to be a cute little café. Perfect.

I sat for about ten minutes before my phone buzzed with a text message:

Sorry I ran off, I am just going to drop some things off at home. Meet me at the old train station at 8pm.

Azalea

X

Oh great. So she was heading off home while I could have been freezing to death. I glanced at the clock on my phone, 7.46pm.

I guess I should start walking if I wanted to make it to the old station in time. Why there? Weird.

When I arrived it had just turned 7.55, so I wandered around for a bit. There was nobody else around and I wasn't particularly surprised. The only thing this station was used for was travelling from one part of town to the other half at the top of the hill.

I stood shivering in the snow, reading one of the old posters advertising a 'new' brand of nappies that had probably been released first when I was born. The old poster was faded and seemed to be rotting away. You'd have thought they would change it.

Something warm was placed across my shoulders and I jumped in surprise. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn't even heard anyone crunch through the snow. My heart was racing. But when I turned around to see who it was I immediately relaxed.

Hikaru.

"You looked cold," he laughed. That's when I realised that the warm thing on my shoulder was his jacket. I blushed and smiled at him gratefully.

"Thanks, I was freezing," I laughed. He gave me a half smile.

"Why are you out here wearing only a t-shirt anyway?" he asked, glancing around the empty street.

"I am waiting for Azalea… she is supposed to be giving me my Christmas present today but she ran off somewhere. Then I got a text telling me to meet her here," I explained.

"And you decided to go out wearing only a skirt and a t-shirt? Are you crazy?" he joked. I glared at him.

"It's not my fault. Azalea picked out my clothes for me and promised me we would be warm," I huffed. Hikaru laughed again.

"Good thing I was here then," he smiled.

"My hero!" I drawled very dramatically and very sarcastically, which got yet another laugh out of Hikaru. Boy he was a happy chappy close to Christmas.

"So Hikaru, why are you here?" I asked, "Not that I wish you weren't," I added as an afterthought.

"Well... uh, I am supposed to be meeting my brother." He suddenly looked at me closely and suspicion crept into his eyes. "Something suspicious is happening here," he muttered.

My phone began to buzz, so I pulled it out of my bag and flipped it open. Azalea was calling me. At last! I answered and put the phone to my ear.

"Sup? Where are you?" I asked her.

"Okay, is it there yet?" she asked. I frowned.

"Is what here, where on earth—" Then I knew what she meant. Hikaru and me stared in wonder as a huge white sleigh rounded the corner. It was pulled by two white horses and driven by a chubby man in a white suit. Weird. My phone had fallen from my ear onto the floor as my mouth gaped. I quickly picked up my phone.

"What on earth is that?" I asked in disbelief.

"Shut up for a sec and put us on speaker phone." I did as she said.

"Waaaait, what do you mean by 'us'? Who else is there?" I asked. Hikaru said nothing but was listening carefully.

"Uhh… hi?" It was Kaoru. Hikaru almost jumped back, startled.

"What is going on?" asked Hikaru, annoyed now. He didn't like to be messed around.

"Well, me and Azalea kind of organised a uh…" Kaoru trailed off.

"A day out!" finished Azalea, who seemed to be bursting with excitement, and unaware of the now thoroughly pissed off Hikaru. I however could see his expression and wasn't saying anything.

"What do you mean by 'day out'. For a start, its no longer day, it is dark, its is snowing and Ardea was freezing until I came along. What the hell are you playing at?" spat Hikaru.

"Hey, relax bro! Just enjoy it okay?" laughed Kaoru. Hikaru gritted his teeth for a moment before sighing and seeming to relax.

"Okay… so I am guessing you want us to get in the sleigh?" I asked.

"Of course! Then it will take you to your special destination!" replied Azalea. She sure was excited about this.

"Then what?" asked Hikaru.

"Don't be such a grump Hikaru!" complained his brother.

"Yeah, just go an enjoy yourselves! Merry Christmas!" cried Azalea, hanging up the phone before me or Hikaru could argue.

My insides felt like jelly. Azalea had set me up on a date with Hikaru. While utterly confused, I was also completely giddy with joy.

Then I looked at Hikaru and he still looked annoyed. My heart dropped.

"Uhh… we don't have to do it if you don't want to," I told him. "… I don't mind going alone," I did mind. "I won't make you stay." I wish I could.

Hikaru was watching me carefully. I knew I looked upset but I couldn't really help it. He smiled. Then I knew he was coming. I smiled back at him. So we climbed into the sleigh, talking and laughing and drove off into the night.

Later…

The sleigh had taken us around the block a few times (for enjoyment, and yes, it was enjoyable) before going to a winter fair. When we arrived it was packed full of people bustling around, buying things, riding the fair rides and watching the mini-shows. A constant roll of Christmas music was played in the background. Considering Christmas wasn't an actual holiday in Japan they sure knew how to celebrate it. I could feel a little happy buzz inside me.

"So… want something to eat?" asked Hikaru.

"Yes! I am starving," I giggled. Oh gosh, the giggles had started. Hikaru smiled in response and began to struggle through the crowd. I tried to go after him, which was perhaps a stupid idea after I realized I had lost sight of him and I didn't know where I was. People were knocking into me from all sides.

I felt claustrophobic and closed in. The little happy part of me began to dissolve as panic took over. I hated tight spaces. Hated them. I could feel myself get hot. I needed to get out of the crowd. Must get out. Get out now. I shut my eyes and wished myself somewhere else.

Someone took my hand, and slowly I was lead out of the crowd, my eyes still closed. I held onto the hand as hard as I could. It was my lifeline as far as I was concerned.

Then I broke free of the crowd and suddenly I could breathe again. I was sat on a bench, and good thing because I couldn't feel my legs. I slowly opened my eyes and pair of gold eyes was looking into mine, full of concern.

Hikaru had pulled me out of the crowd.

"Sorry…" I mumbled, looking down at my feet. I felt like such a baby.

"It's okay. Claustrophobic right? Kaoru was the same when he was young." Hikaru's voice was gentle and it calmed me nerves to no end.

"I'm fine if someone stays with me," I smiled.

"So I shall," replied Hikaru softly. It wasn't until he had pulled me up off the bench that I realised he was still holding my hand. And he didn't let go, even as we wandered off into the fair.

After that horrible experience Hikaru made sure he stuck by me. His hand was in mine for most of the time too. After he had to let go to buy some pancakes, I thought he wouldn't hold it again. But he did, he took my hand gently, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The butterflies were back and hosting a parade in my stomach for the entire time. I felt warm and happy all from my toes, to my head. I couldn't believe I was actually on (what amounted to at least) a date with Hikaru Hitachiin. I couldn't believe my luck. All thanks to Azalea. She was a great cousin and an even better friend.

I had the best night of my life looking in Christmas stalls, going on the rides, watching the performances… and just generally being with the guy I had fallen for. I can't remember ever feeling this way about anyone and it was making me treat Hikaru better than I had ever treated a guy. I had always seen them as some sort of temporary item. Guys were sort of accessories that would eventually go out of fashion. Shallow way to put it, but I had never had a reason to trust a guy. They had never treated me well.

But with Hikaru it was different. I wanted him to stick around. I wanted him to really like me. I was really in deep this time. I am such an idiot. But, because it was him, I didn't care. I would be an idiot.

It ended far too quickly. Before I knew it my car had arrived and I was saying goodbye.

I couldn't stop smiling at him.

"Thanks for the best night, Hikaru." My cheeks were burning. Why now, after a whole night of laughing and talking with him, did I feel nervous? Hikaru gave me the cutest smile I could imagine.

"Thank you too. We should do it again sometime." He seemed to be embarrassed, but not nervous at all.

I didn't know how to just let go of his hand now and get in the car. I didn't want to. I think Hikaru noticed my reluctance, because he smirked and opened the door for me. I blushed bright red.

"Goodnight Hikaru," I said softly, turning to look back at him as I sat down and buckled my seatbelt. He was closer than I thought when I turned to him.

"Goodnight Ardea," he replied. Then he leaned in and kissed me gently on the cheek.

Before I could react he had closed the door and was walking away. I could see him laughing as he walked off towards his own car.

By the time I got home I was still in shock and the electricity from his kiss was still charging through my body, making me feel aflame. Azalea tackled me as soon as I came through the door, demanding details. I was still in a state of deliriously happy shock. Not that Azalea didn't have her ways and means of extracting information. Soon enough I was describing the whole wonderful night, thanking her for the best Christmas present, and thinking about how wonderful I felt at this moment in time.

Review please :)

Silvana x