Okies, here's the next chapter. It's MUCH longer this time. And I
forgot to mention something. This special is based off stats from both
Guardian and Forever Angel, so if you notice the mixing, that's why. I had
a lot of fun writing this chapter.........killed myself laughing over a few
parts. Hope you enjoy! ^______^
(P.S: When I put a full line of #'s, it's an Authoress' Note. When I just put half a line of #'s, it's a change of scene or perspective.)
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After two hours of hard thinking, the girls had come up with an elaborate plan for a Christmas party. Also the different jobs had been assigned to their volunteers and the next day they started bright and early. Mai and Isis were in charge of shopping for the gowns, Tea and Seren were working on music and food, Kurry and Kitty were going to decorate the 'ballroom' and Kat was dispatched to inform the guys. However, she was warned not to give any more info than they needed to know. So now Kat was on her way down the street to Ryou and Bakura's house, where Kitty had sensed the guys to be.
Kat had only knocked once when Bakura flung open the door. She jumped back, startled.
'Ryou saw you from the window. C'mon in,' Bakura said, in his rather gravelly voice that always sent lovely shivers up and down Kat's spine. She followed him into the (relatively) tidy living room where the other guys were lounging about. Most of them rose as she came in.
'Yo, Kat, what's up?' Yugi greeted her.
'And where have you girls been hiding?' Ryou asked in his soft spoken way.
Kat grinned at her boyfriend's hikari. 'We've got a surprise for you lot. We girls have been planning a little Christmas party.'
All the guys were intrigued now. Malik glanced over from where he was stretched out on the couch. Seto raised his head and Yami sat forward in his chair. 'Go on,' Bakura prompted his koi.
Kat grinned smugly, withholding, then said, 'Oh alright, I'll tell you. The party's gonna be on Christmas Eve at Seto's.' Seto looked indignant for a sec, then he grinned sheepishly. 'Oh, I guess that means Kitty found the ballroom.'
All the guys raised eyebrows at that. Kat continued. 'We'll get the invitations made so that nobody else can sneak in. Formal dress, just so ya know and we'll need a few of your footmen for the evening, Seto.' The tall CEO nodded his consent.
The wheels slowly turning in Malik's head suddenly clicked. 'Formal dress?' he repeated. Kat nodded. Malik grinned slyly. 'What's Kurry wearing?'
'Not talking,' said Kat defiantly.
'What? Oh c'mon!' a chorus of guys cried. Bakura stepped menacingly in front of Kat, guarding her from the onslaught.
'That would ruin the surprise now, wouldn't it?' Kat grinned, safe behind Bakura's strong frame. 'Y'all will just have to be patient, okay? It's only for two more days, then you'll see. By the way, if any of you are planning to come, you have that long to figure out what to wear. I'd better be getting back. The others need help.' Kat turned to go, paused, then turned back and gestured at Seto. 'By the way, Kitty told me to threaten you with everything under the sun if you even think about trying to find out the plan. You'll be told when we are ready. And that warning I'm extending to all of you. It's a SURPRISE, got it?' Her vivid green eyes flashed and the boys gulped and nodded. Satisfied, Kat turned and left. As soon as the door shut, all pandemonium broke loose.
'Oh man, two days!' Malik groaned, collapsing back on the couch.
'What the heck am I going to WEAR?!?' Joey hollered, to no-one in particular.
'Anybody know what Kat wants for Christmas?' Bakura asked.
Dead silence, then complete panic.
'GAH! I have no idea what to get for Tea!' Yugi cried out.
'SAME HERE!' came the resounding reply.
Yugi: @____@ 'Loud.'
Seto stood up. Being tall had its advantages. 'QUIET!' he bellowed. The room froze, still as a winter morning.
Seto inclined his head. 'Thank you. It seems that if the girls have such elaborate ideas, we should make a few plans ourselves. Throw some ideas out and we'll have a discussion.'
He sat down. The other boys nodded and began to plan in considerably quieter voices. ^______^
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Back at the mansion, the girls were well into their preparations. When Kat got back she'd borrowed Kitty's laptop and was hard at work on the invitations. Tea and Seren were multitasking, listening to Christmas carols and baking at the same time. (They'd decided on a kind of buffet table, no dinner, just pick-what-you-want.) Kurry and Kitty were almost done making the décor, which included green curtains for the entrance, garland, wreaths and a Christmas tree in the corner. They'd been hard at work since ten o'clock and it was now almost noon. Mai and Isis turned up soon after, laden with boxes and shaking snow from their scarves and hair. The other girls hustled them into a temporary dressing room and gathered around, eyes alight with anticipation.
Isis began unloading boxes. 'We've got Tea's, Mai's, mine and Seren's,' she stated, glancing apologetically at the other three. 'I'm afraid we're having a little bit of trouble with you three, but we'll head back out right after we've had some lunch.' She opened a box and gently lifted out a lovely soft yellow gown. 'This is Tea's.'
Tea was beaming. 'Oh, it's beautiful! I love it!' she exclaimed, holding it up.
'So will Yugi,' Kurry muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Tea blushed.
Isis then lifted a pale pink dress out of its wrappings. 'Here Seren.'
Seren's eyes were shining. 'Wow!' she gasped, fingering the fabric. 'This feels like satin!'
Isis grinned and Seren gasped in shock. 'No way!'
'Yep, it is. Only the best,' Mai was grinning too.
'Thank you!'
'Mai's is purple and mine is soft red, almost burgundy, but not quite. If we want to get everyone else's dresses this afternoon, Mai and I would like some lunch,' Isis explained.
'Okay, we'll all take a break,' said Kat as the group made its way downstairs to the kitchen.
'Okay, so what do we have so far?' Kurry asked, pulling out the list as they all sat down to sandwiches.
'The invitations are done, I just need to print them,' Kat said, digging in hungrily.
'We've got two desserts made and the rest of the meal is planned. Mostly hors d'oeuvres and veggie platters, that sort of thing,' Tea added.
'And we've got a few CD's we can use,' Seren put in.
'Four dresses and we're going out again,' Mai said tiredly. 'Oh, and we figured between us we'd have enough jewellery, so we didn't get anything new.'
'Okay,' said Kurry, checking those off. 'Plus Kitty and I are about a third of the way decorated.'
Quite pleased with their progress, the girls took a break and around one o'clock got back at it. Tea and Seren offered to clean up since they were working in the kitchen anyways.
'Wonder what the guys are doing?' Tea mused as she handed a dripping dish to Seren. Seren shrugged and put the dish in the rack to dry.
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The guys had, in fact, decided to brave blowing snow and irate shoppers in order to obtain gifts for their girls. So after a gruelling limo drive, they arrived at...the mall.
Once there, they split off, promising to keep a lookout for good gift ideas. Joey and Seto had actually agreed to work together on the basis of the Christmas season and the fact that Seto was completely lost on what to get Serenity. The two wandered around for awhile until they found themselves in one of those stores that sells cards and gifts, like Hallmark. Seto stopped short in front of a stuffed animal display and poked Joey in the back.
'You could get Mai one of these. That one would remind her of you.' Seto pointed. Joey looked.
It was a plush puppy.
Joey growled and would have pounced, but Seto cried, 'Ah ah ah! Breakables!' Then he took off, chuckling gaily. Joey 'humphed', then absently picked up the puppy and looked it over. It was wearing a Santa hat. It made him grin. Mai would love it.
Joey sighed in defeat and went to the checkout.
Seto was poking around on the other side of the store. Fondly picking up a snowglobe, he shook it and watched the snow fly. (Awww! ^__^) When he put it back down, his hand bumped against something behind it, which pinged. Seto cocked an eyebrow and peeked under the shelf. He drew out a kawaii little silver music box. Opening the lid, Seto smiled as it lit up and began to play 'Ode to Joy.'
'Seren'll love this,' Seto murmured to himself, shutting the lid and making his way to the cashier.
With Yami and Yugi, they'd decided to have a look in a department store to have a wider variety of gift ideas. Yami was absently wandering through the winter wear section. He paused to finger a scarf, then murmured, 'Aibou? If you were Isis, what would you want for Christmas?'
Yugi glanced over from the hats. 'Huh? Oh, I dunno. Something that shows you care. Something romantic, something sweet, kinda kawaii, you know,' he said casually. Then O-O! The two glanced at each other, then looked away, chuckling embarrassedly.
When they calmed down, Yami said, 'Ahem. Really, I have no idea what to buy. I mean, she's a goddess! What do you buy for a goddess!?' Poor Yami was starting to panic. Yugi placed a sympathetic hand on Yami's shoulder...then his attention was caught by a soft golden glow across the aisle. Yugi peered at it, then poked Yami in the shoulder. 'Yami, look!'
As Yami looked up, the Sennen Puzzle around his neck glowed in response. 'Is it another Sennen Item?' Yami asked in a hushed voice as they crept forward.
The glow died as they reached the stand. It turned out to be a gold- wrought jewellery box with the eye of Horus on it. Yami was puzzled. (No pun intended! XD) 'I thought there were only seven Sennen Items?'
Yugi blinked, then gasped. 'Heeeeeyy, maybe this was meant for you to give to Isis!'
'Yeah?'
'Yeah. The Puzzle responded to it. Remember the Tauk? It responded to that too the first time you met Isis. Maybe this is something of the same.'
Yami thought about it, then said, 'Alright, I'll get it. She needs something to keep the Tauk in anyways.'
Yugi grinned. 'Great. Now let's look for Tea.'
Ten minutes later, they found it. A pair of golden earrings in the shape of music notes. Yugi grinned happily as the cashier wrapped them, before rejoining Yami to head back out to the mall.
Malik, Bakura and Ryou had been unsuccessfully searching for something for Kurry, as Bakura said he had Kat's gift planned and Ryou refused to say anything, except that he'd had Kitty's gift for about a month. So now they were poking around the mall, peeking in shops and becoming increasingly discouraged.
Finally, they'd traversed the entire mall. There were two stores left; an optometrist and a jewellery store. Bakura chuckled. 'Well, unless you want to get her a new pair of glasses, I think we should go in there.' Malik and Ryou both rolled their eyes in exasperation.
They entered tentatively. The saleswoman gave them an odd look. 'For his girlfriend,' Ryou told her, pointing at Malik. Malik jumped. 'She's not my girlfriend!' he protested. 'Yet.' Bakura added in a low voice. Malik unconsciously grinned.
He'd been poking about the cases of jewellery for about ten minutes when he saw it. Quietly asking the clerk to remove it from the glass, Malik gently picked it up. It was a white-gold heart outlined in amethyst and sapphires on a delicate white-gold chain. It shone up at him and reminded Malik very much of the way Kurry's face always lit up when she smiled. He smiled as well, and called Bakura and Ryou over. Bakura let out a low whistle and Ryou beamed. 'Nice, mate. Is that the one?'
Malik nodded, absently still handling the necklace. 'It'll be perfect for when I give her my heart.'
Bakura grinned and clapped Malik on the back. 'That's pretty cool, mate.'
Finally satisfied, the three bishies left to rejoin the other guys at the food court.
The guys met up at a large table off to one side. Joey and Seto had been there for awhile and Joey was halfway through his third hamburger. Seto was pretending he didn't know Joey.
Yami and Yugi turned up, collapsing into chairs, and Malik, Ryou and Bakura appeared soon after. Seto waved them over.
'Well? How'd you do?' Seto asked over the noise of Joey eating.
'Gods, malls just sap the energy right out of me,' Yami said tiredly. Yugi grinned. 'Yeah, that and avoiding fangirls.' Yami shuddered. 'Uggh!'
Bakura grimaced. 'I know how you feel,' he muttered. The guys all chuckled.
Malik wasn't paying attention. He kept opening the box that housed his gift, grinning crazily and shutting the lid. Then he'd do it all over again a second later. Joey actually looked up from his meal and said, 'Whatcha got there, Malik?'
Malik jumped and snapped the box shut. 'Gah! Wha?'
Ryou grinned uncharacteristically evilly. 'Oh, he's thinkin' about his giiirrrrlllfriend again!' and burst out laughing.
'She's NOT my girlfriend!' Malik protested.
'She will be after you give her that,' said Bakura, motioning at the box.
'Ooo, what didja get her?' Joey asked, his hamburger forgotten.
Malik sighed in defeat. 'Alright, I'll show you. But if ANY of you breathe a WORD to Kurry, you'll be in the Shadow Realm before you can say Christmas.' And he opened the box.
The other boys oohed and ahhed at the sparkling pendant. Seto nodded, impressed. 'Well done mate. She'll love it.'
'Well, I hope so,' Malik sighed, tucking the box into his pocket. 'Ra, I'm nervous already.'
'Join the crowd,' muttered Joey. Everyone else nodded.
'Yeah, but it's obvious that your girls all like you. I dunno if Kurry's one way or the other,' Malik said.
'Well, naturally. You can tell if other people like each other, but you can never tell for yourself,' Seto said wisely. 'It's the same with me and Seren. The only thing we can do is show our feelings in the nicest way we can and hope they feel the same.'
The other guys nodded and then switched to watching Joey eat. (How riveting. -___-;) But Malik was still unsure. He absently reached into his pocket and fingered the box. It contained his only hope; the hope of winning one young angel's heart.
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Kurry blew a strand of hair out of her eyes as she heaved the heavy green curtains up to the hangers. Kitty glanced over from across the hall and shouted, 'Oy!' Kurry nearly dropped the curtain in surprise. Kitty flew up beside her and caught the curtain. 'You'll kill yourself trying to get theses up by yourself.' Kurry grinned sheepishly as she strung the curtains.
The two girls were nearly finished. One more curtain to hang and they'd be done. The ballroom looked splendid. Gold, red and green garland hung from the ceiling, meeting at the center chandelier. The Christmas tree sat fully decorated in the corner. The tables for the food were set up and so was the sound system. Kurry had also done a nifty thing with the walls. They'd opened the balcony doors and let snow blow in so it frosted the glass and walls, then Kurry put a spell on it so it wouldn't melt, but it wouldn't be cold either. When they lit the chandelier the whole place sparkled; a true Winter Wonderland. It looked wonderful.
Tea and Seren's hard work was paying off. They'd borrowed the fridge from the lounge and wheeled it into the wing of the house that Kat had sealed off to prevent the guys seeing anything before it was ready. (They'd taken over the entire wing for dressing rooms, work rooms and the ballroom.) That fridge was now stuffed with all sorts of edible goodies; cookies, brownies, hors d'oeuvres, veggie platters, dip, sauce, chips, you name it. Also, they'd gathered as much Christmas music as possible, plus a few slow songs that weren't Christmassy but they didn't care. The two filled the 5-CD stereo with music and set the controls to random. The ballroom was finished.
Mai and Isis had been hard at work as well. They'd found all the dresses in one day and were kept busy matching them to jewellery and such. They called everyone else to the 'dressing room' to see the finished products laid out on the beds.
'Wow!' Tea breathed.
'Beautiful,' Seren added, her face alight with joy.
Mai grinned proudly. 'We're all gonna look wonderful.'
'I've been thinking about the guys in tuxes,' Isis blushed, giggling.
'This is gonna be so much fun!' Kat was hopping excitedly on one foot.
'Yes it is. I can't wait to see the look on my dear brother's face when he sees you in this, Kurry,' Isis teased, straightening the gown.
Kurry went beet red, but replied, 'What makes you think he'll say anything?'
'Oho! You must be blind as a bat, girl!' Mai exclaimed.
'It's absolutely obvious,' Seren added.
'Yeah, right, I'm so sure,' Kurry said, rather sarcastically.
'Well, you'll see.' Isis was grinning, but then she hissed 'Shhh!' and frowned.
All of the girls paused and from downstairs there was a faint shout.
'We're back!'
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH!!'
Isis took command. She shoved Kurry, who was closest to the door, out in the hall, saying, 'Stall them!' before she slammed the door shut. The other girls were frantically hanging up dresses behind her.
Kurry sighed and made her way through the barrier to downstairs.
Malik was on his way up when Kurry appeared before him, wings outstretched to block the stairwell.
'Hello,' she said calmly, grinning.
'Er, hi,' Malik replied, trying to see past her. She took a few steps down and fanned her wings at him, hearing the barrier go back up behind her. 'You couldn't go up there anyways. Kat's got the barrier up.'
'Awww!' Malik whined playfully. Kurry grinned and folded her wings. A strand of hair fell in her face and she 'foofed' it out of the way. Without thinking, Malik reached up and tucked it behind her ear. Kurry blushed and Malik suddenly realised what he just did. He went scarlet. 'Er...' Kurry smiled fondly and said, 'Where are the others?' Malik looked relieved and replied, 'Oh, they're, uh, they're downstairs.'
'Okay.' Kurry edged past him and continued down the stairs. Malik glanced up the stairs, made a flash decision and dashed after Kurry.
Kurry entered the lounge where the other guys were. 'Hullo all. The others will be down in a minute.' She sauntered over to an empty window seat, high-fiveing Bakura and Ryou along the way.
The boys were acting very casual, but Kurry noticed them sending significant glances at each other. She smiled and curled up on the window seat. Malik paused in the door, gazing absently at Kurry as she let her hair down. Bakura snickered and made googly eyes at his friend. Then the other girls came down.
'Hizerz!' Kitty cried, bouncing into the room and landing (somehow) next to Ryou. (XD) Kat flopped on the couch next to Bakura, who put an arm around her. Isis went over to Yami, who pulled her onto his lap. Tea and Seren split to their respective guys, who grinned at them in greeting. ^_^
'Boy am I tired!' Kat exclaimed.
'No kidding. We worked hard,' Kitty added.
'Everything's ready, we just need to wait till tomorrow,' Mai said teasingly. The guys all groaned.
'Oh, that reminds me!' Kat leaped up and dashed out. 'I'll be back in awhile!' Bakura threw his arms up in defeat. 'Some days I just can't keep up with her!' Everyone chuckled.
'Hey, we didn't decorate the rest of the house!' Kitty exclaimed suddenly.
'Ooo, let's do that all together!' Isis cried excitedly.
'YEAH!' Suddenly energised, the gang leapt up and headed for the front hall.
Kitty was the first one out. She leapt off the steps and into a snowbank. Laughing gaily, she rolled to face the door. Ryou stuck his head out. 'Oy! How's the temp?'
'Wonderful!' Kitty hollered back. 'Get out here!' Ryou grinned and pulled his head back in.
'C'mon guys, the weather's great!' he hollered at the people in the hall, then ran out to join Kitty.
The others soon arrived. Yami chucked a snowball at Bakura, who threw one back but hit Kurry, while Malik launched a barrage at Bakura for that, and...let's just say it went downhill from there. (Sorry Kitty, gotta borrow some of your snowball scene.) Bakura teamed up with Seto and Ryou in pummelling Malik, until Kurry crept behind those three and used her powerful wings to fan a load of snow on them. They were literally buried. Kurry winced. 'Oops.' Malik gaped at her, then burst out laughing as Bakura's disgruntled head popped out of the snow. As a truce, Kurry and Malik helped dig them out, but Ryou gasped that he'd be spitting snow for a week, which set them all off.
Kat turned up half an hour later. 'Where were you, koi?' Bakura asked. Kat shrugged. 'Oh, you'll find out later,' she said slyly, giving Bakura a quick kiss to divert him. It worked.
Yugi and Tea were sitting in a snowbank and checking out snowflakes. Yugi was saying, 'No two snowflakes are ever the same 'cause the crystals grow differently every time.'
'Yeah?' Tea said, paying more attention to Yugi than to the snowflakes.
'Yeah. Never ever ever, in the HISTORY of snowflakes!' he exaggerated. Tea giggled. 'Your hair is gonna turn into one big snowflake.' Yugi looked at her, then said, 'Oh, hold on, you've got one on your nose.' And he lightly pinged her nose with one mittened finger. She blushed.
Mai and Joey had wandered down the lane a little. Mai paused to sit on the edge of the frozen fountain. Joey watched her fondly, then his eyes lit up and he scooped up a handful of snow. When Mai turned back to him, Joey held out a perfectly fashioned snow rose. Mai gasped. 'Wow Joey, that's really cool.'
'Yeah? Thanks. I used to sit in the backyard for hours and make these. We'd line the walk with them,' Joey told her.
'That's cool. Literally!' Mai joked, grinning.
Joey: ^_____^
Kitty, Kat and Kurry had gone to the attic to get the decorations. It being a big mansion, there were a LOT of lights. Kurry found the outside outlet and started from there. Kitty started at the other end, and Seto got a ladder so he could put up wreaths.
He'd just hauled the wreath box over to the ladder when there was a shriek from the roof. Without anyone noticing, Seren had gone up to the roof. But it was icy and she slipped. Seto's eyes bugged out. The poor girl was hanging from the edge of the roof.
'Seren!'
Seto was up the ladder in two seconds flat. Crouching, he inched his way towards Seren. 'Give me your hand,' he commanded.
'No! I'll pull you off!'
'Seren! Give me your hand! Now!'
As she reached for him, the other hand slipped. Like lightning, Seto caught her and with a mighty heave she was safe in his arms. Seren shuddered, the shock of it just coming upon her. Seto held her tight until she stopped shaking. 'Gods, Seren, you scared me! Are you hurt?'
Seren blinked up at him. 'No, I'm alright. You saved my life.' Seto hugged her again, eyes wide with fright. 'I couldn't bear to lose you too,' he whispered, mostly to himself, but Seren heard and blushed.
Kurry landed near them on the roof. 'Great Ra, Seren, are you alright?' she cried. 'I couldn't get close enough, the roof would have fouled my wings. Joey's fainted, by the way. C'mon, we'd better get down. Hold on tight to her Seto.' And Kurry lifted Seto and Seren off the roof to the ground, Seren tight in Seto's grasp.
Joey had indeed fainted. Mai woke him up by sprinkling snow on his face. He sat straight up, yelled, 'Seren!' and dashed over to her. Taking her by the shoulders, he shook her a little. 'What were you thinkin'? Ya could've been killed!'
'I wanted to start putting the lights in the sockets,' Seren protested. 'I'm not a little kid anymore, Joey!' Joey looked pained. 'I know, Seren, but you're the only family I have left. I dun wanna lose you.'
'Now, that's not entirely true. You have me,' Kurry piped up.
'And me!' Yugi added.
'And me.' Mai said.
Seren smiled softly at her distraught brother. 'You will never lose me 'cause I'll always be right here.' She tapped his heart. 'And we have our friends around us. Don't be afraid, Joey. It's Christmas, we're all together and we're happy. What more could we want?'
Joey was shaking. Tea leaned over to Isis and muttered, 'Poor guy, he's gonna weep.' And sure enough, Joey caught Seren in a hug, sobbing. 'Sorry.'
Seren smiled fondly and hugged him back. 'Don't be.' 'AWWWWW!' Everyone said. 'Kawaii!' added Mai. The siblings broke apart, Joey half-heartedly trying to convince everyone that he had something in his eye. Kurry grinned and gave her guarded a hug, then everyone went back to decorating.
By the time it was fully dark, all the lights had been put up and the wreaths were hung. Everyone gathered at the front of the house and Seto signalled to Kurry.
'Okay, go!'
Kurry flew up and plugged the lights in. The group gasped in delight as the entire mansion lit up. Kat hugged Bakura around the middle and Seren, Tea and Isis followed her example. (With their guys, not Bakura. Lol.) Kitty was a little surprised when Ryou put his arm about her waist, but she leaned into him, both grinning. Malik, gazing up at the house, jumped a little when a warm hand slipped into his and squeezed gently. He glanced sideways at Kurry, who smiled at him. Malik smiled back, a funny little half-smile as he felt his heart go thump. Then he blinked and shook his head to clear it. But he did not drop Kurry's hand.
After a few minutes of admiring their handiwork, the group headed back inside for hot chocolate. Kitty and Kurry went into the kitchen to prepare it, while everyone else went to the lounge.
Kurry went over to the fridge for the milk, but Kitty stood still, tapping her foot and smirking. Kurry turned to her. 'What?'
'I saw that.'
'Saw what?'
'You were holding his hand.'
'So? I felt like it.'
'Uh huh. Good for you.'
'We're just friends, Kitty. If he liked me more than that he would've said something.'
'No way, he's too shy?'
'Malik? Shy? You've gotta be kidding me.'
'I'm not. He always gets all nervous whenever you're around.'
Kurry paused, her back to Kitty, then sighed and said, 'Don't get my hopes up, okay? I don't think anybody'll ever like me that way.' She sounded really dejected. Kitty blinked. 'Aw, Kurry,' she said sympathetically as she hugged her friend. Kurry sighed again. 'Yeah. C'mon, the hot chocolate's ready.'
By the time they'd distributed the drinks, Kurry was back to her regular self. Or so it seemed. She perched on one end of the couch and sipped her hot chocolate calmly. But inside she was all churned up. And she just couldn't look at Malik right now.
'Yo, everybody sleep in tomorrow, then around one we'll kick Seto out and you girls all come over to get ready,' Kat said. Seren giggled. 'Sorry Seto, but we can't risk you peeking in anywhere.' Seto pouted. Ryou chuckled. 'It's alright. You can come over to our place. We'll all get ready there.'
Everyone nodded, then Joey, Mai and Seren got up to leave. Yami and Yugi soon followed, as well as Ryou and Bakura, then Tea, Isis and Malik. Kurry waved kinda absently as they left, then realised Malik was gone and dashed to the window only to see them drive away. Her face fell completely, then she shook herself. 'I'm very tired, I think I'll go to bed,' Kurry told the others, taking her hot chocolate with her. Kat followed, also tired.
Kitty frowned. 'Dammit.' Seto glanced up at her. 'What's wrong?' he asked. Kitty sighed. 'Kurry's dejected again.' Seto looked confused. 'What does that mean?'
'She's afraid.'
'Kurry? Afraid? Of what?'
'Being alone. I think she thinks she's never gonna be able to care again without being hurt. She's been alone for a long time. I mean, she has me and Kat, but she was left out of a lot in the academy because she 'associated' with us. I mean, I know and you know that it's not right and believe me, Kat and I appreciate her friendship, but sometimes I think she realises just what she's missed and it hits her hard.'
'But we're different,' Seto pointed out. 'We don't care. You guys are cool.'
Kitty grinned. 'Thanks. We know that you guys are our friends and we love y'all for it. But Kurry's built up a defence system to anything more than friendship. She doesn't want to be hurt again. Believe me, she's softened up a LOT since we came here. It used to be that she didn't trust anybody.'
'Well then, how did she come to trust you?' Seto asked.
Kitty's eyes glazed over, remembering. 'I saved her life.'
'What?!?'
'She was down. Her boyfriend had hurt her terribly. I found her...she'd started plucking her wings and was weakened...fair game for any evil demons going about. Kat and I healed her and got her back on her feet. I think she was surprised that demons would help her. We've been close ever since. But the others rejected her...she didn't care. But when she became strong again, she'd lost her trust. Kat and I were the only one's she trusted. And I hate to say it, but she's still iffy about you guys.'
Seto gaped at her. 'Wow.' Then her last sentence hit home. 'You mean Malik, don't you?'
Kitty blinked, returning to the present. 'Yes. He's getting through to her, but slowly.'
Seto blinked in surprise. 'Wow. And I thought you had it bad...'
'Oh I do, and it hurts. But Kurry, Kat and I are a team and I know that they'll be there for me, as I will be there for them.'
Seto glanced down at his feet. 'Er, well, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm here for you too.'
Kitty smiled fondly at her guarded. 'I know. You're my best friend. And I thank you for that. But, um...don't mention any of this to the others, okay? Especially Malik. First, Kurry would kill me, and second, I want her to learn that she can let herself care again. Alright?'
Seto nodded gravely. 'You have my word.'
Kitty stretched leisurely. 'Good. And now, off to bed. It'll be fun tomorrow. Merry Christmas, Seto.'
'Merry Christmas Kitty.'
She left her guarded sitting on the floor, musing.
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Kurry was perched on her room's window seat, gazing out at the falling snow, her hot chocolate grown cold beside her. Her mind was in turmoil, too much so to sleep. She was thinking about...things. Trying to sort out her muddled mind was more like it.
+ Tomorrow is Christmas. I'm going to spend it with my dearest friends. Nothing matters more than that. Although with one person I wish it did.....no Kurry, you cannot think like that. Don't go deeper, you'll only end up being hurt again. Just have a good time tomorrow and you'll be fine.+
Kurry slid off the window seat, stretched and flexed her wings. Retracting them completely, she climbed into bed.
+You are strong. Be strong.+ Kurry often told herself this, but sometimes it was hard to believe. Even from herself.
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There. That was the angsty bit. The next chapter is gonna be FUN, but as I don't even have the darnnish thing typed yet it might take a couple days. But never fear, I have it all pre-written, so it will be done! *giggles* Sorries, I'm a little hyper. Mincemeat tarts. Nyum! *giggles again* Please review! ^______^
(P.S: When I put a full line of #'s, it's an Authoress' Note. When I just put half a line of #'s, it's a change of scene or perspective.)
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After two hours of hard thinking, the girls had come up with an elaborate plan for a Christmas party. Also the different jobs had been assigned to their volunteers and the next day they started bright and early. Mai and Isis were in charge of shopping for the gowns, Tea and Seren were working on music and food, Kurry and Kitty were going to decorate the 'ballroom' and Kat was dispatched to inform the guys. However, she was warned not to give any more info than they needed to know. So now Kat was on her way down the street to Ryou and Bakura's house, where Kitty had sensed the guys to be.
Kat had only knocked once when Bakura flung open the door. She jumped back, startled.
'Ryou saw you from the window. C'mon in,' Bakura said, in his rather gravelly voice that always sent lovely shivers up and down Kat's spine. She followed him into the (relatively) tidy living room where the other guys were lounging about. Most of them rose as she came in.
'Yo, Kat, what's up?' Yugi greeted her.
'And where have you girls been hiding?' Ryou asked in his soft spoken way.
Kat grinned at her boyfriend's hikari. 'We've got a surprise for you lot. We girls have been planning a little Christmas party.'
All the guys were intrigued now. Malik glanced over from where he was stretched out on the couch. Seto raised his head and Yami sat forward in his chair. 'Go on,' Bakura prompted his koi.
Kat grinned smugly, withholding, then said, 'Oh alright, I'll tell you. The party's gonna be on Christmas Eve at Seto's.' Seto looked indignant for a sec, then he grinned sheepishly. 'Oh, I guess that means Kitty found the ballroom.'
All the guys raised eyebrows at that. Kat continued. 'We'll get the invitations made so that nobody else can sneak in. Formal dress, just so ya know and we'll need a few of your footmen for the evening, Seto.' The tall CEO nodded his consent.
The wheels slowly turning in Malik's head suddenly clicked. 'Formal dress?' he repeated. Kat nodded. Malik grinned slyly. 'What's Kurry wearing?'
'Not talking,' said Kat defiantly.
'What? Oh c'mon!' a chorus of guys cried. Bakura stepped menacingly in front of Kat, guarding her from the onslaught.
'That would ruin the surprise now, wouldn't it?' Kat grinned, safe behind Bakura's strong frame. 'Y'all will just have to be patient, okay? It's only for two more days, then you'll see. By the way, if any of you are planning to come, you have that long to figure out what to wear. I'd better be getting back. The others need help.' Kat turned to go, paused, then turned back and gestured at Seto. 'By the way, Kitty told me to threaten you with everything under the sun if you even think about trying to find out the plan. You'll be told when we are ready. And that warning I'm extending to all of you. It's a SURPRISE, got it?' Her vivid green eyes flashed and the boys gulped and nodded. Satisfied, Kat turned and left. As soon as the door shut, all pandemonium broke loose.
'Oh man, two days!' Malik groaned, collapsing back on the couch.
'What the heck am I going to WEAR?!?' Joey hollered, to no-one in particular.
'Anybody know what Kat wants for Christmas?' Bakura asked.
Dead silence, then complete panic.
'GAH! I have no idea what to get for Tea!' Yugi cried out.
'SAME HERE!' came the resounding reply.
Yugi: @____@ 'Loud.'
Seto stood up. Being tall had its advantages. 'QUIET!' he bellowed. The room froze, still as a winter morning.
Seto inclined his head. 'Thank you. It seems that if the girls have such elaborate ideas, we should make a few plans ourselves. Throw some ideas out and we'll have a discussion.'
He sat down. The other boys nodded and began to plan in considerably quieter voices. ^______^
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Back at the mansion, the girls were well into their preparations. When Kat got back she'd borrowed Kitty's laptop and was hard at work on the invitations. Tea and Seren were multitasking, listening to Christmas carols and baking at the same time. (They'd decided on a kind of buffet table, no dinner, just pick-what-you-want.) Kurry and Kitty were almost done making the décor, which included green curtains for the entrance, garland, wreaths and a Christmas tree in the corner. They'd been hard at work since ten o'clock and it was now almost noon. Mai and Isis turned up soon after, laden with boxes and shaking snow from their scarves and hair. The other girls hustled them into a temporary dressing room and gathered around, eyes alight with anticipation.
Isis began unloading boxes. 'We've got Tea's, Mai's, mine and Seren's,' she stated, glancing apologetically at the other three. 'I'm afraid we're having a little bit of trouble with you three, but we'll head back out right after we've had some lunch.' She opened a box and gently lifted out a lovely soft yellow gown. 'This is Tea's.'
Tea was beaming. 'Oh, it's beautiful! I love it!' she exclaimed, holding it up.
'So will Yugi,' Kurry muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Tea blushed.
Isis then lifted a pale pink dress out of its wrappings. 'Here Seren.'
Seren's eyes were shining. 'Wow!' she gasped, fingering the fabric. 'This feels like satin!'
Isis grinned and Seren gasped in shock. 'No way!'
'Yep, it is. Only the best,' Mai was grinning too.
'Thank you!'
'Mai's is purple and mine is soft red, almost burgundy, but not quite. If we want to get everyone else's dresses this afternoon, Mai and I would like some lunch,' Isis explained.
'Okay, we'll all take a break,' said Kat as the group made its way downstairs to the kitchen.
'Okay, so what do we have so far?' Kurry asked, pulling out the list as they all sat down to sandwiches.
'The invitations are done, I just need to print them,' Kat said, digging in hungrily.
'We've got two desserts made and the rest of the meal is planned. Mostly hors d'oeuvres and veggie platters, that sort of thing,' Tea added.
'And we've got a few CD's we can use,' Seren put in.
'Four dresses and we're going out again,' Mai said tiredly. 'Oh, and we figured between us we'd have enough jewellery, so we didn't get anything new.'
'Okay,' said Kurry, checking those off. 'Plus Kitty and I are about a third of the way decorated.'
Quite pleased with their progress, the girls took a break and around one o'clock got back at it. Tea and Seren offered to clean up since they were working in the kitchen anyways.
'Wonder what the guys are doing?' Tea mused as she handed a dripping dish to Seren. Seren shrugged and put the dish in the rack to dry.
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The guys had, in fact, decided to brave blowing snow and irate shoppers in order to obtain gifts for their girls. So after a gruelling limo drive, they arrived at...the mall.
Once there, they split off, promising to keep a lookout for good gift ideas. Joey and Seto had actually agreed to work together on the basis of the Christmas season and the fact that Seto was completely lost on what to get Serenity. The two wandered around for awhile until they found themselves in one of those stores that sells cards and gifts, like Hallmark. Seto stopped short in front of a stuffed animal display and poked Joey in the back.
'You could get Mai one of these. That one would remind her of you.' Seto pointed. Joey looked.
It was a plush puppy.
Joey growled and would have pounced, but Seto cried, 'Ah ah ah! Breakables!' Then he took off, chuckling gaily. Joey 'humphed', then absently picked up the puppy and looked it over. It was wearing a Santa hat. It made him grin. Mai would love it.
Joey sighed in defeat and went to the checkout.
Seto was poking around on the other side of the store. Fondly picking up a snowglobe, he shook it and watched the snow fly. (Awww! ^__^) When he put it back down, his hand bumped against something behind it, which pinged. Seto cocked an eyebrow and peeked under the shelf. He drew out a kawaii little silver music box. Opening the lid, Seto smiled as it lit up and began to play 'Ode to Joy.'
'Seren'll love this,' Seto murmured to himself, shutting the lid and making his way to the cashier.
With Yami and Yugi, they'd decided to have a look in a department store to have a wider variety of gift ideas. Yami was absently wandering through the winter wear section. He paused to finger a scarf, then murmured, 'Aibou? If you were Isis, what would you want for Christmas?'
Yugi glanced over from the hats. 'Huh? Oh, I dunno. Something that shows you care. Something romantic, something sweet, kinda kawaii, you know,' he said casually. Then O-O! The two glanced at each other, then looked away, chuckling embarrassedly.
When they calmed down, Yami said, 'Ahem. Really, I have no idea what to buy. I mean, she's a goddess! What do you buy for a goddess!?' Poor Yami was starting to panic. Yugi placed a sympathetic hand on Yami's shoulder...then his attention was caught by a soft golden glow across the aisle. Yugi peered at it, then poked Yami in the shoulder. 'Yami, look!'
As Yami looked up, the Sennen Puzzle around his neck glowed in response. 'Is it another Sennen Item?' Yami asked in a hushed voice as they crept forward.
The glow died as they reached the stand. It turned out to be a gold- wrought jewellery box with the eye of Horus on it. Yami was puzzled. (No pun intended! XD) 'I thought there were only seven Sennen Items?'
Yugi blinked, then gasped. 'Heeeeeyy, maybe this was meant for you to give to Isis!'
'Yeah?'
'Yeah. The Puzzle responded to it. Remember the Tauk? It responded to that too the first time you met Isis. Maybe this is something of the same.'
Yami thought about it, then said, 'Alright, I'll get it. She needs something to keep the Tauk in anyways.'
Yugi grinned. 'Great. Now let's look for Tea.'
Ten minutes later, they found it. A pair of golden earrings in the shape of music notes. Yugi grinned happily as the cashier wrapped them, before rejoining Yami to head back out to the mall.
Malik, Bakura and Ryou had been unsuccessfully searching for something for Kurry, as Bakura said he had Kat's gift planned and Ryou refused to say anything, except that he'd had Kitty's gift for about a month. So now they were poking around the mall, peeking in shops and becoming increasingly discouraged.
Finally, they'd traversed the entire mall. There were two stores left; an optometrist and a jewellery store. Bakura chuckled. 'Well, unless you want to get her a new pair of glasses, I think we should go in there.' Malik and Ryou both rolled their eyes in exasperation.
They entered tentatively. The saleswoman gave them an odd look. 'For his girlfriend,' Ryou told her, pointing at Malik. Malik jumped. 'She's not my girlfriend!' he protested. 'Yet.' Bakura added in a low voice. Malik unconsciously grinned.
He'd been poking about the cases of jewellery for about ten minutes when he saw it. Quietly asking the clerk to remove it from the glass, Malik gently picked it up. It was a white-gold heart outlined in amethyst and sapphires on a delicate white-gold chain. It shone up at him and reminded Malik very much of the way Kurry's face always lit up when she smiled. He smiled as well, and called Bakura and Ryou over. Bakura let out a low whistle and Ryou beamed. 'Nice, mate. Is that the one?'
Malik nodded, absently still handling the necklace. 'It'll be perfect for when I give her my heart.'
Bakura grinned and clapped Malik on the back. 'That's pretty cool, mate.'
Finally satisfied, the three bishies left to rejoin the other guys at the food court.
The guys met up at a large table off to one side. Joey and Seto had been there for awhile and Joey was halfway through his third hamburger. Seto was pretending he didn't know Joey.
Yami and Yugi turned up, collapsing into chairs, and Malik, Ryou and Bakura appeared soon after. Seto waved them over.
'Well? How'd you do?' Seto asked over the noise of Joey eating.
'Gods, malls just sap the energy right out of me,' Yami said tiredly. Yugi grinned. 'Yeah, that and avoiding fangirls.' Yami shuddered. 'Uggh!'
Bakura grimaced. 'I know how you feel,' he muttered. The guys all chuckled.
Malik wasn't paying attention. He kept opening the box that housed his gift, grinning crazily and shutting the lid. Then he'd do it all over again a second later. Joey actually looked up from his meal and said, 'Whatcha got there, Malik?'
Malik jumped and snapped the box shut. 'Gah! Wha?'
Ryou grinned uncharacteristically evilly. 'Oh, he's thinkin' about his giiirrrrlllfriend again!' and burst out laughing.
'She's NOT my girlfriend!' Malik protested.
'She will be after you give her that,' said Bakura, motioning at the box.
'Ooo, what didja get her?' Joey asked, his hamburger forgotten.
Malik sighed in defeat. 'Alright, I'll show you. But if ANY of you breathe a WORD to Kurry, you'll be in the Shadow Realm before you can say Christmas.' And he opened the box.
The other boys oohed and ahhed at the sparkling pendant. Seto nodded, impressed. 'Well done mate. She'll love it.'
'Well, I hope so,' Malik sighed, tucking the box into his pocket. 'Ra, I'm nervous already.'
'Join the crowd,' muttered Joey. Everyone else nodded.
'Yeah, but it's obvious that your girls all like you. I dunno if Kurry's one way or the other,' Malik said.
'Well, naturally. You can tell if other people like each other, but you can never tell for yourself,' Seto said wisely. 'It's the same with me and Seren. The only thing we can do is show our feelings in the nicest way we can and hope they feel the same.'
The other guys nodded and then switched to watching Joey eat. (How riveting. -___-;) But Malik was still unsure. He absently reached into his pocket and fingered the box. It contained his only hope; the hope of winning one young angel's heart.
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Kurry blew a strand of hair out of her eyes as she heaved the heavy green curtains up to the hangers. Kitty glanced over from across the hall and shouted, 'Oy!' Kurry nearly dropped the curtain in surprise. Kitty flew up beside her and caught the curtain. 'You'll kill yourself trying to get theses up by yourself.' Kurry grinned sheepishly as she strung the curtains.
The two girls were nearly finished. One more curtain to hang and they'd be done. The ballroom looked splendid. Gold, red and green garland hung from the ceiling, meeting at the center chandelier. The Christmas tree sat fully decorated in the corner. The tables for the food were set up and so was the sound system. Kurry had also done a nifty thing with the walls. They'd opened the balcony doors and let snow blow in so it frosted the glass and walls, then Kurry put a spell on it so it wouldn't melt, but it wouldn't be cold either. When they lit the chandelier the whole place sparkled; a true Winter Wonderland. It looked wonderful.
Tea and Seren's hard work was paying off. They'd borrowed the fridge from the lounge and wheeled it into the wing of the house that Kat had sealed off to prevent the guys seeing anything before it was ready. (They'd taken over the entire wing for dressing rooms, work rooms and the ballroom.) That fridge was now stuffed with all sorts of edible goodies; cookies, brownies, hors d'oeuvres, veggie platters, dip, sauce, chips, you name it. Also, they'd gathered as much Christmas music as possible, plus a few slow songs that weren't Christmassy but they didn't care. The two filled the 5-CD stereo with music and set the controls to random. The ballroom was finished.
Mai and Isis had been hard at work as well. They'd found all the dresses in one day and were kept busy matching them to jewellery and such. They called everyone else to the 'dressing room' to see the finished products laid out on the beds.
'Wow!' Tea breathed.
'Beautiful,' Seren added, her face alight with joy.
Mai grinned proudly. 'We're all gonna look wonderful.'
'I've been thinking about the guys in tuxes,' Isis blushed, giggling.
'This is gonna be so much fun!' Kat was hopping excitedly on one foot.
'Yes it is. I can't wait to see the look on my dear brother's face when he sees you in this, Kurry,' Isis teased, straightening the gown.
Kurry went beet red, but replied, 'What makes you think he'll say anything?'
'Oho! You must be blind as a bat, girl!' Mai exclaimed.
'It's absolutely obvious,' Seren added.
'Yeah, right, I'm so sure,' Kurry said, rather sarcastically.
'Well, you'll see.' Isis was grinning, but then she hissed 'Shhh!' and frowned.
All of the girls paused and from downstairs there was a faint shout.
'We're back!'
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH!!'
Isis took command. She shoved Kurry, who was closest to the door, out in the hall, saying, 'Stall them!' before she slammed the door shut. The other girls were frantically hanging up dresses behind her.
Kurry sighed and made her way through the barrier to downstairs.
Malik was on his way up when Kurry appeared before him, wings outstretched to block the stairwell.
'Hello,' she said calmly, grinning.
'Er, hi,' Malik replied, trying to see past her. She took a few steps down and fanned her wings at him, hearing the barrier go back up behind her. 'You couldn't go up there anyways. Kat's got the barrier up.'
'Awww!' Malik whined playfully. Kurry grinned and folded her wings. A strand of hair fell in her face and she 'foofed' it out of the way. Without thinking, Malik reached up and tucked it behind her ear. Kurry blushed and Malik suddenly realised what he just did. He went scarlet. 'Er...' Kurry smiled fondly and said, 'Where are the others?' Malik looked relieved and replied, 'Oh, they're, uh, they're downstairs.'
'Okay.' Kurry edged past him and continued down the stairs. Malik glanced up the stairs, made a flash decision and dashed after Kurry.
Kurry entered the lounge where the other guys were. 'Hullo all. The others will be down in a minute.' She sauntered over to an empty window seat, high-fiveing Bakura and Ryou along the way.
The boys were acting very casual, but Kurry noticed them sending significant glances at each other. She smiled and curled up on the window seat. Malik paused in the door, gazing absently at Kurry as she let her hair down. Bakura snickered and made googly eyes at his friend. Then the other girls came down.
'Hizerz!' Kitty cried, bouncing into the room and landing (somehow) next to Ryou. (XD) Kat flopped on the couch next to Bakura, who put an arm around her. Isis went over to Yami, who pulled her onto his lap. Tea and Seren split to their respective guys, who grinned at them in greeting. ^_^
'Boy am I tired!' Kat exclaimed.
'No kidding. We worked hard,' Kitty added.
'Everything's ready, we just need to wait till tomorrow,' Mai said teasingly. The guys all groaned.
'Oh, that reminds me!' Kat leaped up and dashed out. 'I'll be back in awhile!' Bakura threw his arms up in defeat. 'Some days I just can't keep up with her!' Everyone chuckled.
'Hey, we didn't decorate the rest of the house!' Kitty exclaimed suddenly.
'Ooo, let's do that all together!' Isis cried excitedly.
'YEAH!' Suddenly energised, the gang leapt up and headed for the front hall.
Kitty was the first one out. She leapt off the steps and into a snowbank. Laughing gaily, she rolled to face the door. Ryou stuck his head out. 'Oy! How's the temp?'
'Wonderful!' Kitty hollered back. 'Get out here!' Ryou grinned and pulled his head back in.
'C'mon guys, the weather's great!' he hollered at the people in the hall, then ran out to join Kitty.
The others soon arrived. Yami chucked a snowball at Bakura, who threw one back but hit Kurry, while Malik launched a barrage at Bakura for that, and...let's just say it went downhill from there. (Sorry Kitty, gotta borrow some of your snowball scene.) Bakura teamed up with Seto and Ryou in pummelling Malik, until Kurry crept behind those three and used her powerful wings to fan a load of snow on them. They were literally buried. Kurry winced. 'Oops.' Malik gaped at her, then burst out laughing as Bakura's disgruntled head popped out of the snow. As a truce, Kurry and Malik helped dig them out, but Ryou gasped that he'd be spitting snow for a week, which set them all off.
Kat turned up half an hour later. 'Where were you, koi?' Bakura asked. Kat shrugged. 'Oh, you'll find out later,' she said slyly, giving Bakura a quick kiss to divert him. It worked.
Yugi and Tea were sitting in a snowbank and checking out snowflakes. Yugi was saying, 'No two snowflakes are ever the same 'cause the crystals grow differently every time.'
'Yeah?' Tea said, paying more attention to Yugi than to the snowflakes.
'Yeah. Never ever ever, in the HISTORY of snowflakes!' he exaggerated. Tea giggled. 'Your hair is gonna turn into one big snowflake.' Yugi looked at her, then said, 'Oh, hold on, you've got one on your nose.' And he lightly pinged her nose with one mittened finger. She blushed.
Mai and Joey had wandered down the lane a little. Mai paused to sit on the edge of the frozen fountain. Joey watched her fondly, then his eyes lit up and he scooped up a handful of snow. When Mai turned back to him, Joey held out a perfectly fashioned snow rose. Mai gasped. 'Wow Joey, that's really cool.'
'Yeah? Thanks. I used to sit in the backyard for hours and make these. We'd line the walk with them,' Joey told her.
'That's cool. Literally!' Mai joked, grinning.
Joey: ^_____^
Kitty, Kat and Kurry had gone to the attic to get the decorations. It being a big mansion, there were a LOT of lights. Kurry found the outside outlet and started from there. Kitty started at the other end, and Seto got a ladder so he could put up wreaths.
He'd just hauled the wreath box over to the ladder when there was a shriek from the roof. Without anyone noticing, Seren had gone up to the roof. But it was icy and she slipped. Seto's eyes bugged out. The poor girl was hanging from the edge of the roof.
'Seren!'
Seto was up the ladder in two seconds flat. Crouching, he inched his way towards Seren. 'Give me your hand,' he commanded.
'No! I'll pull you off!'
'Seren! Give me your hand! Now!'
As she reached for him, the other hand slipped. Like lightning, Seto caught her and with a mighty heave she was safe in his arms. Seren shuddered, the shock of it just coming upon her. Seto held her tight until she stopped shaking. 'Gods, Seren, you scared me! Are you hurt?'
Seren blinked up at him. 'No, I'm alright. You saved my life.' Seto hugged her again, eyes wide with fright. 'I couldn't bear to lose you too,' he whispered, mostly to himself, but Seren heard and blushed.
Kurry landed near them on the roof. 'Great Ra, Seren, are you alright?' she cried. 'I couldn't get close enough, the roof would have fouled my wings. Joey's fainted, by the way. C'mon, we'd better get down. Hold on tight to her Seto.' And Kurry lifted Seto and Seren off the roof to the ground, Seren tight in Seto's grasp.
Joey had indeed fainted. Mai woke him up by sprinkling snow on his face. He sat straight up, yelled, 'Seren!' and dashed over to her. Taking her by the shoulders, he shook her a little. 'What were you thinkin'? Ya could've been killed!'
'I wanted to start putting the lights in the sockets,' Seren protested. 'I'm not a little kid anymore, Joey!' Joey looked pained. 'I know, Seren, but you're the only family I have left. I dun wanna lose you.'
'Now, that's not entirely true. You have me,' Kurry piped up.
'And me!' Yugi added.
'And me.' Mai said.
Seren smiled softly at her distraught brother. 'You will never lose me 'cause I'll always be right here.' She tapped his heart. 'And we have our friends around us. Don't be afraid, Joey. It's Christmas, we're all together and we're happy. What more could we want?'
Joey was shaking. Tea leaned over to Isis and muttered, 'Poor guy, he's gonna weep.' And sure enough, Joey caught Seren in a hug, sobbing. 'Sorry.'
Seren smiled fondly and hugged him back. 'Don't be.' 'AWWWWW!' Everyone said. 'Kawaii!' added Mai. The siblings broke apart, Joey half-heartedly trying to convince everyone that he had something in his eye. Kurry grinned and gave her guarded a hug, then everyone went back to decorating.
By the time it was fully dark, all the lights had been put up and the wreaths were hung. Everyone gathered at the front of the house and Seto signalled to Kurry.
'Okay, go!'
Kurry flew up and plugged the lights in. The group gasped in delight as the entire mansion lit up. Kat hugged Bakura around the middle and Seren, Tea and Isis followed her example. (With their guys, not Bakura. Lol.) Kitty was a little surprised when Ryou put his arm about her waist, but she leaned into him, both grinning. Malik, gazing up at the house, jumped a little when a warm hand slipped into his and squeezed gently. He glanced sideways at Kurry, who smiled at him. Malik smiled back, a funny little half-smile as he felt his heart go thump. Then he blinked and shook his head to clear it. But he did not drop Kurry's hand.
After a few minutes of admiring their handiwork, the group headed back inside for hot chocolate. Kitty and Kurry went into the kitchen to prepare it, while everyone else went to the lounge.
Kurry went over to the fridge for the milk, but Kitty stood still, tapping her foot and smirking. Kurry turned to her. 'What?'
'I saw that.'
'Saw what?'
'You were holding his hand.'
'So? I felt like it.'
'Uh huh. Good for you.'
'We're just friends, Kitty. If he liked me more than that he would've said something.'
'No way, he's too shy?'
'Malik? Shy? You've gotta be kidding me.'
'I'm not. He always gets all nervous whenever you're around.'
Kurry paused, her back to Kitty, then sighed and said, 'Don't get my hopes up, okay? I don't think anybody'll ever like me that way.' She sounded really dejected. Kitty blinked. 'Aw, Kurry,' she said sympathetically as she hugged her friend. Kurry sighed again. 'Yeah. C'mon, the hot chocolate's ready.'
By the time they'd distributed the drinks, Kurry was back to her regular self. Or so it seemed. She perched on one end of the couch and sipped her hot chocolate calmly. But inside she was all churned up. And she just couldn't look at Malik right now.
'Yo, everybody sleep in tomorrow, then around one we'll kick Seto out and you girls all come over to get ready,' Kat said. Seren giggled. 'Sorry Seto, but we can't risk you peeking in anywhere.' Seto pouted. Ryou chuckled. 'It's alright. You can come over to our place. We'll all get ready there.'
Everyone nodded, then Joey, Mai and Seren got up to leave. Yami and Yugi soon followed, as well as Ryou and Bakura, then Tea, Isis and Malik. Kurry waved kinda absently as they left, then realised Malik was gone and dashed to the window only to see them drive away. Her face fell completely, then she shook herself. 'I'm very tired, I think I'll go to bed,' Kurry told the others, taking her hot chocolate with her. Kat followed, also tired.
Kitty frowned. 'Dammit.' Seto glanced up at her. 'What's wrong?' he asked. Kitty sighed. 'Kurry's dejected again.' Seto looked confused. 'What does that mean?'
'She's afraid.'
'Kurry? Afraid? Of what?'
'Being alone. I think she thinks she's never gonna be able to care again without being hurt. She's been alone for a long time. I mean, she has me and Kat, but she was left out of a lot in the academy because she 'associated' with us. I mean, I know and you know that it's not right and believe me, Kat and I appreciate her friendship, but sometimes I think she realises just what she's missed and it hits her hard.'
'But we're different,' Seto pointed out. 'We don't care. You guys are cool.'
Kitty grinned. 'Thanks. We know that you guys are our friends and we love y'all for it. But Kurry's built up a defence system to anything more than friendship. She doesn't want to be hurt again. Believe me, she's softened up a LOT since we came here. It used to be that she didn't trust anybody.'
'Well then, how did she come to trust you?' Seto asked.
Kitty's eyes glazed over, remembering. 'I saved her life.'
'What?!?'
'She was down. Her boyfriend had hurt her terribly. I found her...she'd started plucking her wings and was weakened...fair game for any evil demons going about. Kat and I healed her and got her back on her feet. I think she was surprised that demons would help her. We've been close ever since. But the others rejected her...she didn't care. But when she became strong again, she'd lost her trust. Kat and I were the only one's she trusted. And I hate to say it, but she's still iffy about you guys.'
Seto gaped at her. 'Wow.' Then her last sentence hit home. 'You mean Malik, don't you?'
Kitty blinked, returning to the present. 'Yes. He's getting through to her, but slowly.'
Seto blinked in surprise. 'Wow. And I thought you had it bad...'
'Oh I do, and it hurts. But Kurry, Kat and I are a team and I know that they'll be there for me, as I will be there for them.'
Seto glanced down at his feet. 'Er, well, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm here for you too.'
Kitty smiled fondly at her guarded. 'I know. You're my best friend. And I thank you for that. But, um...don't mention any of this to the others, okay? Especially Malik. First, Kurry would kill me, and second, I want her to learn that she can let herself care again. Alright?'
Seto nodded gravely. 'You have my word.'
Kitty stretched leisurely. 'Good. And now, off to bed. It'll be fun tomorrow. Merry Christmas, Seto.'
'Merry Christmas Kitty.'
She left her guarded sitting on the floor, musing.
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Kurry was perched on her room's window seat, gazing out at the falling snow, her hot chocolate grown cold beside her. Her mind was in turmoil, too much so to sleep. She was thinking about...things. Trying to sort out her muddled mind was more like it.
+ Tomorrow is Christmas. I'm going to spend it with my dearest friends. Nothing matters more than that. Although with one person I wish it did.....no Kurry, you cannot think like that. Don't go deeper, you'll only end up being hurt again. Just have a good time tomorrow and you'll be fine.+
Kurry slid off the window seat, stretched and flexed her wings. Retracting them completely, she climbed into bed.
+You are strong. Be strong.+ Kurry often told herself this, but sometimes it was hard to believe. Even from herself.
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There. That was the angsty bit. The next chapter is gonna be FUN, but as I don't even have the darnnish thing typed yet it might take a couple days. But never fear, I have it all pre-written, so it will be done! *giggles* Sorries, I'm a little hyper. Mincemeat tarts. Nyum! *giggles again* Please review! ^______^