-?- The Great Tinsel War -?-

Leena stirred in her sleep. She was having a wonderful dream about a certain blonde-haired pilot; Bit had asked her out on a date and was being wonderfully romantic to her. And in between the champagne and sweet talk, he had proposed. Leena was about to answer when her dream came to an end. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up in bed.

Leena looked around her room, bewildered. 'I don't remember falling asleep in my bed. I remember being on the couch with Bit…' She blushed at the thought of falling asleep with her teammate. 'He probably carried me to my room. That's the only logical explanation as to how I got here.' she reasoned.

Leena climbed out of bed and stretched. 'Maybe that's why I dreamt about him. After all, I can't think of any other reason that I would be dreaming about him…except, of course, that I liked him.' She laughed at the thought. 'Me? Like Bit? That's absurd! Or is it?' She shook her head at the notion. 'I can't believe the things that I'm thinking! I must be going insane! Man, that's the last time I eat cookies before I go to sleep.'

Leena shook her head once more and decided that some food would help clear her mind. She opened her door and nearly stepped on a small, gift wrapped box that was just outside. 'Another present?' she thought while picking it up and retreating back to her room. She read the tag aloud. "To Leena, For the second day of Christmas. I guess it's from my secret admirer."

Leena sat on her bed and carefully unwrapped her new gift. Inside the box was a pair of charcoal colored gloves and a note. She lifted gloves out of the box so that she could try them on. 'They're beautiful.' she mused while examining them on her hands. 'Really warm, too.' Leena smiled and gently removed the gloves. She placed them back in the box and pulled out the note.

"On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me: two woolen gloves, and a carving made just for me." she read. Leena turned the paper over, but once again, nothing else was written. 'I guess I'll just have to wait until my admirer decides it's time to reveal himself. Oh well. I can wait.' Her stomach gave a low rumble. 'Breakfast it is then!' With that last thought, she set off toward the kitchen.

Bit grunted as he pulled another dusty box from storage. This proved to be a big mistake; a moment later he was sent into a sneezing frenzy from inhaling the dust. After about the fourth or fifth sneeze, he lost his grip on the box and it came crashing down on his foot. Bit yelped in pain and grabbed his foot and started spinning around in circles, all the while sneezing every second or so.

It was an extremely funny scene to an onlooker, and unfortunately, Leena was included in this category. She broke into hysteric fits of giggles at the sight. But of course, as luck would have it, she happened to be carrying a box, too. A moment later, her box lay on the floor, its contents strewn about the room.

"Oops." she said in between her heavy laughter. By this time Bit had stopped spinning around in circles, clutching his injured foot.

"It's not that funny!" he cried. "That box weighed at least twenty pounds!"

"I'm sorry, Bit! It's just that you looked so ridiculous!" Leena yelled back. Bit gave a small 'humph' as a reply. "Hey, could you help me pick up all these decorations?"

"Oh, sure!" he answered sarcastically, "Right after you laugh at my pain!"

"I said sorry! C'mon, Bit! Where's your holiday spirit!"

"It got crushed with my foot." he mumbled crossly.

"Oh boo-hoo, Mr. Scrooge. It's your fault that I dropped the box in the first place, so you're gonna help me pick this stuff up whether you like it or not!" Bit sighed in defeat.

"You're not going to leave me alone until I obey your every command, are you?"

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner, folks!"

"I would appreciate the loss of sarcasm, Leena." Bit said while heading over to the spilled decorations.

"Too bad. As you stated before, you have to obey my every command, which includes dealing with my wit."

"I'm not even going to grace you with an answer, oh mighty slave-driver." Leena glared and stuck out her tongue. Bit shook his head and began to clean up the mess.

"There sure is a lot of tinsel in here." he commented while holding up ten packages of the shiny, metallic strands.

"I like shiny things." Leena declared somewhat stupidly. Bit eyed the packages and suddenly got an idea. He popped open a package and withdrew a handful of tinsel. "What are you doing?"

She didn't need to wait for an answer; the moment the question had left her mouth, Bit began to toss strands of tinsel over her body.

"Hey!" she exclaimed while trying to escape from the clingy decoration.

"I thought you liked shiny things." Bit said in an innocent tone. Leena put on her war face and picked up a package of her own.

"Oh, it is on now." she stated while violently tossing tinsel at her attacker.

Doc could hear sounds of laughter coming from the hanger. Unfortunately, these sounds were accompanied by screams and an occasional dull thud. He cautiously poked his head inside to investigate and nearly fell over at the sight.

The room was covered in tinsel, glitter, and just about any other decoration that had been previously packed away in boxes. His eyes drifted to the center of the room and found the culprits; Bit and Leena were both couched behind some boxes while trying to hit the other with green and red confetti without getting hit themselves.

"This is what I get for leaving them alone." Doc said quietly to himself. He watched, unnoticed, for a few moments longer and then left the room with a smile. "That's my future son-in-law." he mused.

Many minutes and countless strands of tinsel later, Bit and Leena could be found sprawled out on the floor in the middle of a huge mess.

"Well, that was fun." Bit stated while pulling tinsel out of his hair and examining it in the light. Leena couldn't help but notice how cute he looked at the moment. A stupid grin spread across her face. "What?" Leena blushed and shook her head.

"I was just thinking that you don't look half bad when you're covered in glitter and tinsel." Bit's cheeks became a light rose color at the comment.

"Oh. Thanks…I think."

"You remind me of an angel ornament that I made for my mom when I was little." She frowned slightly. "That was before she decided that she'd rather go off to some crazy job and leave her family behind."

Bit nodded sullenly; he knew that Leena's mother had left her when she was a little girl in order to pursue a career as a bounty hunter. It was a dangerous job, and Bit could see why her mother had left. She needed to ensure Leena's safety. But she could have at least kept in contact with her only daughter; it had been years since Leena had heard from her mother, and no one was even sure if she was still alive.

"So, you think I look like an angel?" Bit asked, tactfully steering away from the touchy subject.

"Yeah. The one I made when I was five. Did I mention it was poorly made?" she countered.

"Still an angel, nonetheless." Leena could find no comeback for this, so she just remained silent. She glanced over at Bit and watched him helplessly try to brush some of the glitter off. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand.

"You know, it's pointless to try and clean glitter off. It will just keep sticking too you." Bit settled back down next to her.

"I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

"No."

"Don't be stupid. Oh wait, I'm sorry, that's impossible."

"You're impossible."

"Whatever."

"This glitter itches."

"Stop complaining, Bit."

"I will if you will."

"Fine."

"Fine." Bit tilted his head back and closed his eyes. Leena's heart gave a little pang as she watched him rest. It was then that she noticed that they were still holding hands. A bright blush settled across her face and she went to withdraw her hand. But something stopped her—a little voice in the back of her head telling her, 'Why not leave your hand in his? He hasn't noticed yet.' Leena grinned happily.

"Yeah, why not."

"Did you say something?" Bit asked, though his eyes were still shut.

"Nothing important." she replied while focusing on the warmth of his hand. "I'm just tired."

"Oh. That's nice." Bit said, half asleep.

"Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for awhile."

"You do that."

"I think I will. Hey, Bit?" Leena waited for an answer, but none came. She turned her head towards him and examined his sleeping form. The steady rise and fall of his chest was soothing. "You really are like an angel." she whispered right before drifting off into a deep sleep.

Bit woke an hour later feeling sore. 'Probably from sleeping on the floor' he thought. He tried to wipe the hair out of his eyes, but something was holding his arm back. Bit turned to his left and was shocked to see Leena sleeping peacefully and…holding his hand? The very idea of being so close to Leena made the heat rise to his face. 'Okay,' he coaxed himself, 'I just have to play it cool. This is no big deal; Leena has held my hand plenty of times. All I have to do is slip my hand out of hers and I can avoid a very awkward situation. Yeah. That's just what I'll do.'

Bit stared at Leena's face, hypnotized by her beauty. The more he stared at her, the more wanted to keep holding her hand. 'Well, maybe for just a little longer. She won't be waking up anytime soon.' Bit reasoned with himself. He lifted his free hand and gently stroked her porcelain cheek. Leena turned over in her sleep and buried her face in his chest. Bit blushed and tried to draw back, but she kept a tight grip on him.

"Can't we sleep for a little longer, Bit? No one's up at this hour anyway." she mumbled.

"What are you talking about? It's noon!" Bit said while glancing at the clock that hung just above the doorway. Leena only replied with a soft snore. 'I guess she's still asleep. Figures that she'd only want to be with me in her sleep. Wait… she's dreaming about me, which means…' Bit returned Leena's embrace and rested his forehead against hers. He could feel her warm breath on his neck, sending a shiver up his spine. "Leena." he whispered in her ear. No answer. "Leena." he said again. Still no reply. "Leena." he tried once more, this time a little louder.

"What?" Leena asked in a sleepy tone.

"It's time to wake up. Open your eyes." Leena did as she was told and was met with the face of her very cute teammate. She smiled sleepily and blinked a few times so that she cold focus her eyesight. When everything came in clear, her brain finally registered the awkward situation at hand. She blushed furiously and gazed at the floor. Bit decided to have a little fun.

"Why are you blushing?" he asked sincerely. Leena's eyes darted back up to his face.

"Uh…it's just that…I-we…uh…" she stammered nervously while putting some distance between herself and her questioner. The first thing Leena noticed was how much colder she felt.

"It's just that what?" Bit asked again. Leena stood up quite suddenly and glanced at the door.

"I just remembered that I had something to do!" she declared loudly. "I'll help you clean up this mess later! Uh…bye!" she called while making her escape. Bit smiled and rested his head on his arms. 'She likes me.' he thought happily.

Leena ran down the corridors of the base. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought that it would surely jump right out of her chest. When she felt that she was far enough away from Bit, she stopped and leaned against the wall. 'What just happened?' Leena thought while sliding to the floor. 'Bit—he was so close. I could feel him breathing on my neck. He felt so warm…and in my dream he…'

Leena blushed and buried her face in her hands. The thought of the things that Bit had done in her dream made her hair stand on end. She had never felt that way before nor had anyone ever touched her like the way he had. Suddenly Leena felt warm all over. It wasn't the kind of heat that she had ever experienced before. This feeling was good but torturous at the same time. 'Maybe I'm getting sick. Maybe something's wrong with me.' Leena shook her head and stood up. 'Could this be what love feels like?'

-UNTIL NEXT TIME-

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I decided to explain the absence of Leena's mother by making her a Bounty Hunter. It's good to try something different once in a while, no?

-Madam Midnight-