Noel

Part 4

Author: Nyneve

Okay, no serious intro this time. I have difficulties with seriousness-ness-ness-ness (Ooh! Echo-o-o-o!). Anyway, this is the last part because this is a short ficcie meant to get everyone sad. Then you can go read my other stuff to get happy (Might I recommend Black Hole?). Yes, it's all a scam to get you to read my ficcies! Muhahahahahahahaha! *deep breaths* Sorry. Oh, and me was bad. Me did not put a disclaimer on the last chappie. BAD NYNEVE! I don't own the anime, now or ever.

-Nyneve

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It came upon a midnight clear

That glorious song of old

From angels bending near the Earth

To touch their harps of gold

Peace on Earth

Goodwill to Men

From Heaven's

All gracious King

The world in solemn stillness lay

To hear the angels sing

"Hey," Kiyone greeted, poking her head into Quatre's office. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. How's the Rose case going?" he responded, curious as to how his partner's "personal mission" was going. She groaned and sat down on the chair against the wall.

"Terrible. No one's seen hide nor hair of the son-of-a-b**** since November," she answered. Quatre smiled reassuringly at her.

"I'm sure something will come up. Or if not, he's already dead and you don't have to worry about him anymore," he replied. For a moment, Kiyone's eyes returned the hard darkness Quatre had seen when he was first getting to know her.

"He'd better not be dead. He's going to pay for what he did to her. I will show him no mercy," she said solemnly.

Silence. It seemed to last for ages before Kiyone smiled and shook her words off.

"Anyways, I wanted to thank you for inviting me over to your house last week. It was a lot of fun. I hope next time I get to meet your friends," she commented. Quatre breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she was back to normal.

"But, I think it's my turn to have you over to my place. It's kind of small, and I'm not the world's greatest cook, but I can make really good soup, and I was hoping you'd help me pick out a Christmas tree after work," she offered.

"Sure! I'd love to come over to your house," Quatre replied.

"Okay, meet me outside after work. We'll go straight to the tree lot, then back to my apartment. See you then!" she called, heading back down the hall.

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"All right little lady, how about this one?" the sleazy tree-salesman said, holding up a pine that looked as if it were right out of Charlie Brown's Christmas.

Kiyone stared helplessly at Quatre, silently begging for him to use his perfect manners to free her from the wrath of "Toupee Man".

"Sir, I think we'll just browse ourselves now, thank you. We'll let you know when we're ready," Quatre replied calmly. The salesman scowled, but left anyways. Instantly, Kiyone hugged her partner tightly.

"My hero!" she cried, causing him to blush furiously.

"It was no problem," he replied. Kiyone just shook her head, then looked around at the trees.

"These are all so huge, there's no way they'd ever fit in my apartment, let alone my car," she sighed.

"What about this one down here?" Quatre asked, pointing to a medium sized, healthy-looking tree. Slowly, Kiyone circled it, examining for bare spots, dead branches, and any other sort of defects.

"Well, it has a nice shape, and it's not too huge," she checked the price tag. "And it's not too expensive either. Okay! I'll get this one. But uh, could I give you the money and you could pay for it? The salesman scares me."

They both burst into laughter as they carried the tree to the front of the lot.

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"Well, it's up. I guess I'll make dinner before we start to decorate it," Kiyone said, pulling on an apron and taking one more look at the tree in her living room. She headed into the kitchen, followed closely by Quatre.

"I really like your house Kiyone," he complemented as she stirred the soup.

"Thanks. It's small, but cozy. Perfect for one or two people," she remarked. But as soon as the words left her mouth, a jab of pain shot through her. There were two, but for one person it is too big she thought.

Twenty minutes later, Kiyone had pulled out the glass ornaments she had bought a few years back. Christmas music was playing on her stereo. Snow was gently falling outside. It was as adorable of a scene as you could imagine.

"Where should this one go Kiyone?" Quatre asked, holding up a clear blue bauble. She giggled.

"Just hang it anywhere Quatre!" she remarked. He blushed.

"Well, since it's your tree I thought that you might have a preference to it's location," he mumbled. Kiyone patted him on the back.

"Don't worry about it. Oh man," she said. She had dropped the hook to one of the ornaments on the ground (AN: Does that happen to anyone other than me?).

She got down on her hands and knees and felt for it. The tree was right next to her desk, so she figured there was a possibility that it had fallen underneath. As she reached in among the dust and cobwebs, her hand hit something small and made of metal. Confused, she pulled it out, and gasped when she saw what it was.

It was a key.

Quatre watched as she stared at the key. Gently, he touched her shoulder. "Kiyone?"

She didn't speak. She just stared at the key. Then it came to her attention that the song on the stereo had changed from "I Saw Three Ships" to "The First Noel".

Kiyone looked up and smiled at her partner, understanding everything.

"Quatre, I want to show you something," she said softly. She stood up and unlocked the desk drawer that held all of her mementos of Mihoshi. Her hands ran over them lovingly, searching for that one object. Finally, the treasure was found.

It was Mihoshi's music box.

Gingerly, Kiyone opened it. The same old carol quietly wafted out of it, dwarfed by the symphonic rendition coming out of the speakers. But to Kiyone, it was loud and clear.

During this whole time, Quatre remained silent, but when the song ended on both the music box and the stereo, he turned the stereo off.

Kiyone closed the box, and saw the missing hook on the floor. She put it back on the ornament, then hung it on the tree.

"Come on, I'll make some cocoa," she smiled, then headed back out into the kitchen.

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The next morning when Quatre went down to breakfast, he found a plain, unmarked envelope sitting at the table for him.

"Where'd this come from?" he wondered, opening it. Inside was a letter, written in Kiyone's perfect writing.

Dear Mihoshi

I'm not afraid to call you by your name anymore. I can't even imagine why I was in the first place. Maybe it was because I was afraid that it was too good to be true. But you've been alive the whole time Mihoshi, and I'm glad.

I'm writing this letter for two reasons. The first is to say thank you. You've always been there for me. When I was sad, you'd take me out for karaoke or to the bathhouse. And when I needed help, you were there to protect me. Ever since we were assigned to be partners, I've had a guardian angel. And I didn't even know it. So thank you, for being whatever it took for me to be happy.

The second reason I'm writing is to say don't worry. Despite what you may think, Mihoshi, you're not dead. Not yet. Eli Rose was going to kill me, and you jumped in the way. But the truth is, his aim was terrible, and neither of us got hit. But I think because you wanted to save me so much, you were willing to believe that you died for me, and were reincarnated as Quatre, so that I wouldn't be alone.

Don't worry Mihoshi. You weren't destined to die. However, I was, and you can't stop that. After I you read this letter, it'll be over. These last few weeks we've had together were the final hurrah. It's my time to go. And please Mihoshi; don't be sad when I die. Because I'm not leaving you alone. Now, it's my turn to be the guardian angel.

Best Friends Forever,

Kiyone

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Bang!

The sound of the gun going off echoed through the warehouse as Kiyone's gun fired at her attacker. But it wasn't just one gun that had fired. It was two that had gone off simultaneously. Mihoshi looked up from the cement floor just in time to see Eli Rose and Kiyone both fall to the ground.

"Kiyone no!" Mihoshi ran to her friend and knelt over her. Kiyone smiled up weakly.

"Hey Mihoshi. I'm sorry for what I said before. You know, the whole 'Queen of Idiots' thing," she apologized.

"It's all right. Just hold on Kiyone! We'll get you to a doctor…" her dying partner cut her off.

"Don't you ever listen to me Mihoshi? Don't worry. You'll be all right," she took one last breath. "Looks like my ride's here. Good luck."

And with that, she died.

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Mihoshi slowly spun around on her desk chair, eating M&M's like she had done weeks before, on the day Kiyone died. She was heartbroken, but she still had hope. Kiyone's promise to be the guardian angel gave her the strength to keep going.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked glumly. It was the chief of police.

"Hello Mihoshi. How're you doing?" he asked. Mihoshi sighed.

"Fine, I guess," she answered.

"Mihoshi, I want you to come down to my office. Your new partner's arrived," the chief said, then hung up. Mihoshi's eyes widened at the thought that it might, just might be who she thought it was.

When she finally got to the office, she saw a tall man standing next to the chief. He had brown hair that covered half of his face, revealing only one of his green eyes. Mihoshi smiled brightly at him.

"Mihoshi, this is your new partner, Trowa Barton," the chief said. Mihoshi nodded. Trowa stared at her, slightly confused, but filled with the sense that he knew what she was doing.

However, the police chief was utterly and thoroughly befuddled, bemused, and bewildered. "Well, um, why don't you show Trowa your office, or something, Mihoshi?"

She nodded and led him out of the chief's office, then hugged him tightly. Completely sure of what was going on, Trowa hugged back. Then, Mihoshi grinned up at him.

"Welcome back…Kiyone."

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ALL OVER! HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! R+R!