Warmth

Legal Crap – Beyblade does not belong to me. There. This is a fic about Max and Emily (as usual) and an abandoned cabin with 1 blanket in a snowstorm. They're the same age as the series in this fic. Takes place sometime after Perspectives, which was their run-in in Russia. Nothing happens between them in here… no lime or lemon.

"Oh crap, it's cold…" Max muttered as he dashed alongside Emily, ducking bushes in trees in the forest they were in. They had been taking a walk, and they had unfortunately gotten lost. That wouldn't have been too much of a problem, except it was getting dark.

"Great, and now I think we're lost." That comment came from an annoyed Emily, who was beside him. Max looked at her.

"Actually, I think that happened a while back…" he said. Emily glared at him.

"Could things get any worse?" she asked. As if on cue, it started to snow. Not the Winter Wonderland type soft snow, I mean snow that stings the eyes and freezes people. Max groaned.

"Here's a hint: never tempt irony. It's always waits for you to say "Can this get any worse?" then kick you in the ass." Emily rolled her eyes. "Anyways, we should probably run for cover, or something. They started sprinting, but they were slowed by the cold. Even though both had fairly thick jackets on, the cold still got to them. Max shivered. "Damn, it's cold."

"Really?! I hadn't noticed!" the All-Star snapped as she ran towards a clearing. "How did we get ourselves into this mess, anyway? The weather forecast said it would be cloudy for the rest of the day!" Max snorted.

"Weathermen are never right unless you don't want them to be." Max muttered. "How did we get into this…. Oh yeah, I was stupid enough to try and take a walk when I thought it would snow…" Emily stared at him, and her expression softened.

"Relax. Beating yourself up over this won't help us. Right now, we should concentrate on finding our way back to town."

"Or a place to stay for the night…" Max noted, as the pair dashed through the snow. "Think there's anything around?"

"Maybe… if… we... look…" Emily gasped out, as she slowed down suddenly. Max looked puzzled and turned around.

"Emily… what's wro-" his voice cut of as he realized the smaller girl was freezing, and the running hadn't helped. She was breathing heavily, and was leaning against a tree. Then, she closed her eyes, and collapsed. Max's eyes widened. He sprinted to the fallen All-Star and quickly cradled her in his arms. "Emily… Emily! C'mon, wake up! I'm serious, you can't fall asleep here, you'll freeze!" The girl shifted in his grip.

"But… it's so warm here…" Emily murmured. Max felt his blood run cold. And it wasn't from the snow stinging his skin. He looked down, and he swore he saw faint tinges of blue around her lips. He gaped, then made a resolve to get to shelter. The cold had affected her more than she had let on.

"Oh no…" Despite the fact he was no doctor, he knew when someone was going into hypothermia. "I've gotta get you somewhere warm, fast!" He looked around desperately… and his eyes focused on a building, some meters ahead. "Yes!" his mind yelled, as he picked Emily up and began to run again. As he got closer, he saw it was a cabin. His mind debated knocking, but he shoved that thought out of his head and shoved the door open. Max looked around. He saw a light switch near a corner, and flicked it. The place looked unused for a while, but there was a bed in the corner of the room. "Perfect." He muttered, as he walked over and laid her on it. "That jacket of yours is soaked… no way you're wearing that anymore." He said to her as he pulled it off.

"Mmph…" she responded, as she began to come to. Max paid no attention, as he quickly scanned her for anymore wet clothing. "Max… where are we… and what are you DOING?!" she yelled as she realized her jacket was off and he was checking for anything else that was wet.

"That wet jacket wouldn't have helped you any... and if anymore of that stuff is wet, it's just going to decrease your temperature!" She looked at him.

"I prefer my clothes ON, thank you!" she yelled, and began coughing from the exertion. Max looked worried, and walked over, removing his own jacket as he did so. "Here." He stated as tossed it towards her. "Wear this while I try to find something in here." As he looked around, he realized that this place was pretty much sparse. But there was something in the corner… Max squinted, then walked over. He reached into the dark corner, and picked up a rather dingy blanket. He blinked. The blanket obviously hadn't been used in some time, but it was quite large. There was only one, but he didn't mind. Max took the blanket, and walked back to Emily. He tossed the blanket onto the bed. "This would be better for warmth then that jacket of mine. It's also a lot thicker." Emily nodded, and took the blanket.

"Thanks." Then, she realized something. "There's only one. Where's yours?" Max shook his head.

"I'm fine. I'm not that cold." Upon seeing Emily's look of concern, he felt his face turn red. "No, really! I'm fine!" She shook her head.

"You're a pathetic liar." She stated, smirking at him. Emily then patted a spot next to her. Max looked confused. She sighed. "Get in. We're sharing." This definitely got Max's attention, as he turned bright red, and began trying to make words, but could only come out with a pathetic sounding "What?" Emily rolled her eyes. "Not like THAT. My god. You're colder then you let on. I'm not letting you freeze. Now get in!" Max simply stared at her, not believing what he was hearing. But the cold eventually got to him, and he got his legs moving. Max was still blushing as he climbed in, but warming both of them up was better then modesty. Emily smiled at him. A genuine smile. "There. Now was that so hard?" Max shook his head. Emily nodded, then yawned.

"Tired?" Max inquired. She said yes. "It's probably the cold. You should catch some shuteye."

"Yeah." She reached over and turned out the light. "Good night."

"You too. Pleasant dreams." Max felt her turning on her side.

"Of course. You're beside me, remember?" Max's eyes shot wide open at that, but after, the teen resolved to go to sleep.

***

"Mm…" Emily had woken up somewhat a few hours later, but her mind really wasn't telling her anything. All she knew was that she was still sort of cold. She wrapped the blanket tighter, but she still wasn't quite warm. Then, she detected some heat next to her. Slowly, she turned over and wrapped her arms around the heat source, snuggling up to it. "Warm…" she muttered under her breath, as sleep reclaimed her. About an hour later, Max began to wake up.

"What time is it…" he asked sleepily, as he realized it was still dark outside. "Might as well go back to sleep." Then, his mind posed another question. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why am I so warm?" He began to remember something he'd watched on TV. Cold people often reached out to the closest heat source. And since there were only two occupants in this bed… Max's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he realized why he was so warm. Emily had turned over and now currently had her arms wrapped around him. "Hoo boy." He froze as she began to stir. Her arms shifted, and she snuggled in closer to him. Max, being a normal human male, was blushing furiously at this point. Emily murmured something, as her eyes opened again.

"Max?…" she whispered softly, as she wasn't sure where she was." The blond next to her jumped slightly.

"I'm here." he said. At this point Emily turned her head up, and opened her eyes. She then saw a pair of gorgeous blue eyes staring back down at her. Emily smiled.

"Close your eyes..." she said. Max, having no idea what was going on, obeyed. Suddenly, he felt a warm, soft feeling on his lips. It felt nice. Then, full realization sank in. She was kissing him. It was the kind of kiss that needed no effort from the other person, which was good, because Max was in total shock. When they broke apart they were both blushing.

"What… what was that for?" Max asked. "I'm not complaining, but… wow." Emily genuinely smiled at him for the second time that night.

"For keeping me warm." She said, grinning mischievously. "Seriously, I've had feelings for you for a while… and I couldn't stop thinking about them after our run-in in Russia. Did you like the way I told you?" Emily had no time to react as Max kissed her again, with more intensity this time. He smiled as they separated.

"I don't feel like going back to sleep… how about you?" Emily's smile made her answer obvious. "Good… so we agree." Max gently traced her cheek with his hand before bending down for another kiss.

***

Max blinked as he woke up. "Hmm… I guess we DID fall asleep after all." He looked around, and grinned as he saw sunlight streaming in through the windows. He gazed down towards his new–found love interest, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked toward him, and smiled.

"Good morning…" she said, as she wrapped her arms around him." Max responded, and cradled her for a minute or two.

"Think we should head down soon?" he asked. "The sun's out, so it should be easy to find our way back to the hotel from here." Max thought he heard voices, but he chalked them up to his imagination.

"Nah… I'd rather stay for a while." She answered, toying with a lock of his hair.

"I bet you would." Came a familiar voice from the doorway.

"But we sorta have to take you back down now… pleasant dreams? Max and Emily's faces went completely red, as they realized the voices belonged to Tyson and Michael. "So, we found you. With Max no less 'Bout time, squirt." Michael said, looking at Emily. She blushed.

"What do you mean by that?! Nothing really happened…" she said lamely. Tyson grinned, and spoke up.

"So Max, how'd you guys make out last night?" Michael burst out laughing as their faces turned even more red.

"Funny, that sentence can be interpreted so many ways…" Emily glared at her teammate.

"SHUT UP MICHAEL!" she yelled, blushing furiously. Max just sat there. Then, another voice cut through. A female one.

"Oh, so you found them? Well how are they…" the words cut off as Judy entered the doorway. Max buried his face in one hand. Emily just sat there and blushed. The scientist had an expression that was a cross between shock, confusion, and amusement. "Um… all… right…" Michael cracked up at Judy's expression, as did Tyson. "We should probably head down now… but remind me to talk to the two of you later." Michael and Tyson grinned and stepped out. "Whenever you're ready!" they yelled. Max and Emily collapsed in embarrassment.

"Oh god…" Emily muttered. That was just mortifying.

"Yeah… sure was worth it though." Max said. Emily smiled at him, as she embraced him again, enjoying the warmth she finally found.

My longest fic yet! Didja guys like it? Please R@R! Till next time, ja ne!