Category: Digimon

Pairings: Takato/Lee

Warnings: Mild shounen ai

Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine, the characters just decide to come and pester me occasionally…and then leave as soon as they give me an idea and decide not to come back for months so I can't get the story finished *growls*

This is just a fluffy Christmas one shot ^^ (I actually started it at Christmas and it's taken me this long to get around to finishing it O__O) It would be nice to get some reviews; comments and helpful criticisms are more than welcome!

Skye xXx

my personal site -- wolfgoo.co.uk

contact me -- m.c.clegg@blueyonder.co.uk

Mistletoe

Takato let out a resigned sigh, his breath forming a white cloud in the chilly air. Hands deep in his warm coat pockets, he shuffled his feet, muddying the centimetre of fresh snow covering the ground.

"Thinking about Lee again?" A soft voice interrupted his thoughts, and he jerked his head up, startled. A faint blush spread across his cheeks as he saw who had spoken.

"Is it that obvious, Juri?" he asked in embarrassment.

Chuckling, she swept the snow off the worn park bench and seated herself next to him. "I'm afraid it is. Whenever you're thinking of him you get this dreamy look in your eyes." Takato's blush deepened. "Besides, I've done my fair share of daydreaming." She winked at him playfully. They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the rustle of the wind in the bare branches of Sakura trees. "So, how's it going with you and Lee?" Juri interrupted the silence with her question.

Takato sighed again. "That's the problem – nothing's going." He ran a hand through his already tousled brown hair.

"Well you have to actually make a move to get things going!" She teased.

"I guess…" Takato trailed off, his mind wandering to possible scenarios for declaring his undying love to Lee. However, all he could ever see happening was something along the lines of:

"Lee I love you."

"Ew, get away you freak."

The two boys had become close friends after their digimon had returned to the Digital World, but Takato severely doubted that Lee considered him as anything more.

"C'mon Takato, have some faith! You've been pining over the guy for at least a year, doing nothing to even hint at the way you feel. I mean, he probably feels the same way about you! You just need to pluck up the courage to tell him, and all your daydreams can become reality!" Takato stared at the girl, startled by her passionate speech. 'Heh, I doubt that a lot of your daydreams would become reality, considering the nature of some of them!' the naughtier side of his mind reminded him. Bringing himself back to reality, Takato noticed a mischievous glimmer in Juri's warm brown eyes. "And Takato, I know just the time and place to tell him!"

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Takato looked around the crowded hall nervously. It was the night of their school's annual Christmas ball, and the place was packed. Why had he let Juri talk him into doing this? Looking across the room he spotted her at the food table, chatting with a bored looking Ruki. Catching his eye, she winked at him, then returned to her conversation. Grumbling to himself, Takato turned his gaze to the double doors that were the entrance to the hall, and his breath caught in his throat. A navy haired angel surrounded by a dazzling aura of light had just entered the room 'Ok, maybe you're overreacting with the whole angel thing – and the aura of light is because he's standing in front of an electric lamp.' he chided himself.

Taking a deep breath to steady his racing heart he started shouldering his way through the crowds of party-goers. "Lee! Over here!" he called. Looking around, Lee caught his eye and grinned. 'Oh god' Takato groaned as his stomach did a somersault 'I don't think I can stand a whole night of this.'

"Hey Takato" Lee greeted him as Takato finally reached him.

"Hey" was all Takato managed in reply, as he looked Lee up and down. He was wearing a navy button up shirt the same colour as his hair, and black jeans. And he looked good. Pretty damn good. 'Argh, have to get my eyes off him!'

"Some party, huh?" Lee shouted over the noise, completely unaware of the battle raging inside Takato.

"What? Oh, yeah, the party. Heheh, yeah it's great." Takato stumbled over his words. 'Why, Juri, why? Well, I'm here now, so I might as well try and make it work. I should start with talking properly."

"I wouldn't have come if Juri hadn't asked me to. Why did she invite me anyway?"

"Oh I guess Ruki got her to invite you." 'Great, I managed a sentence!'

"Ruki? Why would she want me to come?"

'Damn, not what I planned.' "Uh…why don't you ask her yourself? Here she comes now!" 'Thank you Juri!' Takato allowed himself a mental cheer.

Juri and Ruki were elbowing their way through the throngs to get to the two boys. "Hey there Lee!" Juri shouted enthusiastically. "Great party isn't it?! Hey Takato, come and dance with me!" Before he knew what was happening, Juri had swept him away onto the dance floor.

"Juri what are you doing?" he yelled over the dance music pumping loudly from a nearby speaker.

"Don't worry, Takato, I have a plan!" Looking around as he danced, Takato saw Ruki dancing with Lee, and a feeling he suspected was jealousy stirred in the pit of his stomach. Following his gaze Juri giggled "Don't worry, it's all part of my plan!"

As he danced with Juri, Takato watched Ruki and Lee together and saw that Ruki looked, to put it mildly, less than happy. Every so often she would shoot a death glare over to his brown haired partner, who just reiterated with a bubbly smile. Takato lost himself in the music, and soon the two pairs were dancing next to each other. He was stirred out of his daze by a nudge from Juri. Smoothly, she moved away from Takato so that Ruki was her partner, and Lee was Takato's. Then, with a last wink, she and Ruki were swallowed by the crowd. Lee raised an eyebrow as the two disappeared, but carried on dancing. Not sure what else to do, Takato also carried on dancing. 'So this was her plan! To get me and Lee to dance together, huh? What if I step on his foot? Ok, Takato, keep your cool. You can do this.'

Lee was actually a very good dancer, and Takato felt himself begin to loosen up. Just as he decided that maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all, someone pushed into him from behind. Suddenly Takato found himself pitching forwards into Lee. 'Oh shit' were his only thoughts before strong arms encircled his waist, keeping him upright. Takato looked up and found himself staring into a pair of intenses grey eyes. Lee's eyes. He felt his face burning as Lee hauled him back into a standing position. "I'm so sorry!" he gushed, willing his red cheeks to cool down.

"It's ok" Lee replied, with a heart-melting smile. With a jolt Takato realised that Lee's arms were still around his waist and, somehow, his arms had managed to end up wrapped around Lee's neck. He wouldn't have thought it possible before, but his face managed to turn an even deeper shade of red.

'Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck' His mind chanted. He willed himself to calm down. 'Just let go of him, Takato. Let go of him before he starts to suspect something.' But even though his mind was screaming at him to let go, his body obviously didn't want to respond. If anything, his arms tightened around Lee's neck. 'Oh fuck, let go, oh fuck let go, oh – actually Lee doesn't seem to bothered. Not too bothered at all! Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't mind dancing with me for a bit. Just as friends, or course. This is just the opportunity you've been waiting for! Now don't mess it up. Just let it flow, Takato, let it flow….SHIT!'

Takato's face, which had only just cooled down from his previous humiliation, burned again. Quickly he removed his foot from Lee's toe. "I'm so, so-" he began, but was cut off by a cool finger placed over his lips.

"Just enjoy the dance!" Lee told him, his eyes glittering.

'He wants to dance with me' part of his mind registered. 'And I want to take that finger into my mouth and suck on it as though it-' He cut those thoughts off before he got too carried away and, luckily, Lee removed his finger from Takato's lips before he actually acted upon any of them. His embarrassment now fading, Takato decided to take Lee's advice and just enjoy the dance.

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Quarter of an hour later it had turned from being one of the worst nights of his life to one of the best. The upbeat dance music surrounded him, pulsing through his veins. He was lost in the rhythm, still dancing with Lee's arms around his waist and his arms around Lee's neck. He loved the way Lee moved, so gracefully, looking completely at ease, flowing with the music. Luckily, after only a few slip ups, Takato had managed to settle into his own dance style that fitted alongside Lee's, and they now moved as though they had danced together for years.

The dance floor had become more crowded in the short space of time that the pair had been dancing, with couples abandoning the side lines as they grew more daring. Spots where, ten minutes ago, there had been plenty of space to move were now packed with twisting, swaying bodies. It was getting harder and harder to dance without knocking into other couples, or without them knocking into you. Suddenly someone bumped into Takato from behind, pressing him against Lee. A feeling resembling an electric shock jolted through him as he felt Lee's body pressed up against his own. His head was now nestled in the crook of the taller boy's neck, and he shivered slightly as he inhaled Lee's scent. It was familiar, but excitingly new all at once, a mixture of spices, cologne and the outdoors. It was Lee's smell and, as was the case with anything to do with Lee, Takato loved it. And he was loving the feeling of being pressed up against his crush just a little too much. As much as he longed to carry on dancing with the other boy, Takato knew that it was probably time to call a rest, otherwise he might have some rather embarrassing explaining to do.

Disentangling himself from Lee, he shouted over the blaring music. "Hey Lee, want to go get some air? I'm suffocating in here!"

Looking as cool (and gorgeous) as ever, Lee nodded and started off through the crows, grabbing Takato's hand so they wouldn't be separated. Takato was glad his overly flushed complexion couldn't be noticed in the multicoloured flashing light.

After a good ten minutes of shouldering their way through the heaving mass of dancers, they finally reached the door, gasping for breath and shivering in the sudden chill. Letting go of Takato's hand, Lee stepped outside, then onto the lawn that framed the tarmac pavement leading up to the doors. Standing just inside, Takato breathed in the fresh, crisp air, marvelling at the beauty of the scene before him. A full moon shone down from the inky night sky, making the snow that covered everything sparkle in its silvery light. And there was Lee, leaning against the building wall, his breath puffing in milky clouds.

"Want to go for a walk?"

Lee's question jolted him out of his reverie, and he nodded dazedly in reply.

'Typical.' he chided himself 'A dance with your crush and a little moonlight, and you start getting all soppy and romantic."

Stepping out of the hall entranceway he shivered as the cold night air struck him fully. Given the picturesque setting he almost expected Lee to say something cliché like 'You want my jacket?', to complete the scene. Then he realised that Lee wasn't wearing a jacket and, more importantly, they weren't on a date. Sighing to himself he fell into step beside the other boy as he set off in the direction of a small conifer copse that grew towards the right hand side of the school.

As they walked, Takato looked at Lee out of the corner of his eye. The moonlight illuminated his thick blue hair, and made his handsome features more prominent. He could see his breath forming misty clouds in the chilly air, from between his slightly parted lips. Lee just looked so alluring, so-

"OW!" Takato felt cold, frosty earth beneath him and realised that he had been so busy looking at the object of his desire that he hadn't realised they had arrived at the copse, resulting in him tripping head first over a protruding tree root. This was definitely not the kind of situation he wanted to be in. 'Shit, shit, shit!' was the only thing his panicked brain could bring up 'Ok, just think. Wait, why do I need to think? It's obvious what I have to do – get up!' However, said action was taking considerably longer than it should do, due to the fact that nearly his entire brain was caught up with worrying what the hell Lee would think of him now.

"You ok?" Takato peered up to see Lee looking down at him with concern, although he detected an amused glint in his grey eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, rather breathlessly. "Stupid tree root."

"Come on!" Lee held out his hand to Takato, who grasped it gratefully. Lee pulled him to his feet where he stood brushing the covering of snow off his front with his free hand. "Shall we go a bit further?" Lee inquired. Takato nodded and smiled, then blushed as he realised he still had hold of Lee's hand. But before he had time to let go, the other boy was pulling him on through the trees.

They walked through the trees, hand in hand, the snow crunching softly underfoot. Glancing at Lee, Takato saw him staring up through a gap in the foliage at the radiant full moon. Looking back at Takato and catching his eye, Lee smiled. "Romantic, isn't it?"

Gulping, Takato nodded shyly. 'If I didn't know better, I would have said Lee was flirting with me!' he thought to himself. 'But obviously I do know better, he's just being friendly. I mean sure, we're holding hands, but it probably means nothing to him. I'm just his best friend, nothing more.'

His minds wanderings were cut short as he realised Lee had stopped walking and was staring up at one of the tall pine trees. "What's up?" he inquired curiously.

"I thought I heard a noise." Lee shrugged, dismissing the matter but, as he turned away, something caught his eye and he looked back up at the tree. "Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing at something dangling from a branch that stuck out some way above them. Peering up, Takato answered in bewilderment "It look like…mistletoe."

"Huh, mistletoe?" Lee cocked his head to get a better view. "Yeah, I think you're right. But how did some mistletoe get up there?" he mused.

Takato shrugged, as puzzled as Lee, but he was more caught up in thinking that he and Lee were both stood underneath the mistletoe. Then Lee said something that made his heart stop. "Do you know what you're meant to do when you're underneath some mistletoe?" Takato's head shot up and he saw Lee looking directly back at him, lips curled into a small smile that he thought looked rather flirtatious, although he was probably reading more into it than he should, due to the situation.

'Come on Takato, this is you chance!' his brain cheered. "N…no." He stuttered. Then, keeping his voice as calm as possible he added "But perhaps you could show me?" Looking up at him from beneath his eyelashes Takato steeled himself for Lee's reaction.

This was crunch time. Either Lee had been asking a perfectly normal question, expecting a perfectly normal answer, or he had been hinting at something more. Takato desperately hoped it was the latter. And then Lee was leaning in close to him, so close he could feel his warm breath upon his own dry lips. They were eye to eye and perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but Lee's usually sharp grey eyes looked strangely soft. Frightened to break the silence that had descended between them, Takato nervously licked his lips. Then Lee whispered something that jumpstarted his heart into action, making it race at twice its normal speed. "It would be my pleasure." His eyes widened in surprise before sliding closed as Lee gently pressed his lips onto Takato's. The kiss was light and gentle, just two pairs of lips pressed together for the first time. Slipping his arms up around Lee's neck, Takato leaned in deeper, feeling Lee's arms enclosing his waist. Beneath the mistletoe they melted into each other's embrace, lips locked together as flakes of snow drifted gently around them, glittering in the pale moonlight.

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High up above the kissing figures and above the mistletoe, hidden deep within the conifer foliage, two girls sat huddled together, giggling softly.

The End

So, what do you think? ^_^ I sense possible hints of femmeslash…anyone like the idea of a Juri/Ruki sequel? Ideas, comments, criticisms all welcome! And, in the words of someone I don't know, flames will be used to roast marshmallows! (or marshmellows if you're American). Thanks for reading!

Skye xXx