A.N.: Here's my winter ficlet for 2004; a teeny snapshot in that story I've been promising for this section for a while. I hope no one is too OOC, but how often do we see this side of our dear Nataku anyway, hm?

Disclaimer: The usual, folks.

Something Precious

"Ha! Got you again!"

"Gah!"

There was another splat as another snowball connected with Raishinshi's face. He quickly scrubbed the powdery stuff away, then scooped up some snow and began to form it into his weapon of choice.

"I'm getting you this time, Renge!"

The pale-haired girl paused in her antics, pressing her mitten-covered hands under her chin and giving Raishinshi the look that neither he nor Nataku could refuse.

"But…but… you wouldn't dare hit a girl, would you, Rai-kun?"

Raishinshi froze, his hand poised in the air with the projectile he was about to hurl at the smaller, weaker girl. Then…

SPLAT!

"… You let her get you again, Raishinshi."

"Shut the hell up, Nataku!" Raishinshi pointed a finger at the fiery-haired doushi, and said accusingly, "I don't see you trying to join us anyway!"

"He's right, Nataku." Renge walked up to the two boys. "Why aren't you playing with us?"

Nataku found it odd that Renge would call it 'playing' when she had announced it as a snowball fight when she made the first shot at Raishinshi. They had more important things they had to be doing, yet Raishinshi had eagerly joined her.

Nataku didn't play; he enjoyed fighting. And this wasn't really a fight, since they were using the snow as their main weapons. If he were to join, he would prefer using his Kenkonken, which were true weapons. But then he'd be aiming to hurt him; he didn't mind doing damage to Raishinshi, but they had no reason to quarrel at the moment. In addition to that, he wouldn't dare hurt Renge; she wasn't a fighter, and she severely hated violence.

So, why were she and Raishinshi having this… snowball 'fight'?

"… I don't see the point," Nataku said at length.

"Hm…" Raishinshi crossed his arms, which were absent of the clawed gauntlets he usually wore, and appeared thoughtful for a change. "For once, I agree with you. Why are we doing this, Renge?"

"Oh! You guys don't get it, do you?" She pouted for a moment, then turned and ran off a short distance. She turned back to the two doushi, with that beaming smile on her face, and spread her arms out, as though she would lift up and join the swirling flakes of snow that fell upon them.

"You see? This is a celebration! Because it's snowing!"

"…Um, Renge? We're in the North," Raishinshi said matter-of-factly. "It snows here all the time."

"Yeah, but this is special! This is the first snowfall we've seen since we've been together. And the first snow is always the cleanest, and the purest!" As if to emphasize her point, she bent and scooped up some snow, then stood back up and threw it into the air above. Her eyes were closed, and as the white particles fell and sparkled around, she said, smiling still, "Purity is precious, and so rare, so we've gotta enjoy it while we can!"

She laughed, that tinkling sound that always seemed to vibrate through Nataku's body and soul. He looked down at Raishinshi from his floating position; his expression was unreadable, so maybe Renge's laughter had that same effect on him, too.

"So…" When Nataku looked back at Renge, she had her hands behind her back, and had that strange glint in her eyes that matched her sudden smirk. "I challenge you both!" She whipped out her hands, which were filled with a large amount of snowballs… How could she hold that many? And when did she-

Splat! Splat! Splat!

Three connected with Raishinshi, which snapped him out of his daze. For some reason, his dark cheeks burned red briefly, then he stomped his feet and shook his fist at Renge.

"Fine! I accept! You're on, girl!"

"And not just you either!"

Nataku had a split second to think of who exactly she was referring to before…

Splat!

A large snowball connected with his face. For a few seconds he didn't move, then he shook the white mass out of his hair and eyes.

"Ooh… You're in for it now!" Raishinshi said. Renge squealed and made a hasty retreat, and Raishinshi spread his Tensouyuku to fly after her.

Nataku didn't follow them, and instead kept them in his sight. Why would Renge find something like snow so precious? When they first arrived in the northern lands, Nataku thought the place was very lifeless. It was a place of stark white, save for the few, small forests of enduring green trees. There were no flowers to brighten the land. No one could quite understood why he could stay among fields of flowers for hours at a time, but then they couldn't somewhat identify with the colorful plants. They weren't reborn because of a lotus flower, after all.

He really didn't like the lack of flowers, of color, and yet…

If he thought about himself, he was surely a blaze of red in this land that lacked color, with his hair and attire. Raishinshi wasn't so flashy, but he was like the richness of the earth itself, with the deep tan of his skin that was more earthy than Nataku's own bronze, and the deep green of the forest that accented his otherwise black hair.

Renge was more like this one flower he had seen somewhere before at night. He couldn't describe the color of her hair, which extended from each side of her head like two long ribbons, or wings. It came closest to that flower; that pale violet that appeared dusty under the moonlight.

He couldn't see her eyes – she and Raishinshi were a bit too far away at the moment – but he could envision them well. They were a vibrant violet-red, so much more brilliant than the dark tones of his and Raishinshi's eyes, in reddish-brown and grayish-blue.

Through the snow, he could see the splashes of pink that stood out in Renge's clothes just as much as the black and green in Raishinshi's. He remembered how harshly the cold had affected them when they got here, and both had been forced into something that better protected them. Their usual attire was better suited for the much warmer lands of the West, after all. Raishinshi had little problem finding warmer clothes, though he did have to make alterations to his shirt to allow room for his paopei.

Nataku didn't really need to change into anything different from his usual red and white ensemble. He couldn't feel the coldness nearly as bad as the other two. Renge had protested, especially when he had begun to hand her his scarf, and he had to assure her – although it probably sounded stern – that he would be fine. It didn't bother her so much soon afterwards when she had been forced to wear fur. She feared animals enough, but the thought of wearing a dead one around her neck made her want to flee straight back to Konron. In the end, she completely forgot about the distressing matter, once the snow had begun to fall.

Which brought Nataku back to the subject of his continually wondering mind. Just what was it about Renge that made her appreciate something as simple as snow? He supposed it had to do with the same thing that made her enjoy sitting under moonbeams, or Raishinshi never saying "No" to her, or why he himself liked both the thrill of battles and the serenity of flowers.

He figured he had no reason to question her. If she thought snow was pure and precious, that meant it was another thing special to her. It was part of what made her who she was, and he was gradually figuring out just who that person was.

He wanted it to happen faster. Then, he would be able to understand her almost as well as he… sort of understood Raishinshi and the others.

"Nataku!" Renge suddenly cried, closer to him than she had been a few moments ago. "Look out!"

With another splat, yet another snowball collided with Nataku, this time on the side of his head. The one responsible was Raishinshi, his face sporting a wide grin.

"Hey, looks like you're the one who let his guard down for once. I thought you were better than that!" With that, he turned and sped off. On the way, he passed Renge, who squeaked in laughter as the wind Raishinshi made caused her short coat and shirt to fly up briefly.

The glimpse of her skin made Nataku think back to the sun-kissed peaches Taikoubou suu-suu had enjoyed a little too much; the same peaches Taikoubou had once offered him-

"Nataku! You aren't just going to let him get away with that, are you?"

Enough musing. Just as Raishinshi never let Renge down, he didn't want to disappoint her either. Even though there were new gods to find and demons to be fought, there was no harm in taking a little time to enjoy what was precious to Renge. He would find plenty of other times to think of all that was precious to him – like Tenshou; his comrades in senninkai; his mother; the rest of his baka family; the vulnerable inhabitants of ningenkai…

And of course, the colorful people before him.

Yeah, enough musing for now. Time to enjoy this pure, precious thing called snow.

"Of course not," Nataku answered Renge. With the Fuukarin flaring, he sped off after Raishinshi.

Renge shrieked. "Kya! Nataku! Please use the snow, not the Kenkonken!"