Disclaimer: Chobits is not mine. You could consider giving it to me for Christmas though…. –grin-
Oh, I did want to tell you that there is a mention of the birth of Jesus and about his death, and I'm not trying to press my religious beliefs on anyone, but it is a Christmas fic, and technically, Christmas is a Christian holiday. It goes along with the fic, and it's a just a short part though, and you have been warned, so there better be no flames about that concept. It's a free country, and I can write whatever I want. Plus, it's not like it's going to kill you.
Okay, now that I'm done being all mean and intimidating (Or not…-sweatdrop) on to the fic!
Enjoy!
Practicing Christmas
Black-gloved hands stirred for the first time that day, though it was late in the morning and the city had been busy for many, many hours beforehand. One reached out, searching blindly through sleep-heavy thoughts for one thing.
Her hand was met with nothing, only the cold hardness of concrete, and in their
sleep, delicate features frowned, reaching out even further. Something wasn't right. It wasn't that all she could touch was the cold floor, but that there was no calming, humor-tinted voice saying, 'There, there, love, I'm already up.'
Silence and cold.
In a flash, fiery ruby eyes were open, tinged with a tiny, but incredibly disconcerting amount of something as close to worry and fear as the little Chobits was able to express.
"Zima?" the strong, yet supple voice called out.
There was nothing in the small, but clean, mechanical-parts store-room on top of an industrial building they'd chosen to sleep in the night before to stay out of the snow's way. Springing to her feet, black, neatly-cut locks flew from side to side as Dita frantically looked around.
"Zima?" Again, louder, angrier, and to someone who knew her well, you would almost say worried. The small, black-clad Chobits dashed out from the small room, the door slamming loudly as her temper took the better of her, along with a nagging feeling she couldn't understand. Where was Zima?
She almost skidded to the edge of the snow-slick rooftop, glaring ineffectually at the white powder as it reflected the already too-bright sunlight twice as blindingly into her eyes.
Then there was a deafening beep inside her head, indicating a new message, and she cursed loudly, a slim hand reaching up to hold her temple, "What's my internal sound doing so loud?" she grumbled highly irritated, choosing to ignore it. She didn't care about some stupid message; she was trying to find where Zima had gone! But then it came again, and she growled, deciding to check it lest it beeped again in that ultimately annoying and irritating way…
"Ah…" candy-apple eyes blinked, "Zima?"
The National Data Bank's smooth voice entered her head, humor tinted as usual, "I thought turning the volume up would get you to pay attention to the message. Otherwise, I can just imagine you firing that little temper of yours and ignoring anyone who might distract you," Dita's face contorted into a glaring pout, but the message continued, "I only went to find a newspaper, and you looked so cute sleeping," the pout and the glare became more pronounced, "That I just couldn't wake you up. If you want, meet me at that little café we saw from above the other day."
Of course it'd been Zima. That irritating idiot was the only one who'd ever be able to log into her and slip past completely unnoticed. Anyone else would have caused a great deal of discomfort for Dita, and her system would have immediately kicked into defensive mode.
Springing lightly from the rooftop, she landed lithely on the sidewalk ten stories below without making more sound than the muffled crunch of snow, ignoring the shocked stares of the few people around her.
Ducking in and out of alleys and streets, making her way through the blindingly white snow-blanketed city, she noticed that everyone was smiling and chatting happily. The streets and houses too, she saw, were clad in a ridiculous amount of… decorations? Mostly evergreens, with lots of pretty glass ornaments and gold bells, and everywhere, there was the same message, printed over and over above every shop and house, all covered in green and red.
"Merry Christmas!" waved a little girl the small Chobits slipped by. Merry Christmas…? It was grammatically incorrect too; 'Merry Christmas' wasn't even a complete sentence.
What was this 'Christmas,' she wondered? What a ridiculous thing, if it was all about covering the streets with fake green stuff and delicate ornaments that would break and silly lights. What a waste of time… was there even a reason for it?
Shrugging, she sped up into a run, black tail of hair flicking out sharply from behind her. Shadows loomed across her small body as she swiveled sharply into an alley, trying to find the café the playful persocom had talked about…
If it hadn't been snowing, she might not have noticed it. But against the brilliant white, even in the shadow, the clashing crimson was unmistakable, as was the black lump next to it. The small Chobits practically screeched to a halt, keeping her from running over the small thing.
It was small. Absolutely tiny, with smooth black fur, and a small, rounded snout, a long thin tail and triangle-shaped ears. An animal, she decided on her own, without help from her Recognition program, due to the fact that it was alive, and not green. She also realized with a frown that it was broken, since that could be the only reason it was bleeding, right?
Dita wasn't sure, but taking a closer look and running a scan on it, she deducted that it wouldn't be alive for too long. In merely three hours and twenty-three minutes it would die from the severe injury to its leg. And as a logics-based persocom, she saw no logical reason to waste her time trying to fix an animal that was going to die anyway.
She had to get to Zima in any case, that was her ultimate goal and mission, to always be by Zima. Even as she stepped over it and continued her path though, she felt a strange… emotion… tug her sight back almost regretfully over the fallen animal.
OoO
Zima looked with interest at the headline of the paper, crimson eyes scanning it quickly to find anything of particular interest, but as the door opened and closed abruptly, a black blur caught his eye and he looked up immediately.
"Zima!" came the angry voice, and the tall Chobits smiled as much out of pleasure as to placate her.
"Dita, love, good morning," large hands slid smoothly behind the female Chobits, pressing her gently into the larger persocom in a hug.
"Zima," she growled, not the least bit soothed.
"I assume you read my message then. And don't tell me you would not have ignored it had I not turned your internal volume so loud," he smiled wryly.
"Damn well exploded my sensors too," scarlet eyes fumed, but a quick peck to her forehead forced a crimson flush to rise in her face and her mouth to close out of embarrassment.
"Were you worried?" he asked softly, knowing full well what the response would be. But somewhere in his theoretically non-existent heart—more accurately dubbed his programming— he hoped to somehow breach her defensive walls and logics.
"Worried? I'm not capable of worrying, I'm a—"
"I know, you're a persocom," Zima intervened with a smile, hiding the disappointment that pricked him. Another side was immensely amused though, and almost satisfied, "You're an odd girl."
Dita pouted as her taller companion ruffled her hair affectionately, "Why?"
"You say that you have no emotions because you're a persocom, yet I see you displaying them all the time," he responded, smiling tenderly at her. Albeit, not as much as I wish you would, nor quite the way I want you to… but we'll work on that. He still harbored high hopes for his partner. She cocked her head to the side, dark locks of hair shrugging off her shoulder, and his smile widened at her questioning glance.
"What?"
"Nothing," came the amused reply to the gruffly perplexed question, and he leaned over, nuzzling her neck lightly. He understood, and accepted that she could not understand or realize some of the things he did, and sometimes it made him a little sad, but… "I'd love you no matter what."
Dita let him nestle his face in her neck as long as he wanted, perplexed at his words, but she was used to the taller Chobits saying odd things without apparent reason and didn't question it. Knowing he liked it, she lifted her arms around his neck and lay them there.
"…It makes you happy… when I do this, but what is that exactly?" she asked softly, hesitating before she continued, "I feel something too… but I don't know what it is…"
Zima chuckled deeply before extracting himself from Dita's small grasp, pausing slightly as he saw the confusion in her eyes.
"I guess I have no way of knowing, but I can only hope it is what I want it to be."
"What is that?" small hands reached up, fluttering above the tall Chobits' face, curiosity reflecting in her jeweled ruby eyes.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out," he winked, before engulfing her in a warm embrace, "And by the way, 'this' is called a hug."
Dita huffed lightly, "I know that…"
Ruffling her silky locks softly before letting go, Zima pointed to the magazine racks, "Why don't you look at some while I finish reading the newspaper?"
Dita shrugged and began perusing through the rack, finding some of the magazines interesting enough to divert her whole attention.
Which is why she didn't notice as the waitress sidled up to Zima, who was contentedly flipping through the large pages of the black and white paper.
"Hi. I haven't seen you here before, are you new?" honey eyes batted large eyelashes at the persocom who looked up with an affable smile.
"Yup, we just got to this city a couple nights ago."
"We?" the tall, brown-haired waitress with the imitation-designer shoes raised her eyebrow. Zima's smile widened slightly as he pointed towards his black-clad companion, completely absorbed in the fashion magazine she'd picked up.
"My partner, Dita."
"Oh," the girl immediately focused her gaze back onto her new finding, brushing off Dita without a second thought. After all, that girl could only be ten at most, no competition there.
"By the way, my name's Alisia," the girl shifted her position, trying to show her perfect figure. Zima though, was not used to something like flirting, or women, and took notice of neither.
"Beautiful name," he said politely, crimson eyes flickering to Dita for a moment, catching her still flipping the pages of her magazine, making faces of disgust and curiosity alternately.
"Thank you," she smiled coyly, sitting loosely on the armrest of the chair.
Throwing the magazine back to where it had come from, Dita decided that most of the humans had a very odd sense of clothing. Too glamorous, or skimpy, or just ugly. Plus, the bright colors didn't suit her too well either. There had been some nice dresses in black though.
It was then she noticed that Zima was talking. To a girl who was much too close to her Zima for the small Chobits. An unpleasant feeling stung inside Dita, along with one she had recognized as anger, as she stalked across the café. The dark-haired Chobits caught her eye, and smiled as he raised himself from the chair.
"Done?"
She nodded, glaring at the brown-haired girl who now stood in front of them, giving Dita an annoyed look for interrupting her. The night-haired persocom stepped closer to Zima, clinging to his waist possessively, glare ever-present, and the National Data Bank blinked for a moment before realizing what was going on. She was jealous. He had to turn his face away to hide the momentary smile that graced his face.
"Anyway, so as I was saying before I was interrupted, there's a Christmas party at one of the clubs tonight… and well, if you got nothing better to do, would you like to come as my date?" she asked, the coyness in her voice giving way to a husky tone, leaning over to finger the tall Chobits' chin.
Dita's body tensed, and her icy look suddenly heated into a boiling rage of flames, her temper faltering. But before it could explode, the process was abruptly cut off as Zima started laughing, unable to contain himself in the current situation. The waitress' finger was snatched back out of surprise.
"Sorry, but there's only one person I'd ever take on a date," he chuckled, diving down to sweep the surprised persocom at his side into his arms, kissing her cheek chastely. Dita squeaked, large eyes widening at the unexpected movement.
Alisia growled and stalked out of the room, giving Dita a venomous look that was replied by the small Chobits childishly sticking her tongue out.
OoO
"There was no need to be jealous," Zima laughed again, kissing Dita lightly on the lips now that they were in the privacy of a snow-covered rooftop.
"She was too close to you…" the diminutive computer mumbled, giving in weakly to the larger Chobits' gentle caresses. She suddenly growled, glaring at nothing in particular as her eyes glowed with remembered anger, "What the hell did she think she was doing anyway? That—"
"Now, now, Dita, love. It's Christmas, be nice."
This stopped her in her tracks, "Christmas?"
Zima nodded, delighted to have a chance to explain this to her, "It's a human holiday. One of the biggest in the whole year, celebrated by practically everyone."
"So that is why there's all these silly decorations in the streets," Dita muttered, leaning over the edge of the railing to take a closer look down at the streets. Children skipped across them, bells and odd songs ran in the air, the bright colors green and red contrasting against the street and each other.
"Not just the streets, everywhere. Inside the houses, and shops, you saw the decorations in the café, didn't you?"
The attack persocom nodded, still staring below, black coat billowing against the bitter wind.
Zima gazed down too, "It's a wonderful holiday."
"What's it about?"
"Well, the actual story behind it is that more than two thousand years ago, on this day, there was a baby born…"
Dita frowned, "Stop kidding me, there's nothing special about a birth, it happens everyday."
"Ah," Zima waggled his finger in her face, smirking at her impatience, "This was no ordinary child. He was destined to die for every one so that they would be saved, and their sins cleansed."
"Did he have a choice?" her curiosity was piqued.
"Yes. He didn't have to do it. He would die a horrible death, crucified, hated by those he was trying to save," Zima continued quietly, looking out into the sunny, cloud-dotted sky.
"That's stupid, why would he die like that for people who didn't care about him and hated him?"
"Because he loved them, Dita, dearest… even though they hurt him, and didn't believe his words."
"…Loved… them?" her gaze turned into one of innocent confusion, "But they hated him. How could he love someone who didn't return his feelings?"
A slow smile slid onto the more intuitive of the pair, "Just like I can love you, darling."
"I don't hate you!" Dita's response was immediate, "It's not the same!"
"But you don't love me either, so you say."
Dita froze.
She couldn't feel love. She couldn't hate either, but it still wasn't her fault! There was nothing she could do about it, she thought desperately. It was true, she didn't hate him, but that was because she couldn't feel emotions, and hence she couldn't love him either. What did she feel, then? It wasn't neutral, there was something that responded inside her whenever she felt Zima's touch, or heard his low chuckle, or caught his tender gaze. But it couldn't be love, because she was incapable of loving. She wasn't even sure what love was. According to Zima, it was a very strong feeling, a good one, towards someone, different from any feelings for anyone else. She felt something like that around him. But how was she to know if it was love, when she'd never really met anyone else? There was nothing she could do about it, it wasn't her fault that her programming kept her from understanding what Zima was talking about!
Crimson eyes softened in a sad gaze as he saw the distress he'd caused his love. In one swift move, he held the gently trembling Dita in his arms and kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry, love, I didn't mean to upset you…" he murmured in her ear, voice low with regret.
"I'm… not upset. I can't be…" she clung tightly to him, burying her face in his shoulder as her tiny body was swallowed up by Zima's own body, "I'm sorry I can't…"
"Shh," he interrupted her, squeezing her gently, "It's not your fault. I shouldn't have done that, I didn't think you'd get upset…"
She stayed silent, feeling safe and warm in his embrace, involuntarily leaning further into him and tightening her hold on him. She liked the feeling she got when she was with him.
"…The people seem happy. And they're even giving beggars money. They don't do that usually…" she whispered, her solemn mood still hanging in the air. The temperature was cold, but wrapped up in Zima's arms she didn't feel it at all. The larger persocom's back was pressed against the railing, Dita's head resting peacefully on his shoulder as she watched the streets below through the railings.
"It's the spirit of Christmas. To humans, Christmas means love, and selfless giving. Mercy, and kindness," he responded sleepily. Only noon, and he was already settling into his daily nap.
Dita though, was not about to let him. At his words, her head snapped up.
"Selfless giving… and mercy?" she repeated slowly, an image forming in her mind. She suddenly straightened like a branch bent away only to spring back to its original position.
"Whoa, what's up, love?" Zima shook the sleep off his mind, startled by her sudden motions, blinking with surprise as she stood up.
"I'll be back," her small body turned to leave.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
His shorthaired guardian gave him a hesitant look, searching for words, poised over the edge of the building.
"I'm… practicing Christmas," she answered softly, the words rolling strangely off her lips. And with that, she leapt off, black hair-tail flickering behind her, leaving a dumbfounded persocom who let a smile alight upon his lips.
"So much hope left…" he murmured.
Awright… now, I know it ends odd, but THERE IS A SECOND CHAPTER! And it will be updated before Christmas. I already have some of the second chapter written.
I hope you liked it, and hopefully I kept them in character… although I think that there's so much to Zima and Dita that you could have various interpretations of their character- within a certain range, but yeah.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!