Snow Wars- Part I – Chapter 6

The second last chapter although this one is so long that I've split it in two and I may just have to add another one. I don't know. I haven't decided yet. It all depends on how well this one ends. Sniff. I'm going to hate to see this fic go but it's time to move on to other ideas that I have for our favourite couple.

The stress at my old job is over with! My creative flow has returned and the plot bunny has promised no more to-kill-ya. Rum is now the drink of choice. Strawberry daiquiris for all! Hehehehe!

And thanks to all of you who reviewed my crazy little one-shot, "I Need to Get This Out". I had only expected two reviews and those would have been from my friend bandgeek77 (who hasn't called me in FOREVER!). So thanks again for your great and heartfelt comments.

Cul-de-sac circular neighbourhood. Kind of like a big pie with one street leading in and out. One street lamp in the centre.

Disclaimer: I still own nothing more than about 600 cards (including three Blue Eyes White Dragons), a few pencils and a calendar or two. Neither do I own Star Trek: The Next Generation.

On with the show…

The night was cold and crisp, the hint of another shower of snow blowing in the wind. The snow crunched merrily underfoot as boots made contact with cement. The slight breeze carried away the whispered words that were softly spoken behind mittened hands. Battle plans were laid and strategies thought through as the six from Téa's house trudged down the driveway to join the waiting group of other neighbourhood youngsters. Tristan, Yugi and Joey had hung back behind the other three on this little walk. So far, "Operation Keep Away" had been a complete and utter disaster. If they didn't do something to protect her, it would only be a matter of time before Kaiba got what he wanted from Téa. They were going to have to watch that pair very carefully tonight. It would be too easy to be separated once the snowball fight began.

"Okay, now Tristan, you 'n' I have to keep dose two apart. We can't afford t' have him trap her somewheres out here by demselves. You keep yer eye on him and I'll cover Téa. And remember, don't lose sight o' him, no matter what. I mean dat, Tris. Yugi, you can help him cover dat snake. He's too slippery for jus' Tristan to watch. We gotta be extra careful out here, especially if we play like last time when we got to use the whole neighbourhood as our battleground." Joey ran a hand through his hair, butterflies in his stomach at the thought of Téa at Kaiba's mercy somewhere in the dark and cold out here. She was too trusting for her own good and Kaiba would use that to his advantage.

"All right already, Joey. We all understand how important it is for those two to be kept apart. But we have to be incon… inconspic…" Tristan sighed in frustration. "We can't let them know what we're doing."

The Spirit laughed softly as Yugi chuckled silently under his breath. Tristan had never had too much luck with long words. If only they knew what was really going on and that this whole operation was a complete waste of their time. But Yugi was not one to spoil anyone's fun and it wasn't as if he hadn't tried to open them up to the idea back in the kitchen. They were both too stubborn to see what Yugi could see as clear as crystal now. And he was happy that those two had found each other. Maybe she would be a good influence on him. Yami agreed wholeheartedly on that one. Yugi blinked a couple of times, trying to clear his vision. Something must have gotten into his eye to make it tear up like that.

The other three were oblivious to the nefarious plans that were laid out literally behind their backs. Seto had to thrust his hands deep into his pockets and name off the cards in his deck in reverse alphabetical order to resist the overwhelming urge to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her close to him, letting her body heat mingle with his. Similarly, she had to keep thinking of her biology teacher, Mr. Wilson, droning on and on about mitochondria to overcome her urge to entwine her arm through his and press in closer to him. A single wrong move on either side right now would dig up the freshly buried hatchet.

"So, what's the plan?" Mokuba asked, tugging on her gloved hand to get her attention. Her eyes had that faraway look, he noticed, and that meant she was thinking about his older brother. Gross. Mokuba hoped her never got that dopey about girls.

"Well, how about we all introduce ourselves first when we get there," Téa suggested, casting a glance behind her. That gave her the excuse to let her eyes linger on Seto and the single lock of hair lifted by a gust of air. A shiver rippled through him as he caught her look and it definitely had nothing to do with the cold.

The other group of neighbourhood kids looked expectantly as the newcomers came to a stop at the end of Téa's driveway.

"Long time…"

"…no see." Two identically dressed boys were the first to greet them.

"Hi, Ryan and Bryan. You're right, it's been quite a long time." She beamed at the green hat covered twins and they blushed a deeper red. The two were just at the age of noticing girls, a stage that Mokuba was about to reach momentarily. "Let's all introduce ourselves. There are some new faces here that I'm sure you don't recognize."

The group stood around in a sort of circle formation so Tristan, standing next to Téa, decided to start the whole thing off. Everyone would eventually follow after him.

"I'm Tristan." A quick wave of his hand.

"Joey." A sheepish grin and a hand through his fringe.

"Yugi." A big smile and crinkled eyes.

"Mokuba." A grin that mirrored Yugi's in intensity.

"Kaiba." Crossed arms and a thin-lipped smirk.

"Julie." A big smile and a flash of white teeth that got both Tristan's and Joey's attention.

"Ryan."

"Bryan." The twins waved simultaneously.

"Megan." Big, blue eyes peered out from under curly, blonde hair, making Mokuba's breath catch and his heart skip a beat.

"Drake." He eyed Téa openly and appreciatively.

"Harvey." His eyes glanced over at Téa and his smile grew wider. Seto's eyes narrowed as a knot of jealousy twisted through his gut. Those two were going to need watching.

Téa, oblivious to the ogling by the two teenaged boys, smiled and said, "And I'm Téa. Now that we all know each other, let's get this snowball fight going. Now, have you already discussed the rules of engagement?" She looked over at Julie expectantly.

The blonde gave a last, sidelong glance at Tristan before turning her attention to the brown haired girl. "Not yet. Got anything in mind?"

"Free for all, no head shots?" Joey suggested, disgust in his eyes at Tristan's moon face. A quick elbow jab to the side and a nod in Kaiba's direction got his friend's attention once more.

"The whole neighbourhood is fair game for hiding as well," Megan piped up, eyeing Mokuba shyly. He gulped and turned his head away. She was sooooo pretty. Maybe girls weren't so bad after all…

"Sounds good," Drake replied, his smirk making Seto's blood boil. How dare he look at his Téa in that way. Insolent young pup, he thought, although in reality Drake, and Harvey, were only a year younger. Obviously, the Kaiba name didn't impress upon either of them the danger they were in. The snowball fight would prove that they should fear him.

"Great, now to the count of three, scatter in all directions. At the count of ten, fire at will. And remember, EVERYONE is your enemy," Téa announced enthusiastically. Good thing she was a crack shot with a snowball. She'd proven that a few days earlier with Seto. Hopefully, he remembered that since he was her first target. Kissing him was all well and good but sometimes nailing him with a snowball felt just as good.

The answering smiles from the rest of the group showed agreement to the rules.

Thus, the epic battle was to proceed once more.

"One!" Téa shouted, turning from the group and running towards the screen of bushes that lined the driveway between her house and Julie's. Perfect cover from which to shoot at anyone that came near her. Everyone else seemed to pick a different direction and it looked like the whole neighbourhood would really be the battleground once more tonight. At least she lived in a cul-de-sac. Much easier to deal with than if she'd lived on a regular straight street.

"Two!"

The breeze blew once more and she smiled. She was downwind of everyone. No one would hear her creeping up on them. A single, crystalline snowflake glittered before her eyes as she settled behind her cover. Perfect. Snow cover was about to hit. Seto would never know what hit him. She could be as silent as a ghost when the occasion called for it.

"Three." She stayed behind her makeshift cover as stillness descended. Everyone had taken cover in a different spot from what she could tell. She hadn't been idle either, her hands quickly forming a small pile of snowballs in front of her. Cradling her ammunition, she crept out carefully from her spot, through a pair of bushes that weren't rooted as close to each other as they should have been. A flash of white coat caught her attention and she grinned.

Target spotted.

"Four!" Téa's voice came from somewhere near her house. How was he supposed to keep track of her if she kept herself hidden? For all he knew, Kaiba had already wriggled his way over there and was about to pounce. Poor Téa, she wouldn't know what hit her if he did that. He had to find her… wait a sec… there was a flash of blonde hair and pink coat. Julie… now she was cute. Really cute. As cute as that Tracy girl at The Gap had been earlier in the week. Joey wondered if he could somehow corner Julie and get her phone number so…

Shaking his head, he stopped that train of thought. She was, right now, his enemy. And he had to protect Téa at all costs. How he was torn. He wanted to follow that pink coat. Maybe he'd ask Téa about her later. For now, he was going to concentrate on finding her. She'd all but disappeared, her whitish grey coat blending in well in the darkness and snow. Speaking of which…

A snowflake landed on his nose and he groaned as he looked up at the sky. Full of snow. Great, just great! "Operation Keep Away" had just gotten a million times harder. A flash of pink flew across his field of vision once more. Well, Téa was a big girl now. She'd be okay for a couple of minutes by herself while he went in search of the beauty in pink. Joey left his position near Drake's house and made a beeline across Julie's front yard towards Téa's place, trying to be as invisible as possible.

"Five!" Téa's voice came from somewhere to his right. Damn this neighbourhood! It was more like a park with all of the bushes and trees on each property providing enough cover to hide a herd of elephants. The single street lamp in the middle did little to illuminate anything outside of a 50-yard radius. The only other light on the whole street were the few strings of Christmas lights strung up on Téa's house and one other. How was he supposed to find her in this cursed darkness?

Then he grinned. Why should he find her? Seto knew vaguely where she had hidden herself. Maybe he could tempt her out by making a target of himself. His white trench coat was a dead giveaway and she was a good shot. Playing hurt the first time had worked last week. He wondered if she would fall for it again. He could then… unless she decided to give him another snow wash first. That had been truly brilliant on her part.

Standing behind a tree, his back to the house next to Téa's, he didn't know that he'd already been spotted and radar locked on. The gentle breeze clacked the branches of the tree together, making it hard for him to hear if anyone was approaching him from any direction. The falling snow and vast number of trees wasn't helping any either.

"Six!" Shoot, that sounded closer than before. Was she coming closer? He scanned around him slowly, looking for any kind of movement in the still night. Nothing moved except for the branches being shaken by another breeze. The snowflakes were falling harder now, curtailing his view of the area around him.

The whitish grey-coated figure peeked out from behind yet another tree and began to take careful aim, a smile lighting up her features.

Yugi could barely hear Téa hollering "Six!" from his position across the street, near the twins' house. He'd come all the way over here to get away from Joey's little mission. He wanted nothing to do with it really. Well, that and the fact that Téa was a really good shot and had much longer legs than he had.

The snow swirled and whirled over his head, obscuring his vision in the inky darkness. The clouds hung low and fat over the city, promising another good snowfall through the night. Perfect time for a sneak attack. He'd seen the twins heading over this way as well. They, at least, were on his level. The last snowball fight between them had come to a draw. All three of them had been covered head to toe with snow. Tonight, he meant to settle the score. Those two wouldn't escape him that easily. Yami eagerly awaited the challenge and revelled in the feel of the snow falling across his aibou's cheeks and nose.

Settling down behind a massive tree that sat on the front yard of the property, Yugi began stockpiling snowballs in front of him. It was better to be armed and ready than caught unawares. The twins were good and were more than likely working together. He'd never seen them apart.

Little did he know how right he was. A two pronged attack was about to be launched. The twins also remembered the last snowball fight.

"Seven!" Téa's voice was little more than a loud whisper to him.

Mokuba settled down behind a huge bush on a property two houses away from Téa's. His heart beat erratically and he was pretty darn sure that running to his hiding spot hadn't caused it. What was it about Megan that had caught his eye? Her eyes were really blue and her hair was curly but Susan in his class had the same thing but his heart didn't skip a beat when he looked at her. Girls were icky but Megan…

He shook his head. Now was not the time to think about girls like that. He'd had enough of that yesterday when he'd walked in on Seto and Téa. It wasn't as if he wanted to kiss her although it somehow did sound sort of tempting to do what he'd witnessed the day before. Seto had looked like he'd been enjoying it. Maybe there was something to this liking girls business. But what if she didn't like dirt and frogs and such? What would he do then? Too much confusion! Girls were nothing but trouble. They hated getting dirty and they always smelled nice.

Squatting down, he began to prepare his stockpile of ammunition. He wasn't going to budge from this spot. They were going to have to drag him kicking and screaming out of there. Everyone else was too big for him to get a good shot at. But Megan… no he had to stop thinking of her. SHE was his enemy, for now. After the snowball fight… well, that was later. He had to think about the here and now. He was not going to be beat by a GIRL!

A pair of blue eyes regarded him from around the trunk of a tree ten feet away. The shy smile had been replaced by a knowing smirk. Too bad Mokuba didn't realize that he was the prey and the predator was getting ready to pounce.

"Eight!" Téa's voice rang through the neighbourhood like a bell.

Tristan peeked out from around the far corner of Téa's house. This was a pretty safe position. He knew Téa was close by. So what if Joey said he'd watch her. Another set of eyes couldn't hurt. And he'd seen Julie run in this direction, sort of, as well. Why hadn't Téa mentioned her before? She must be new to the neighbourhood. He didn't remember her being at their last snowball fight. Hmm, she was cute. Cuter than the girl at the tree stand and even Tracy at The Gap. Maybe he'd find her and get her phone number since Joey was no closer to letting him date his sister, Serenity. His exact words had been "Ova' my dead body." Or something like that. Sigh. At least Duke couldn't date her either. There was some solace in that at least.

His gloved hands worked quickly as he made and stocked at least a dozen snowballs in front of him. If Kaiba was looking for Téa, he was in for a world of hurt if Tristan ran across him first. Headshots may not be allowed but that didn't mean he couldn't nail him in other, more sensitive areas. One good shot there and they wouldn't have to worry about him confronting Téa for the rest of the night. Although, knowing Kaiba as well as he did, that was probably as hard and cold as the rest of him… Ooo bad mental image.

A flash of pink coat caught his attention. That was Julie. She was the only one wearing a pink coat. Now he was truly torn. Should he stay here and protect Téa or follow after a girl he actually had a shot with? Well, Joey had said he was going to watch over Téa and it wasn't as if she was in any immediate danger from Kaiba. And Yugi was supposed to watch Kaiba too, so… Hormones won over common sense and Tristan silently stalked after the pink-coated girl, his footsteps muffled by the squishy snow on the grass and the wind that had started to pick up now that the snow was falling once more.

Julie glanced behind her, hoping that he was following her. He was sooooo cute… and he was going to be her first victim. She grinned silently and slowed her pace, waiting for him to catch up to her, as she dashed across Harvey's front yard.

Neither of them saw Joey creeping through the bushes in front of Téa's house.

Joey never saw Tristan begin to give chase either. His eyes were focussed blindly on that pink flash of coat.

"Nine!" Téa's voice sounded excited, ecstatic even, as she came closer to the end of the countdown.

Drake smiled. He'd been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. He had her in his sights. She was crouched down behind a tree between her and Julie's houses, not paying any attention to who was behind her. When she'd first started the countdown, he'd made a beeline for his house and then used the cover of darkness and snow to slink across two properties to come within fifteen feet of her.

Tonight would be the night that she'd finally agree to go out with him or she would be buried underneath a storm of snowballs. She'd refused him every year for the last three. He'd ask her out, his voice quavering from nerves and/or the onset of puberty and she'd smile politely and say "No" with a little laugh. Her eyes were always kind when she did it but he couldn't understand why she kept turning him down. It wasn't as if he wasn't cute and nice. All the girls at his high school said so. With his resolve strengthened, he straightened up a bit and began to skulk closer yet. He was not going to be denied again.

He missed seeing two things in his pursuit of his prey. One, Seto Kaiba had spotted him while he'd been daydreaming and was stalking closer. Seto may not have found Téa yet, but the upstart teenager would probably lead him to her and get caught in crossfire as Téa fired at him. And if not, he'd be a good warm up for target practice. Two, Drake didn't see Harvey closing in from the opposite side of Téa's house.

She was so close he could almost smell her. Turning his head slowly, he panned the area. Stupid snow was obscuring his vision and the wind was covering any noise a potential enemy (like Drake) might be making near him.

Harvey was bound and determined to get to Téa before Drake did. Though this time would probably end up like the last snowball fight where she'd pelted them mercilessly until they had relented and surrendered. Harvey was going to ask her out this time and he wasn't going to take 'NO' for an answer. Every time Drake asked her out first always ruined his own chances of doing the same. And she always said 'No' to Drake. Well, this year she was going to say 'Yes' to Harvey, come hell or high-water.

She'd be a fool not to accept his request for a date. He was tall, good-looking, on the football team (second string) and the debate team. Girls swooned when he walked down the hallway. And he was only a freshman. Why was she playing hard to get? Did she enjoy being pursued? Was that her angle? Well, he would enjoy making the catch of the century when she finally said 'Yes' to him. All he had to do was find her first.

"TEN!"

The silence that had descended across the neighbourhood was shattered as screams, yells and the sound of running footsteps echoed through the vast numbers of trees and bushes that lived there. The neighbours weren't worried at all at the amount of noise those kids generated. It was just the renewal of the Christmas Snow Wars. It had been a while since they'd happened. It was about time, too.

The War had begun once more.

End of Part I

Sorry, faithful readers, I had to split this into two separate chapters. Otherwise, it would have been over 10,000 words for just one chapter. Don't worry though, the second part will be up shortly. Very shortly.

Thanks for bearing with the long wait between updates. School is done in two weeks and I'll be able to wholeheartedly concentrate on finishing this little tale.

Aphrael21;)

PS: I need some good driving tunes. Songs you can rock to while you're driving in the car. Making a CD for my friend who just got her first car… please? Look, I gave you a two, nice, long chapters, some funny bits… pretty please? Either tell me in your reviews or email me at: dorothyinkorea(at)hotmail(dot)com - Thanks a whole bunch!