Disclaimer: ……… Need I say?

Title: Christmas Time

Rating: PG

Chapter 1: Phone Call Home

 'Kami-sama...' Sorata stared at the busy city in front of his eyes. He had just gotten off the train from Osaka, and was now staring at the huge city of Tokyo in front of him.

 'Am I even ready for this...?'

 But he couldn't turn back now. Taking a deep breath, he started walking, going in search of a phone.

Meanwhile...

 "Karen-san! Aoki-san! You're here! So good to see you again!"  Nekoi Yuzuriha nearly ripped the door off the hinge from opening it so hard. The Dragons had agreed to gather and spend the time in the Imonoyama mansion for the Christmas season. Well, all except for Subaru, Sorata, and Arashi. They hadn't been able to reach Sorata and Arashi, and Seishirou had gone all the way down to Kyoto to ask Subaru, but they didn't know how it will turn out. Waiting - it was nice to wait for old friends to show up.

 May everyone gather this year...

 "Konnichiwa, Yuzu-chan!" Karen and Aoki both took turns giving the sixteen-year old girl a hug.

 "KONNICHIWA!" Eight more voices could be heard behind Yuzuriha.

Kuzuki Kakyou.

Monou Fuuma.

Mnou Kotori.

Shirou Kamui.

Kazuki Nataku.

Kigai Yuuto.

 Yatouji Satsuki.

 Shiyuu Kusanagi.

 Faces that no one could forget... Both adults smiled at the sight. It was hard to believe that they were once enemies... But let's not get into that now, shall we?

"So, where is Seishirou-san and the others?" Karen asked after she warmed up by the fire. Aoki gave a nod that stated he was wondering the same thing.

"Well... He went down to Kyoto to bring back Subaru-san, but..." Kusanagi started, then trailed off.

"We don't exactly know how to contact Arashi and Sorata..." Yuuto finished for him. "We know Sorata-kun is in Osaka and up in the temple in the Mt. Kouya, but I'm not sure how to reach him... The monks there are REALLY protective about the boy. They won't even let us call him. And Arashi-chan... well, we couldn't just ask the priestesses there if we could talk to Arashi-chan either, since she is the Secret Priestess and everything…"

"Yeah..." The others murmured their agreement.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Ah well! Let's just hope that they can come! Moping around like this won't help at all!" Yuzuriha said, breaking the silence. "Yeah!" Karen agreed. "They wouldn't forget us! They just HAVE to come!" With that, the two ... koffhighkoff... women got up and literally DRAGGED the other Dragons into helping them cook dinner.

******

"A phone, a phone... I need a phone!" Sorata was now on the brink of snapping. He had hunted the streets for over an hour, and yet, all the public phones were in use, and not one free could be found.

"Damnit... This is just NOT my day." He muttered under his breath. That was when he saw her. The familiar long black hair, the violet eyes... The face he could not forget even in his dreams.

Ara-chan...

Later that night...

 "Hot chocolate anyone?" Kotori was passing the warm drinks around. Word had come from Seishirou that he and Subaru were coming back to Tokyo and would be there within two hours or so, so the gang was waiting for the two to arrive.

 "I'll have one." Kamui piped up. Nine "me too"s soon followed. Everyone started to talk about how the past year had been for them, when the phone rang.

 "I'll get it!" Aoki ran over to the phone.

 "Yes?"

 "Ah, konbanwa, Aoki-san!" Seishirou's voice flowed out of the receiver. "Konbanwa to you too!" Aoki replied. He mouthed the word "Seishirou" at the curious stares of the other people a.k.a. Dragons, who gave a sort of silent "oh" and turned back to their conversation. Aoki went back to the phone.

 "I think Subaru-kun and I are going to be there in half an hour or so. The traffic is really bad out here in the highway, and it's starting to snow, too." Seishirou sounded a bit exasperated. "Subaru-kun already fell asleep."

 Aoki stifled a laugh. "No problem. Just take care, okay? The last thing we need is two people in the hospital for Christmas."

 "Tell the others that I'm sorry, ne?"

 "Sure. See you later!" Aoki hung up, and was just about to turn around when the phone rang again. Thinking it was Seishirou again, he picked up the phone.

"Yes, Seishirou-san?"

"Um. It's not Seishirou-san." A familiar voice answered.

"Sorata-kun?!" Aoki's unusually loud voice caught the attention of the other Dragons, who had been in the middle of a game of poker. Realizing who had called, a stampede raced over to where Seiichirou Aoki stood, and stared at the phone he was holding.

"Um, yeah, hi... Listen, I'm in Tokyo right now. The two of us will be heading over soon..." Sorata answered.

"You're here in Tokyo?! When?! How?!" Aoki literally yelled into the phone.

 "Calm down... I know I haven't been able to talk to you guys for over a year, but no need to yell... Yes, I am here in Tokyo... I just got off the train an hour ago." The now eighteen year old answered the older man.

 "Oh. Gomen. But this is great! You'll be here! Now almost everyone will be here. We finally reached you..." Aoki then realized what Sorata just said.

 "Matte, what do you mean by 'the two of us'?"

"I mean me and Arashi... We met an hour ago, and she's with me now. We'll be over pretty soon... uh oh, change ran out... Bye!" With that, Sorata hung up.

"EHHHHHHH?!!" Aoki stared at the phone in his hand.

"Well, what is it, Aoki-san?!" Fuuma persisted.

 "Yeah, and what do you mean the two of us?" This came from Kamui.

 "Is it Sorata-kun and Arashi- chan?" and this one came from Kotori. The rest of the group were staring expectantly at Aoki.

"Um, hai, it seems that Sorata had met Arashi an hour or so ago, and the two of them are heading over..." Aoki stared at the phone for a minute longer, then put it back into its place.

"Looks like all of us will be here for Christmas this year..."

******

Author's notes: … Not much change, ne? Haha…