A Lot Like Christmas

Intro: Wow, we're just whipping through this story aren't we BlackGatomon? I'm very please everyone likes the story! I'm surprised… doesn't anyone have criticism?

Blackgatomon: I wouldn't ask that question if I were you. Oh yea… thank you list… right! We had to wait a day for all the reviews to show to get the names down but here it is:

Kamehameha

Jack of the Pelt (wine gums? Interesting…^.^)

Angel of Hazard

Lonewalker

Dreaming-Nightingale

SerpentTreize

Rukato Fan

BlackGatomon: Heehee! Candy, candy, and more candy! All for me…! 0.0 30 lbs of candy!! *hugs huge bag with all the candy he got* Arigato!!!

    Gomenasai about making Ruki-san a tad too harsh, but I thought it would be expected. -_-;;; Anyway, Blackgatomon's a bottomless pit, so no worries over his health. R+R! Rukato, Lee/Juri Itsumademo! Gomenasai but in this chapter Ryo is not present but I'm making up for that with a really nice surprise at the end for those who love Rukato!

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Do I even have to say it?

Bold-actions, important crap

Italics- thoughts, memories, other

                                                            ***Tuesday***

    The next morning Ruki awoke to the sounds of a particular tamer calling to her through her bedroom window. "Ruki!"

    Ruki groaned and got up. She quickly dressed in case he tried to come in and put her hair up in its usual spiked ponytail. Clipping her D-arc and card pack to her waist she glanced at the clock. "Holy cow! Ten o'clock?!"

    She dashed down the halls to the kitchen and crammed a piece of toast in her mouth, muttering a quick "Good Morning" to her mother, grandmother, and her mom's creepy boyfriend, and ducked out the door. Toast still in her mouth she rammed right into Takato, who had been the tamer outside her window.

    The two fell over backwards after colliding into each other. After they both stopped seeing stars and pretty lights Takato smiled. "Good morning Ruki-san!"

    Ruki gulped down the rest of her toast. "Why are you here Takato? And why'd you wake me up?" Takato's smiled grew wider, and Ruki eyed him suspiciously.

    "Because," said Takato slowly. "I wanted to take you down to the lake and teach you how to ice skate."

    He got up slowly and brushed himself off, picking up two pairs of ice skates off the ground and slinging them over his shoulder. Stunned, Ruki stared at Takato, mouth half open from her spot on the ground. "Nani?!"

     "Please Ruki?" asked Takato, more like begged. Ruki was up on her feet in an instant. "You're crazy Gogglehead! No one, and I mean no one is going to teach me how to be a graceful girl on ice skates wearing a short dress! No way, no how!"

    Takato stood still he knew this was how she was going to react. "Aw come on Ruki, I can skate and so can everyone else."

   "Everyone else minus one," Ruki folded her arms. "No way."

      Takato still remained cool. "I think you're scared."

    "I think I'm not."

     "I think you are."
    Ruki growled and glanced at the ice skates. She did not want Takato to think she was scared, and she wasn't… ok she was. She had never been taught how to skate, let alone on ice, and the blades made her nervous. How did people balance on those things? One thing's for sure, he's not going to make me do this, I can't do it anyway.

   Takato moved closer. "Come on Ruki, it'll be fun. You'll like it, I promise. You're the Ice Queen, you should be able to ice skate."

    "Over my dead body," said Ruki flatly.

     "Please?"

      "I can't do it!" said Ruki, turning away. Takato rounded her and tried again. "Please?"

    "I told you I can't do it!"

    "Please?"

     "I can't do it!"

     "Please?"

      "I can't believe I'm doing this…" groaned Ruki. Somehow Takato had convinced her to do this. This is insane! I'm a fighter and a cold-hearted fighter at that! I don't even have a graceful bone in my body!

    Takato pulled on his ice skates and strapped them on. The ice was solid and thick over the lake, he was sure of it. The real reason he was doing this was to cheer her up. She was so depressed these days and he figured ice-skating would be a perfect thing for her to learn how to do. Plus he would get to spend time with her; two birds with one stone.

   Ruki shook her head and strapped on the skates. She got up slowly on the bank and found the snow was very stable, which was good because she had no idea how to walk in the blasted things. Ruki had just gotten her balance when Takato came up behind her. "Ready?"

    "Are you nuts?"

     There was silence behind her. "Takato! What are you doing?"

     She got her answer, but it was not what she wanted. One minute she was on the bank, the next sliding on the ice. Takato grinned from his spot on the bank, arms folded. He could see quite clearly that Ruki was swearing under her breath and petrified at the same time. I swear if I ever get out of this Gogglehead is as good as dead!!

   Takato chuckled slightly to himself. Pushing her onto the ice not only meant his death sentence but an amusing event that followed. Ruki tried to regain control of her sliding feet and ended up on her butt.

      Takato skated out to her. "Cool huh?" Ruki looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "You are so dead when we off the ice Goggleboy."

     Takato laughed and pulled her up. "Now that you know what the field is like, let's teach you the basics." She had a death grip on his arms as he pulled her up. He knew there was absolutely no chance of her letting go. "Ok ready? Move your feet like you're walking. We'll do it together ok? 1… 2… 3… 1… 2… 3…"

     He moved backwards, one foot first, then the next. She copied his moves as they went slowly across the ice together until she was sure of herself. That is until she let go of him for a second, slipped, and fell face first into his chest. Takato grunted from the impact but inside his heart soared.

    Using his weight and her own she pulled herself up and returned to gripping his arms again. When she looked up two soft, reddish brown eyes met her own. For a fleeting second she felt like she would be sucked into those eyes, and for what seemed like an eternity they were locked into the gaze.

     Ruki smiled slightly and broke away from his gaze, she felt so uncomfortable, and yet… so happy when she looked at him. Takato snapped out of it and smiled. "You ok?"

  "Yea…" she said breathlessly. "That was just…"

       "Scary?" he offered. Ruki nodded as he pulled her to an upright standing position. "You need more practice, so let's try again. 1… 2… 3…"

       Soon she felt comfortable on the ice. They stopped moving for a moment so she could get her footing. "Better?"
    Ruki pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yea, I think I got it now." Takato smiled sweetly, but his smile disappeared when she smirked at him. "Payback time!"

   "Nani?!" Takato had two seconds to realize what she was doing. Throwing all of her weight into it, she pushed him away from her so that he went flying across the lake, his legs threatening to loose balance. "Whoa!"

    Ruki doubled over in laughter as he fell over backward into a snow bank on the shore. She was still laughing as he scrambled to get out, covered from head to foot in powdered snow, beads of water dripping from his hair. "That wasn't funny!"

   Ruki continued to laugh as she started to ice skate across the ice with ease. "Catch you on the other side Goggleboy!"
   Takato growled and got up slowly. "You're not getting away that easy!!" He charged toward her on his skates. Ruki walked out of his way at the last second and Takato fell over on the ice. "Hey!"

    Ruki skated over to him and circled him. "Seems the student has surpassed the master," she said with a smirk. She pulled Takato up, grinning.

    Takato smiled. "You're a fast learner…"

     Ruki beamed. "Hey Takato… thanks."

  "For what?"

   She grinned sheepishly. "I know the only reason you got me out on the ice was to cheer me up… so I'm thanking you."

    "You're welcome," he said, and smiled. "Now let's teach you how to do a pirouette!"

      Ruki groaned and Takato laughed. "I'm kidding!"
        Ruki sighed. "Alright I'll try it…"

  "I said I was kidding!"

      "So?" she said sweetly. "That doesn't mean I can't try does it?" Takato watched her, gaping in astonishment as Ruki moved farther out on the ice. What he hadn't realized was that the back of his skate was caught in a crack of ice.

    Ruki concentrated, crouched, and jumped upward. Takato watched her in surprise as she jumped into the air, spun around at least twice, and landed perfectly on the blades of the skates. Takato pulled on his goggles to prevent the spray of ice from getting in his eyes.

   At that moment he tried to back up, but his skate was stuck. What the?

     Shiiick…

     Takato paused. This was definitely not good, that was not the sound of his skates. Ruki, who was facing away from him, stopped dead. "Takato? What was that?"

   Takato opened his mouth to answer her but was interrupted by an earsplitting crack. Then his right leg slipped into something extremely cold.

  Crackle… ship… ship…

   Takato looked down and found himself lowering on the ice. There were deep cracks in the ice around him, and it was giving way slowly to his weight. "Ruki!"

  Ruki whirled around, but it was too late.

  CRACK!

 "Takato!!" Ruki skated toward him as fast as she could, reaching out to him as his waist fell below the ice. "Hang on!"

   Takato's chest fell through the ice. Frantically, he gripped the side of the ice, but the water was freezing, and his hands grew numb. "I'm trying!!"

  Ruki was a few yards away. She crouched down to gain speed, and reached out toward him. "Takato reach!"

   Takato's legs were flailing underwater, and his hands were slipping on the ice. "I can't!"  One of his hands ripped through the ice, causing his neck and arm to go under. The water lapped around him and threw itself in his mouth as he struggled. The water plus his failing strength caused him to choke; the freezing temperature slowed him down. His grip was slipping. "Ruki…"

  Ruki dived, she was a few feet away. "Please hold on Takato!"

    Sliding on her stomach, she reached out to him. He was sinking, his strength gave out. His head was underwater now, all but his hand reaching stood above the freezing water. Please be ok… oh god…

  Ruki grabbed his wrist. Having a death grip on his hand, she swerved her feet around and pushed against the ice, pulling him up at the same time. Then suddenly his hand stopped moving; he was unconscious. "Dang it!"

    She could only inch him out by pulling hard. Unfortunately, his wrist was slipping in her mittened hands, and there was no time to peel the mittens off. Using her other hand, she pulled harder. Geez this kid is heavy… wait a minute!

   "Renamon!!!" She cried into the wintry wonderland. There was no answer. Ruki swore under her breath, she couldn't pull him up by herself.

   It was just then that her hand slipped over his wrist, leading her to holding his glove and him underwater. "Takato…."

   She held his glove up to her face and began to cry. "Gomenasai… I couldn't get there in time… I'm so sorry… Takato-kun…" She bent over, hugging his glove close to her, and cried. "I'm so sorry… I didn't mean anything nasty that I said to you… Takato…"

    There was a soft thump behind her. Ruki wiped her eyes quickly and looked up to see Renamon. "Renamon!! You're here!!"

  "Sorry I didn't come sooner," said Renamon. She pulled out a rope. "Hold this, Ruki. When I give three tugs pull me up, I should have your friend." Tying the rope around her waist, she gave the other end to Ruki. Ruki stopped. "Renamon… let me do it."

   "Do what?"

   "I'm going under," she said, tying the rope around her waist. "Three tugs, pull me up ok?"
  Renamon stared at her in disbelief. "Nani?"

    Ruki smiled and dove in. Renamon tried to grab her harness but she already went under. "Ruki!! No!!!"

   Renamon kneeled over the hole in the ice, resisting the urge to follow her. "Ruki…"

      Ruki shot into the water and cringed. It's freezing!! She got over the temperature quickly and looked around. Suddenly she spotted him, he was sinking farther down into the lake. She grabbed his ungloved hand and pulled him up toward her. Definitely unconscious. She gripped him tightly around the waist and was about to tug the rope when she realized something was missing. His goggles!

  Her mind raced. She'd risk her life and his if she went after them, but she knew he'd be extremely upset if he didn't have them. She looked down and saw them sink lower into the water. She gulped; she was losing air. She shook her head; it wasn't worth it.

   She tugged three times and a thought occurred to her. Smiling, she rose out of the water with a frozen Takato, gasping for air. Renamon almost screamed. "Ruki! Are you alright?"

  Ruki realized she was shivering, but she didn't care. Takato was safe, now all they had to do was keep him warm. "I'm fine Renamon. Here, take us to the shed."

  Renamon blinked. "Nani? Why?"

    Ruki sighed. "If I take him to his parents, they'll freak. If I take him home my parents will freak. I'd rather keep this to ourselves, he's only unconscious. Besides," she smiled as she untied the rope. "It's much closer. We need to get him someplace warm pronto. There is no time for hospitals."

   Renamon sighed. "As you wish." Renamon flew up into the air with the two tamers and took them to the shed. They walked in and Renamon shivered. "It's cold in here Ruki!"

   Ruki shook her head, her teeth were chattering, but she had to make him last the night. "Ok, go back to my house and grab as many heaters and blankets as you can find. I'm going out to get wood for a fire."

    Renamon nodded and disappeared. Ruki turned to Takato and took off her jacket, which was wet, but it was the only thing she had now. "Hang in there Takato, I don't know what'd do if I lost you. You owe me big time if we live through this." 

                                                            ********

   It was at least 9pm when Takato awoke, shivering. He brought the blankets tightly around him, but that didn't help much. There was something wet on him other than his own clothes. He pulled out from under his blanket and tossed it aside. Only then did he realize it was Ruki's. "Ruki?"

   He suddenly realized he wasn't at home, or at her house either. He was in Guilmon's shed, surrounded by heaters and blankets. There was a fire burning in one corner, and next to it lay Ruki, sleeping under another blanket.

   His face softened. She… saved me. Ruki… He crawled out from under his blankets and slowly walked over to her sleeping figure. He knelt beside her as she slept peacefully.

   "Arigato, Ruki-kun…" he whispered. He took his chances and bent over her. Ever so slowly, his lips met hers, and he kissed her gently. Arigato…my sweet…

      Little did he know that she was actually awake as he did this…

                                                            ********

   Dun, dun, dun! Gomenasai if that was too much Rukato fluff for your tastes, but I had to have something! Do you think I'd go without a chapter on Rukato fluff?

BlackGatomon: Everyone go "awwwwww…" I thought it was kawaii! ^.^ R+R and bring candy!!!

Preview for next chapter: Ruki brings him home the next day! Will she tell Takato she knows what he did… or will she keep it her little secret? Also, Ryo and Takato's competition put to end?! Not quite…