Dislaimer/Summary: …….

Title: Christmas Time

Rating: PG

Chapter 2: It's been Two Years

 "Ara-chan?" Sorata stared at the raven-haired beauty about twenty meters or so from him.

 Without even him realizing it, his feet were moving over to his Arashi.

 "Ara-chan...?" He said when he reached her. She whirled around, surprised. When she saw him, she was clearly shocked. But what happened next shocked Sorata even more.

 For she had hugged him very, very tightly, and said, "I missed you..."

 He gaped at her. Was this the same Arashi he had seen a year and a half back? The icy demeanor was gone... or maybe it was there, but not at the moment... It didn't matter. Here was his Arashi, right in front of him.

 And he wasn't going to let her go.

 Sorata put his arms around the girl as well, and rested his chin on her shoulder.

 "I missed you too..."

******

Few minutes later...

"Better now?" Sorata asked Arashi, handing her the warm canned coffee he had picked out of the vending machine. She nodded, then said a quiet "Arigatou."

 "No prob." He said, while sitting down beside her.

 "So... What brought you all the way to Tokyo?" He asked.

 "... Just.. things..." Arashi trailed off. She had turned into an interesting shade of pink. Sorata thought she was embarrassed, but then again, it was cold, so he was able to put away the thought.

 "Do the others know that you are here?"

 "No... As a matter of fact, I just reached Tokyo today. I was going to head over to the mansion, but I didn't know if anyone would be there." She explained.

 "What brings you back to Tokyo?" She asked.

 "Me?" Sorata was taken aback.

 "Er... Jii-san told me to come back. Said that my heart wasn't set in Mt. Kouya. Which is more than true... Ever since I went back, the monks had given me nothing but stress. The old man set me free from that, so I'm really grateful. I didn't want to stay in the temple after I came back from Tokyo. I mean, Jii-san was still the best, but with the other monks… it's a different story. They treated me like some kind of machine; they didn't care what I want, but only what they required me to do. It felt like someone was strangling me. I couldn't take it. I had to get out and back to Tokyo."

 'And you.' He silently added.

 "Well, what say you we head over to where the others are? I believe that they should all be together for Christmas..." Sorata looked at Arashi.

 "We don't know where they are." She replied. She seemed to be coming back to her old self again.

 'That's my Ara-chan.' He thought with an inner smile, as he winked at the girl next to him.

 "I have a hunch that they'll be at the mansion. But just to make sure, I'll call them. Kay?" He asked. She nodded her agreement.

 "Aight then. Let's go!" Sorata pulled her up from her sitting position, then led her over to where the public phone (finally) was free.

******