Author: Keiran

Title: Christmas Special, third fic in 'Realisations' arc.

Rating: None.

Pairings: 1x2x1, 5xS

Warnings: Wufei pov, quoting: It's a very cute, fluffy piece. ^_^

Archive: my site can be found on my profile page. Any else? Yes please.

This fic has been betaed by Sundaire. waves a Go Sundaire!' flag

***

Everyone knows how important friends are. The amusing thing is, that of all the fancy holidays we have, like father's day, mother's day, grandmother's day even the day to clean the Earth, there isn't a day to cherish your friends. One would say 'what about their birthday?', but it gets problematic when your best friend has no idea when his birthday is. There is a date written in his papers, for the sake of being there, but it is only a date. It has no meaning to it, whatsoever.

Trowa Barton and Quatre Winner keep in touch with the rest of us occasionally, since they do not work with us. Winner is too busy running that company of his. If I wanted to be mean, I'd say he spends his days pouting everybody into giving in to him, but maliciousness is not my trait. Slight exaggeration, maybe. Besides, if I said that, it would be a lie, because I know that Winner is tough enough to deal with the business world.

Barton, on the other hand, is still with the circus. We go to see his performances once in a while. Maxwell managed to charm Catherine Bloom into saving the best tickets for us if they're performing somewhere near. Of course, Barton wouldn't be Barton if he jumped our bones every time he sees us after a long absence, but we still have a good time. Don't ask about the time he got sick and Catherine conned Maxwell into doing Barton's part. Let me tell you, the disparity of growth between the two is so big, that if Maxwell had a twin brother there might be place for both of them in the clothing. He ended up playing something akin to the part of course, after they found something else for him to wear, and after Yuy got himself tangled in the mess too. I may tell that story some other time.

Since the five of us doesn't see each other as often as we'd like too, once in a blue moon we arrange a shared vacation. This year we're going to Austria for Christmas. Contrary to popular belief, Winner doesn't own places all over the planet Earth, but he does own a lot of money. Therefore, while none of us wish to prey upon him, we aren't about to protest when he decides to rent a huge mansion for our vacation.

Of course, the fact that he is making the decision is perfectly understandable. He is the president of a well-known company, he knows how to deal with finances. Fortunately, we never had to entrust the task to Maxwell, who is totally hopeless when it comes to dealing with booking anything, save for a meal. The funny thing about him is that he perfected the idea of controlled spending. He never actually saves money, unless there is something that can't be bought straight away, like a car for example. Oh sure, he doesn't go out of his way to spend everything at once, his pay check can lie in a bank for months, but when there is something he really feels like doing, he does it. Yuy behaves quite similarly. I asked Maxwell about it once. Quoting:

"What's the point? We're insured, and I earn so damn much anyway, than I couldn't spend it all if I tried. I just fail to see a point in saving so much when we may very well drop dead tomorrow."

There is a point to that, I admit. The logic is unmistakable. As Preventers and ex-soldiers we are entitled to a lifetime of the government covering all of our medical expenses, so if a disaster struck and one of us couldn't be able to continue as an operative, we don't have much to worry about.

As I was saying, we're going to Austria this year. Quatre thought that spending Christmas somewhere where it actually snows would be fun. He said he'd gladly ski again, since he wasn't able to do so for a long time. I was silent, even though I knew how to ski. Maxwell made me and Yuy go with him on an excursion, when one of his friends said they had spare places. We had fun, sure. However it was our first time on the slopes, so I made quite a fool of myself. The duo did too, so I wasn't that mad, but it was a sore spot for a while.

You might ask just how do I know how to ski, if I didn't like it at all. The answer is rather simple – I learned. All five of us are rather fit, so we pick up any sport without much thought. And I didn't say I didn't like skiing. It turned out to be fun, once I got the hang of it.

There is a history behind that too – Maxwell was following me for two weeks, looking like a kicked puppy, when he thought I was angry at him because of that trip. One day he even turned up at my apartment and cooked me a meal I can't forget to this day. Who would have thought he knew that duck in honey sauce was my favorite food?

Seeing a pouting Maxwell presents the danger of having an angry Yuy at your throat (as if I wanted Maxwell to be sad, anyway), so I decided to start to enjoy skiing, even if it killed me. I signed up for a course and after a few weeks (that was a weekend course) I realized, to my utter surprise, that I actually do find skiing satisfying. To the point of actually using the world 'fun' in front of people.

Of course, it turned out that I managed to get Yuy at my throat anyway, for a whole different reason. You see, when I decided I like to ski, I coaxed Maxwell and Yuy into going for a weekend in the mountains with me. Needless to say, once the whirlwind realized I liked what we were doing, he spent nearly every waking moment (if we weren't on the slopes, of course) glomping me. That didn't sit well with Yuy, as you can imagine. But it was never more than a good-natured throttling. And Sally saved me in time (before I turned blue, that is).

But going back to our vacation. Early in December, Quatre sent us all a picture of the house we'd be staying at, taken the previous year by an acquaintance of his who recommended the place to him. I liked it, it was pretty secluded, big, comfortable looking, and even though it was situated in a forest, there was a wide and direct skiing route to the nearest lift right next to it.

It became even more becoming after we all talked to Maxwell. He was practically climbing the walls with excitement. Snow wasn't new to him, but quoting: "This place looks just like Santa's house! Just like I saw on the pictures! Will there be as much snow when we go there? Will we get a tree? Will we build a snowman? Will there be eggnog?" He was like a little, endearing child.

Of course, the speech had some side results, such as Yuy calling Winner and saying (and I quote here too. Winner had the call recorded) "There better be tons of snow and eggs Winner, and if you dare to even think about not getting a Christmas-tree, I will kill everyone whose last name starts with a 'W.'" Yuy is very protective.

Luckily we made it into the abode without incident. It was the evening of the 23rd of December, the day before Christmas Eve. We had ten days before we had to be back at work again. We invited Sally along, so there were six of us. Sally, being a friend, a fellow agent and my girlfriend, was included in my little skiing scheme.

Come to think of it, we must have looked like a family then – me and Sally being 'the parents,' Duo being the hyperactive kid and the rest being the three favorite uncles. Save for the fact that 'the kid' was a little bit too fond of one of his 'uncles.'

Winner, as usual, lived up to all expectations and a considerably huge live Christmas-tree was standing in the corner of the room, which was pretty high for a mountain dwelling. There were also boxes full of lamps and everything one would need to decorate the tree properly.

"I say we unpack and then decorate the tree," Winner said. "What do you say?"

Duo started bouncing immediately.

"I say 'yeah!' Then let's go for a walk! Come on 'Ro! Let's find a room!" he continued, bouncing up the stairs with his heavy bags, which I assumed contained gifts for everybody present and then some. The rest of us shared a smile. He was really happy like a child sometimes. Heero hoisted his bag over his shoulder and followed.

"We'll be back in twenty minutes," he told us.

"Don't wear him out too much," Trowa said, surprising us all. Quatre looked at him in disbelief.

"I'll try," Heero answered, smirking. True to their word they both appeared downstairs exactly twenty minutes later and started to unpack the boxes. Sally and I sat back, leaving the tree to Maxwell and Winner mostly, with some help from Yuy. Finally the decorations were in place, save for the very last piece. Maxwell and Winner had to play 'scissors-rock-paper' to decide who would top the tree with a star. Maxwell won, but on his own he was able to place the star only a good meter below the peak. Yuy stepped in, lifting him to his shoulder, allowing the green tree to be finalized.

"Done!" Maxwell beamed, jumping down his human ladder.

"Careful, Maxwell, you might have broken something. You should have let me get you a parachute," I remarked.

He pouted cutely. "I'm not that small! You're mean Fei!"

We laughed heartily. As soon as we caught our breaths, we got dragged outside by an enthusiastic, long-haired oxymoron. I exchanged amused glances with Sally as he virtually ran to the door. Fortunately, Yuy caught him in time, stopping him long enough for all of us to put on cloaks and gloves. Plus a woolen cap and scarf around the neck in Maxwell's case.

The night was beautiful. There was snow everywhere, just like Winner promised. The sky was dark and full of stars, even though the full moon was approaching. I was in awe to tell the truth. I find it hard to believe that someone could fail to see the beauty in the scenery. None of us could, although Yuy was doing his best not to let it show. Typical. Maxwell, on the other hand, was strangely silent.

It took us a while to notice that he was simply beside himself trying not to fall asleep on the spot. Which, you could say, is also typical. He would sooner drop dead than stop any of us from doing something really fun. Naturally, we immediately decided on a diplomatic return. (Quatre: "Oh, I think something was moving in that direction. Let's check it out!") We walked back to the cabin and went to sleep.

We woke up late on Christmas Eve, yet we probably would have slept longer. What woke us, however, was the smell of something delicious being baked downstairs. As I neared the kitchen there was a set of self-appointed detectives investigating the case covering my back. We entered according to Preventers protocol and were treated to the sight of Maxwell sitting on the table scraping the remains of dough from a bowl. The rest of the dough was in the oven, shaped as stars, hearts and Christmas-trees, in the process of becoming thin ginger bread cookies.

The rest of the dough ingredients were scattered around the kitchen and on Maxwell.

"Hi!" he chirped. "I was making cookies for you guys!" Yuy threw him a glance and sauntered to the oven. He bent and glared inside, probably willing the cookies to bake faster and be perfect! I nearly chuckled. Yuy's glares are really easy to read most of the time.

A thought struck me suddenly – this was exactly Maxwell's way of cherishing everyone he held dear. That he would get up at six o'clock in the morning and make a huge mess baking cookies for us (he is a terrific cook, he just makes a huge mess) just because he thought we might like them. Or getting into my house through the roof to make up for taking me for a trip he didn't think I enjoyed.

After we cleaned the kitchen and had breakfast, we went out skiing. That was our general schedule for the whole stay: we got up, we ate, we went skiing, we had a break for Glühwein [1], we went back to skiing, we shoved Maxwell into the kitchen, we ate dinner, we spent time in front of the fire place. Sometimes we went for walks.

Just for the record, Maxwell got me a sweater. A really thick, warm, fluffy, red sweater. They don't make sweaters like that any more. It must have taken him ages to find it for me. The very same could be said for all of the other presents.

It's a funny thing, actually, how much we enjoyed Christmas. None of us were Christians, because Maxwell doesn't count as one either, but we all somehow got into the Christmas spirit without any troubles. Something that Maxwell actually said springs to mind: "Christmas is not entirely about the birth of Christ, it's about unity, love and cherishment." That I could believe.

I also believe that Christmas is time for realizing just how much we are being cherished normally by our friends, and how much we should cherish them in return.

[1] I couldn't find an English word so I used German: it's warmed red wine with spices such as ginger, cinnamon, honey and everything you add to gingerbread plus a slice of orange or lemon. It should be read g-lee-vine. ('g' as in 'go')