Chapter 5: Vacation

Rose's eyes lit up as they arrived at the mountains. She remembered it snowing where she lived but she never seen so much in her whole life! The sunlight shown down on the small little crystals, which glimmered with pride. She squealed and ran out of the hover plane and ran out into it. She collapsed onto the snow and made a snow angel. Dante stepped out, a bag flung over his shoulder. He glanced at the seventeen-year old neko girl playing in the snow and just smiled. He laughed softly and brushed some of his silver hair out of his eyes. His father walked up next to him and looked at Rose. He just huffed. He rather be doing experiments than taking a vacation but he didn't want to leave Rose and Dante by themselves. Besides, Rose had given him the cutest look ever and really couldn't resist it. Rose sat up, snow covering her blue snowsuit and smiled sweetly toward Dante and Daniel. She giggled and got up and ran over to them. She hopped into Daniel's arms, making him drop his duffel bag and almost fall to the ground.

"Eee, thank you thank you!" she squealed, hoping out of his arms and fell back down to the ground. "I LOVE the snow!" she said happily. Dante laughed.

"Come on hyper girl, we have to get to our room." Dante said. Rose nodded and sprung up. She skipped toward the check-in desk, Dante and Daniel behind her.

Green eyes stared out the resort window into the sparkling diamonds that covered the ground outside. Snow. Snow was one of the things she loved. Snow. Snow just called out to you to come out and shout and holler, shouting you love snow. Rose looked over at Dante and smiled. "Want to go skiing?" she asked. He looked at her.

"Ski? I… don't… know…" he said a little unsure. Rose pouted and looked up at him, her pure green eyes wide. "Well… okay… but… I can't ski," he said bashfully. Rose giggled and grabbed his hand.

"Well then you'll just have to learn!" she chirped and raced to the rooms to get the skis. Dante just stumbled along, a terror look on his face.

"Rose, do we have to do this? Can't we just sit by the fire in the lodge and drink coco?" stuttered Dante, afraid of skiing. Rose giggled.

"The worse that can happen to you is that you roll up into a ball of snow and roll down the hill," sang Rose, grabbing the skis and ski poles. Dante coughed.

"Great… just what I wanted, to roll down the hill as a ball of snow," he mumbled.

Dante swayed as he stood on his skis, his poles in his hands. He was dressed all in blue and white. Rose was dressed in purple and white, an outfit like his. Their skis were the same, just different colors. Rose's ears and tail were hidden and she kept her face down as much as possible on the orders of Daniel. They stood and waited for the ski lift. Dante almost fell forward as he felt the ski lift slide under his bottom. Rose just laughed.

"I don't like these things," he said trying not to lose his grip on his ski poles. Rose grinned up at him, her green eyes shimmering.

"You'll love it Dante! Its just the best," she said, bumping his side some and giggled. He just looked at her and gave her a nod, looking down at his skis. He noticed how high he was and his eyes widen.

"Rose… don't tell me we are going down… that!!!" he exclaimed freaking out. Rose giggled as the lift reached the top. She smiled.

"Lets go!" she exclaimed as both of them slid from the lift and they started down the hill.

Dante began to wobble as he began to go down the hill. Several little noises escaped from his mouth as he tried to gain his balance. Rose was close to him, skiing like a pro. He leaned over and he began to go smooth. He began to laugh.

"Woohoo! Rose! Look! I'm doing it!" Dante cheered. Rose laughed. Dante began to get relaxed until it was to late. He never saw the root in front of him for he was laughing and his eyes were closed with joy. He hit the root and began to roll down the hill. He tried to stop himself, horror on his face. Rose was just laughing as he rolled down the hill, snow gathering around him. Rolling, rolling, rolling he went down the hill. While he rolled down the hill, Rose skied on either side of him. First she skied down his right then in front of him, slowed a little while he gained momentum and repeated it. He hit another root and went flying through the air and landed on the ground, with his bottom in the air and him looking between his legs at Rose who was coming up behind him. She came to a halt and cheered.

"That was so fun!" she exclaimed giggling. She looked at Dante and saw his eyes looking at her. She smiled sweetly. She smacked his bottom. "You'll get better with practice," she cooed and walked into the lodge. Dante rolled over onto his back and looked up.

"Did she just smack my bum?"

"Do you think snow tastes like chicken?" asked Dante, sitting in the snow the next day at the top of a hill. Rose twirled and looked at him.

"How would I know? I don't like chicken. Now it MIGHT taste like bacon. Why don't you try it and see?" she said, falling into the snow.

"No thank you, who knows what has been in this snow. I rather ski or snowboard in it than eat it," he said, throwing some snow at her. She looked at him and smirked.

"Is that a fact?" she asked, standing up.

"Yeah, I believe it is."

"Well then I challenge you. A ski race. Whoever wins buys hot chocolate afterwards!" she suggested, kicking snow at Dante. He shook the snow off of his head and stood up.

"Are you nuts? Against you? I think I'll pass," he said, walking toward the lodge. As he edged away he heard a soft bawk bawk noises behind him. He turned and looked at her.

"Are you calling me a chicken?"

"Bawk!" she shouted, grinning. He walked up to her and looked down at her.

"You are so on."

"See you at the finish line, slow poke." She grinned and turned to get her skis. Dante walked to get his skis thinking, What have I gotten myself into? Knowing her, she'll want me to buy her a dozen things at the end of this!

The two figures stood at the top of the hill, both ready for the challenge. Rose fixed her grip on her ski poles as she glanced over at Dante. Dante's hands were shaking some for he was nervous. He wasn't nervous about losing or anything, it was buying her things at the end. Another thought was being with her alone. Not many people were here at the lodge since it wasn't the season yet, which was one reason why Daniel decided to take the vacation at the time. The thought of sitting in the main room with her near him scared him. He didn't know why, but it just did. He broke out of his trance when he was poked in the butt with a pole.

"Ready?" she asked, smiling innocently, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Yeah," he replied. She told him to get ready. One, two, three... SWOOSH! They were off! They slid down the hill neck and neck. Rose slide in front of him and just a little snow flew up into his face. He shook it off and leaned over so he could go a little faster. Rose began to get farther and farther from him. He cursed and tried to speed up but he knew that it was impossible. She had beat him and he knew it. He kept going as fast as he could and watched as Rose cross the finish line and he sulked a little as he kept skiing. His ski caught on a rock and he flew forward then tumbled down the rest of the way. He rolled into Rose, taking her off her feet. He sat up with Rose sitting up also. Their legs were entangled together and both covered in snow. Her hood and came off and her braided hair escaped and her cat ears perked at sounds around her. She looked at Dante and gave a smile. "I won. Come on," she said, getting up and putting her hood back on. She helped him up and they retreated inside.

The lounge was deserted except for a brown cat figured dressed in loose fitting pants and turtleneck. Her hair was in a braid as well and she sat on the couch near the big fire. Dante made his way over to her, carrying two cups of hot chocolate. He was surprised all she asked him was hot chocolate. She seemed a little flustered though when he asked. He sat next to her and she felt the seat under her get a little lower and looked over her shoulder at Dante. She smiled and took the cup of hot chocolate. She thanked him and sipped it. It warmed her instantly. She held the cup in her hands and her fingers wiggled around it a little and she looked at him. He was in a gray sweater and dark blue jeans that were a little baggy. His silver colored hair was the same hair cut it always had been and his eyes were focused on the table in front of them. Rose took another drink of her hot chocolate and put it down. She bumped him gently and looked up at him. He looked back a little confused.

Daniel walked passed the lounge and stopped. He stepped back and was a little surprised but his face didn't show it. Instead a small smile spread across his mouth. There on the couch was Dante leaning back with Rose cuddling against him. Dante had his arm around her and was cuddling back. If Daniel listened closely he could hear the soft purring from Rose. Daniel sighed a little and walked back to his room. Young love was a beautiful thing.