Hello all! Yes, I'm alive and still writing! I'll finish my other fics soon enough. Have a Beyblade fic ready for typing, actually. It's finished (GASP!) so yeah!
Anyway, I own nothing here except for the idea. Yes, even Riku and Kairi were stolen! Wonder how many of you can guess from where... Whatever, ENJOY AND DON'T SUE ME! PLEASE! I OWN NOTHING!
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CHRISTMAS WITH THE ISHTARS
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"AND DON'T YOU EVER COME BACK YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING SON!"
Jounouchi Katsuya held his cheek painfully as his father slammed the door to their apartment closed violently. He had been tossed out, and it seemed for good this time. He had no idea what he had done this time to merit such treatment, but he couldn't care much. It was cold, and getting dark, as winter nights seemed to do so much faster. He shivered as he picked himself up slowly, then turned and limped down the street.
"Damn you, pops. Tossin' me out on Christmas Eve..." Jou mumbled sourly. He kicked at a small snow pebble and watched it burst into pieces as his foot connected to it. He hated the holidays. Something always, always went wrong.
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Malik Ishtar growled as he chased his darker side down the hall, calling for his hat. He happened to like the Santa-like hat that his yami stole from him, but couldn't for the life of him get untangled from the ribbons and tape that he had mysteriously gotten stuck in. Usually, wrapping gifts wasn't so bad, but this year, things disappeared, tape got used up in all of two seconds, and the wrapping paper always, ALWAYS got used up before he got to it.
He suspected it was his yami's doing, but wouldn't comment. It was Christmas, after all.
As Malik turned a corner in his house and crashed into a rapidly closing door, he wondered why he even bothered. He had plenty of hats like that, except that one was from when he was small and Rishid bought it from a merchant in Egypt, even though he wasn't supposed to. And it had his name on the inside of it.
"Hikari-Pretty can't caaaaaaatch meeeeeeeeee" Marik sang from the other side of the door. "You want your haaaaaaaaat, don't yooooooooooouuuuu!"
"Damn it Marik, gimme my hat!"
"You can't haaaaaave iiiiiitt!" Marik sang before cackling insanely. Malik sighed and crawled back to the living room, where Isis was just finishing wrapping Seto Kaiba's gift. How she planned to get it to the CEO of Kaibacorp was beyond his mind's comprehension, but she looked like she had a plan.
"You finished chasing your dark now, brother?" she asked good naturedly. Malik nodded and sat down beside her, going back to the half wrapped Red Eyes Black Dragon plushie he wanted to give to Jounouchi Katsuya. He had wrapped up a hand-made Obelisk the Tormentor for Kaiba earlier on, and he planned to send that off with Isis. Jou's plushie, however, would be hand delivered to him the next morning without delay, along with... something else.
"Brooootheeeerrrr... Malik, are you okay?" Malik blinked and looked into Isis' concerned eyes.
"Uh, yeah. Just thinking."
"Of Jounouchi-san? Oh, how sweet!" Isis suddenly stood and Malik could see the happiness in here eyes. "My adorable little brother is in love!"
"WITH WHO?!" Marik asked, dashing into the room. He caught Isis' look and smirked. "Oh, him. I understand, Hikari-Pretty. If he hurts you, may Ra have mercy on his soul..." Malik flushed and ducked his head.
"Damn it, Marik, I can handle myself. It's bad enough that Isis does that, but not you too..." Marik just ruffled his hair playfully.
"Whatever. It's my job as your darker half to make sure that your mental state doesn't deteriorate somehow." Malik rolled his eyes.
"Great..."
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Hours later found Malik free of tape and wrapping materials, and sitting in front of the fire, by the window. He was gazing out absentmindedly, watching the snowflakes gently float down to coat the earth with it's beautiful, pure whiteness. People hurried about, ushering their children into the safety of buildings, not wanting to die of coldness. Malik found that he was deathly allergic to the cold; having come from Egypt, the cold disagreed with him completely.
Malik was about to turn away from the window in favor of watching Isis and Rishid set up their artificial tree when a flash of all too familiar blonde hair caught his eye. He pressed his face against the glass and watched as Jounouchi Katsuya stumbled down the street. People were giving him disgusted looks as he passed, obviously thinking he was drunk. But Malik, having lived with his yami and Ryou's yami getting drunk all the time, knew the difference between a drunken stagger and a painful limp. That was obviously a painful limp.
"He's hurt!" he exclaimed, jumping up and running to the front door to get his coat. Isis turned to him in confusion.
"Who's hurt, Malik?"
"Jounouchi! He's hurt!" Malik fought with his coat as he unlocked the door and ran out into the cold, not minding it for once. "I'm going to help him, somebody get my first aid kit!"
As Malik left his family looking on in wonder, Malik ran down the street and to the hurt blonde. Those bright honey eyes he loved looking into were dulled over with pain, and a trickle of dried blood ran down his chin. Malik could see a bruise forming on Jou's left cheek and felt sadness well up in him. He moved closer, very slowly.
"Jounouchi...?" he whispered. Jounouchi looked up at him.
"Ma... lik? What are you doing here?" Malik darted forward and caught Jounouchi as he fell.
"I live near here. What happened to you?"
"Pops... Got mad..."
Malik frowned as Jounouchi fainted in his arms. It was at that moment that he noticed that Jounouchi wasn't wearing more than jeans and his regular blue and white t-shirt. He cursed and proceeded to lift Jou onto his back and jog back to his house as fast as he could. He glared at anyone who gave him a weird look as he passed. He desperately wanted to stop and offer a rude comment of some kind, but Jounouchi's shivering wouldn't let him. Once he got to his house, he kicked open the door, hitting Marik in the face as he did so, but not caring much. He would later think of it as revenge for stealing his hat.
"Oh my..." Isis whispered. "I'll go get a blanket for him. Rishid, can you get him some of Malik's clothes?" Rishid nodded and the two walked away quickly. Malik went into his room and set Jou down on his bed. He immediately pulled off his coat and tossed it aside, then retrieved his first aid kit from Marik's half-unconscious form. He returned to Jounouchi and quickly cleaned up the blood he could find, and then applied a band-aid with Kuriboh on it onto the small cut that appeared. He then prodded both of Jou's ankles. The left one was swollen, but not too badly. He gladly accepted the ice pack that Isis returned with and wrapped it securely around Jou's ankle. When that was done, and Malik was sure there was no way Jounouchi could move it without getting up, he threw his blankets over Jou's form, along with the thick wool one Isis provided. Then he sat back.
"I hope he's going to be okay..." Isis whispered just as Rishid came into the room with Malik's favorite sleeveless top and pants. Malik nodded solemnly and rested his head on his bed.
"Me too."
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About an hour later, Jou's groan jarred Malik awake. The Egyptian immediately started fretting over him, just like Isis used to do.
"Are you okay? What hurts? Can I get you anything?" Jounouchi leveled him with a halfhearted glare, which shut him up.
"I'll be fine..." he whispered. "Where am I?"
"In my bed," Malik answered. "Can I get you anything?" Jounouchi bit his lip in thought and Malik prepared to go run and get him something.
"... Am I ruining your Christmas?" the blonde asked slowly, catching Malik totally off guard. Malik hurriedly shook his head.
"Not at all! We don't even really celebrate Christmas, but we do this for family togetherness and stuff. You're not ruining it at all!"
"... Are you sure? Cause I could leave an' just go... to the shelter or something," Jou offered.
"No! No, please stay! Spend Christmas with us! We'll take good care of you and it would be fun!" Malik offered. "Please?"
"............... Okay...."
"Good. Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?"
"I am a little hun- HEY!"
Malik had already lifted Jou onto his back and was walking out of the room, and into the kitchen. He set Jou down in a chair and smiled as Jou looked flustered.
"That wasn't necessary..." Jou mumbled. Malik smirked as he took out some vegetables and a knife. He twirled the blade expertly and started cutting the washed vegetables with practiced ease.
"Of course it was. Now sit tight and keep me company as I cook for you all. Hope you like stew..."
"I love it!"
"Perfect."
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Isis watched Malik move about the kitchen gracefully, cooking what smelled to be a stew. She loved Malik's stew, but she had a feeling that Jou would be eating most of it. With her smile still in place, Isis turned back to the living room, seeing that Marik and Rishid had finished untangling themselves from the garland and had instead wrapped the tree in it.
"Looks nice, you two!" she said happily. Marik looked over at her with his insane glint n his eyes.
"I like it. How's the Puppy?" Isis shrugged as she sank down on the couch.
"He's okay. Malik is cooking stew." Marik smiled.
"Great!" He then caught Isis' wistful glance. "BUUUT, we have to do some more gift shopping... Yeah... For... Yugi and people..." Isis grinned at him as the boys got up from the floor and shrugged on their coats. Isis did the same and grabbed her wallet.
"We'll be back!" she called. "Don't wait up for us!"
If Isis ha stayed any longer, she would have seen Malik's pleading look and the blush staining his cheeks as she practically skipped out the door.
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Malik was almost crying as Isis closed the door. He turned back to Jou, who was standing on his right leg, trying to reach the bowls in the cupboard. Taking a breath, Malik forced him to sit back down. He then climbed onto the counter and got the bowls down. He served Jou a large portion of his finished stew and sat down at the other end of the table. He gave Jou a fork and smiled shyly.
"Well, the rest of my family left to go shopping, I think, so it's just us. I hope you don't mind..." Jou grinned at him.
"Naw, it's nice, really. The food is fantastic!" Malik blushed and spooned a small portion of food into his mouth. He swallowed it and grinned.
"T-thanks..." A few moments passed in silence before Jou poked him lightly.
"Hey, are you okay? You look like you have a fever or something. Do you need to lie down?" Malik's mind reeled as Jounouchi gently pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. His face heated up even more, making Jou frown.
"I-I'm okay Jou, really, it's just that-"
"You're blushing," Jou stated. "You... like me, don't you?" Malik nodded and expected Jou to be disgusted, but was surprised when he felt Jou's lips on his own. He melted into the kiss and responded to it. He felt Jou's hands tangle in his hair and he wrapped his arms around Jou's neck. They both toppled over Malik's chair, but neither minded much as they deepened the kiss. After a moment, they pulled apart and grinned at each other.
"Love you," Malik said.
"I wasn't sure before, but I know now," Jou declared. "I love you too, man."
As they kissed again, neither noticed Isis, Marik and Rishid creep away from the kitchen window, camera in hand.
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Years later found Malik and Jounouchi watching home videos. The two twenty-five year olds were cuddled on the sofa, Jou with his old Red Eyes Black Dragon plushie in hand. Christmas had never been the same for Jou afterwards, since he had spent every one with the Ishtars, and later, Kaiba (since he and Isis had married). He had never lost the plushie, and didn't intend to.
"We should be getting going..." Malik said as the scene of him and Jou first kissing melted away to be replaced by Jounouchi playing soccer against Yami (which was years ago, in the summer).
"Yeah," Jou agreed. "Isis and Seto hate being held up for Christmas dinner." Malik nodded, but couldn't be bothered to move. Instead, he pulled Jou into a kiss. He pulled back with a smirk.
"They won't mind if we're a little late. And we'll just tell Kairi and Riku that we had to stop off to get them some candy..." Jou chuckled.
"You're horrible, lying to your niece and nephew like that..."
"It's not really lying. We have candy for them in our room. So, Isis will know why we're late, and Seto will know why we're late, and Kairi and Riku will be oblivious to it all!"
"God, I love you," Jounouchi whispered. Malik kissed him again.
"I love you too. Merry Christmas, love..." he whispered. Jounouchi smiled as he pulled Malik on top of him.
"Merry Christmas..."
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YAY! Finished at 8:40pm, just in time for Christmas, AND while watching Canadian Bacon (hilarious movie making fun of Canadians by an American point of view. Am I busting my guts laughing? Hell yes!) Typed it all with two fingers! Hope you all have a nice Christmas! As with every Christmas fic I've written, you don't have to review! Happy holidays!!!!!
Shade