Yuuki had woken up to warmth all around her, which made her very reluctant to wake. Her crimson eyes fluttered open, and she found herself staring into the fireplace, its light glowing about the room in a comfortable tone of orange. She tried to sit up but found it nearly impossible with the weight of the blankets on her. With a grunt, she arched her back and pushed herself to lean on her hands.

Immediately, she was met with the unpleasant cold, and she let out a little scream.

"A-Ah, it's so cold in here!" she squeaked, wrapping herself in one of the quilts. Her eyes scanned the room, though not quite adjusted to the sun shining through the window, and found herself staring at her pale-haired partner sitting off to the side.

His body was violently shivering, his arms hugging around his legs; he was enough in front of the fire where his legs were nearly on fire, but his upper body wouldn't stop shivering. Did he… do this? Yuuki found herself smiling slightly before she called out softly, "Zero?"

It seemed very difficult for him, but he picked his head up, and gave her a quivering smile. "Y-Yuuki, you're awa-wake. Th-The heat b-broke somet-time last night."

Her eyes widened, not at the fact that they currently had no electricity or heat, but at the very obvious fact that he had done everything in his power to keep her encased in her own heat as he sat off to the side, very close to getting hypothermia, and she was beginning to feel guilty. "Zero, you bonehead, you've got to be freezing!"

She got off the couch with a couple of quilts in her hands, putting them around his shoulders and rubbing frantically at his arms and cheeks, hissing at just how cold he was. "Go on the couch, and I'll make you some tea!"

She thanked her father for purchasing a gas stove, for it was still usable for them even in this cold. She grabbed the pot with a towel that happened to be lying off to the side and brought it over to the sink, turning the knob to the water on, noticing that nothing had come out of it. "The pipes have frozen, too… and, the weather is too horrible to go get him something from the store. Damn it…" for Yuuki to have cursed was a bit of a shock to her; she usually only did so when under a lot of distress. Her hands dragged through her hair as she did a not-so-good-job at hiding the panic that seemed to rest on her features. "No water, no electricity, no heat…" she was so afraid, but she had to do her best at hiding it for Zero's sake, as now she had to be the one with a false sense of confidence. She made her way back into the living area with a worried look on her face, seeing Zero now wrapped under the blankets she had been moments before.

She found herself suddenly very afraid for his health – as if she wasn't already with him being a former-human vampire so close to losing his sanity – and moved to lie back down on the couch in the spot Zero had been laying hours before. "Here, lay on me. I'll keep you warm, Zero."

He hesitated for a moment, swallowing, before she pulled him down to lie on her chest. The quilts came with him, and she made sure to cover both all of him and her, and felt him nuzzle up against her bosom. "Y-Yuuki…" his voice was so strained, and she hugged around his shoulders, her fingers trembling as she felt how cold he was even through his shirt. She had to be careful not to start crying; she didn't want him to worry about her.

"It's alright, Zero. I'm here. I'll keep you warm."

With that, he wrapped his arms around her form and did his best to keep his eyes open, staring into the fire.

-x-

Yuuki remembered having held Kaname very similarly to this almost a year ago, after he had asked her to. He had said he was so tired, and she being the one who admired and loved him – or so she thought – did as he bade. They stayed like that, and back then it had brought her such joy and warmth to hold the man she'd come to know as her savior.

The situation back then gave her the same kind of feelings she had as she held her childhood friend. He had been lulled to a peaceful sleep with the warmth of the fire, heavy quilts, and her body around him. His body still shivered a little, but at least she was unable to hear his teeth chattering anymore. That was a good sign.

His arms that encircled her waist tightened during his slumber, and she found it very difficult to move in the limited space she had. Not that she wanted to, but even if she did, she would be stilled by his strong arms that, while holding onto her as if his life depended on it (which in a sense, it did), actually put her at ease, promising her protection from any danger that might threaten her. Yuuki was looking at the ceiling as he lay in her arms, and she found it safe to check on his features to see if her plan to warm him had worked.

One of her hands moved from his back to his cheek, moving some of the hair in his face behind his ear, before she found herself running her fingers through his hair. As she did so, his musky scent was thrown about their little cocoon of blankets, and she inhaled deeply; his scent reminded her of times spent playing in the fields as a child, when her father would either take her sledding or butterfly-catching. It reminded her of happy times spent here at Cross Academy, surrounding her in a sense of calm and happiness and safety. A little sigh escaped her, which stirred Zero awake.

His lashes fluttered and he looked up at her face, which looked pleasantly relieved that the color had returned to his cheeks. "Zero, thank goodness…" she said softly, her warm breath fanning out around him. His lips twitched and he sat up enough to see her face, but not to move the blankets from their place. Her hands reached to cup his cheeks, making him blink at her. "Are you okay now? How are you, are you hungry?"

The flame in the fire had dimmed, the embers still giving off heat, albeit little of it. He looked over to the fire, silently wondering if he should add another log, before swallowing. "I'm better, but how are you? Shouldn't I be worrying about you?"

As if on cue, her stomach growled, and she felt her cheeks flush. "No need to worry," her tone was a touch too happy, to which he tilted his head to the side a little. "We can find something together in a moment. I don't want to move yet."

The confession startled him a little, but he found himself reluctant to get up also, and he leaned his forehead against hers tiredly; the cold really did its number on him. "It doesn't sound too inviting to me, either. But we need to find something soon." As he spoke, his breath tickled Yuuki's lips, and she wrapped her fingers into his hair. The two lay like this for mere minutes, but they could have forever.

The sun outside was high in the sky, signifying that it was early noon. The house had warmed enough to make it maneuverable, but it didn't seem that the electricity or heat had come back on yet. This made Zero groan – or, was it the closeness of he and the one person he loved more than life itself? – and make the silent decision to move, unwrapping his arms from her waist and pushing the blankets up. He walked to the fire and threw another log in, hearing sparks shoot up and cover the wood, before he walked over to the thermostat.

Sure enough, it had just reached 65 degrees. They'd be fine.

Yuuki was also up in an instant, leaving the quilts over their spot in case they decided to meet there again to get warm. She made her way into the kitchen, brushing her fingers against Zero's as she passed, and he turned to glance at her retreated form before he followed. When he stopped in the doorway, Yuuki had pulled out things from the cupboards: canned soups, peanut butter and jams, and bread. They didn't have very many things that didn't need to be microwaved or heated in water. With a sigh, he figured they could make do.

And, that's the end of the little bit'a fluff-and-then-some! One more little part of this arc, and theeeeen. You can guess what the next few chapters after that will be.

Oh, and someone a few chapters back asked me if Yuuki would be turned into a vampire somewhere in this story. And, your answer dear one, is:

"No. Absolutely not."

I hope you all enjoyed this installment. Please leave a review telling me what you liked, didn't like, etc. And feel free to subscribe to me or any of my (in-progress) stories~

*** Random Question: How do you think Zero and Yuuki would flirt with each other? List a couple of ways you can see them flirting in your review to this chapter. (Some examples I already have are tickling, wrestling, and playing with ones hands. Things like that.) ***

See you next week!

-Cookie-