Author's Note: My second D. N. Angel 'fic. I like this one much better than the one. Not as long, but much better written, in my opinion.

Warnings: None, really. Might be some tiny spoilers for the anime, but nothing really relevant.

Disclaimer: D. N. Angel © Yukiru Sugisaki with TV Tokyo/Asuka magazine and ADV/TokyoPop.

Just so everyone's clear on this, Harada Rika is not an OC. In the anime, she is the grandmother of Riku and Risa Harada. Just so that's clear. 3

Holy Night

By: Juniichi

It was a quiet night. Snow fell gently throughout the entire town, covering it, making the city seem as one. The snow made the town look seamless, nothing had a border and everything swept into the other effortlessly. The sidewalk became the street, the street the country, and the country led out into nothingness, and it all was sewn together with the snow.

The wind blew harshly, not something one would expect on such s beautiful night. The bitter wind nipped at the brave souls, wandering out into the snow to get the first taste of winter.

Footprints lead away from a tall red brick apartment and into the night. They led through the streets to the painted grass and led into the local park. They led through the trees so delicately covered with white, passed park benches laid down heavily with snow, and led right up to a young woman, shivering in the snow.

Her brown hair was tussled by the wind, and her skirt's edge whipped around her ankles. Yet, no matter how cold she would become she would not leave. She wouldn't leave until she knew why she had come here.

She clutched a white note card, clinging to the paper as if it would tell her why she came. Maybe it held the answer to why she was out in the cold night, almost being buried by the flying snow and the falling white flakes. On the card was an image of a single, lonesome black feather and a message in script addressed to her, calling her out into this forbidden world of winter.

She wanted to go home. It had been almost an hour after the time the message gave and she was still there, still buried by the snow. A few more minutes and she wouldn't care who the stranger in the message — in the feather — was. She was so cold. She wanted to go back home and be warm again.

She followed the solitary set of footprints to see if they would lead her home, since the path of her feet had led her here. She followed to the parks entrance in front of the wide, open gates, almost walking out if something had not stopped her.

"Are you leaving me, princess?"

She did not look behind her, she didn't look to the voice, and she was frozen in the snow, frozen by the sound of the voice.

She answered him after it had seemed like an eternity had passed by.

"No. I'm not leaving."

She heard the crunch of snow under the man's boots. She could see him walking up to her, a man dressed in black, doused in the color. She couldn't escape the darkness.

"I would hope not, my princess," he whispered. "I'd become heartbroken. I'd die."

She still wouldn't turn around, and she could see the man looking at her. She could see the solemn smile that graced his face, never letting himself to put that smile out.

"I don't want you to die," she whispered, her voice barely carried over to the man behind her.

"And I don't want you to go away," he answered back. His arms circled around her shoulders and he drew her back into him. A small warmth cam to her from the man's body, calming her slightly.

She finally turned her head ever so slightly, to get a glimpse of the warm stranger.

She looked into deep violet eyes, felt as if she was swimming in them. A few strands of dark violet hair, almost black, fell into his face. She looked at him, staring at him. She pulled away from his warm embrace.

She looked at him fully. A pair of black-feathered wings overtook his appearance. The feathers were all she could see. The wings engulfed him, making him seem tall and larger than he really was. He looked like a majestic creature stuck in a small cage.

"You're…" she stuttered softly. You're trapped in darkness…

"I am whom you wish me to be, princess," he said to her, taking her hand and kissing it softly. "I am your prince and I live only for you."

She blinked, and in an instant the darkness was gone. She looked up and saw the silhouette of a flying creature with large dark wings. One solitary black feather fell from the sky and landed in the snow before her. She looked at the feather and looked back up at the sky. The bright stars in the heavens waved and winked at her, letting her know she wasn't alone.

Harada Rika picked up the black feather held it lightly between her fingers. In the back of her mind, Rika noted that the wind had died down with Dark's coming. She clutched the feather in her left hand and pocketed the warning left to her by Dark earlier. She made her way out of the deserted park started back home.

Rika noted, absent-mindedly, that the stars were unusually bright tonight.

Terminae

Juniichi: whistlesSurprise surprise. You weren't expecting THAT, now were you? cough Yeah, yeah…

Dark x Harada Rika is one of the few cannon D. N. Angel ships I like. No flames, please, but constructive criticism is welcomed and loved!