Title: Snowfall

Theme: 14- nostalgia

Genre: Romance/Drama/Introspective

Pairings: Dearka/Yzak

Word Count: 2,875

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Dearka thinks back on the winter day he met Yzak fifty years before.

Notes: Written for the deayza livejournal community's Secret Santa project. This one's for you, Ryuuen (kaguchan), so I hope you enjoy!

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There was something about the cold weather that made him positively drowsy. No matter how long he fought to keep his eyes open, they just kept drifting closed. Dearka remarked that it 'must be naptime for all the kiddies.' Yzak threw a pillow at Dearka's head and snappily told him to 'shove it.'

It looked to be another "normal" day in the Jule household.

Standing from where he sat on the couch, Dearka walked over to the window and pressed a hand against the cool glass.

"Looks like they're going to start the snow soon," He remarked, not sure if Yzak was still listening or not. But after a few moments passed in silence, he realized that his friend had caved to his body's wishes and fallen fast asleep on the couch.

"Then again, you're going to sleep right through it," Dearka said to himself as he picked up the afghan from a nearby chair.

Draping the blanket over his companion, he returned to the window sill. Days like this might have made Yzak sleepy, but they left him thoughtful.

There was something about the snow, Dearka concluded, that stirred up provocative thoughts and memories in his mind. And today was no different.

Although the snow was fake- a mere byproduct produced by the PLANTS to simulate the season of winter- his thoughts were far from trivial.

At first, he thought of how much things had changed in the years he'd been alive. How the wars turned them against the people of Earth only to bring the two back together once the fighting was over. How the laws now favored love over genetic matchups. And how thanks to both the war and the altered laws, he was where he was today.

How many winters had it been since I've met Yzak?

"Forty-nine? No fifty," he calculated quickly, a smile on his lips at the memory of that day.

Thinking back on it, he shook his head and laughed a bit to himself. It was no wonder he remembered it even now- it was just one of those days that it was hard not to remember.

Brushing a stray graying hair from his face, Dearka sat down in the chair by the window.

Then again, Yzak has always been good at leaving memorable impressions…

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It was almost Christmas in C.E. 61 when they'd met, the first full winter the PLANTS had ever had.

After much deliberation on the council- the PLANTS had finally opted to begin mimicking Earth's weather patterns as accurately as possible. While it seemed very novel and exciting that mid-autumn day when the council members had voted it in- they had no idea what awaited them in the coming months.

By the time December rolled around, many of them regretted the decision as they sloshed through snow drifts and battled it out against the wind and ice. For the children though, it was an adventure waiting to happen.

And it just so happened, that two young boys would be introduced to each other that very year.

It was a formal introduction to be put mildly, almost too formal the boys decided, at a fancy dinner while their parents discussed politics and they were told they were now going to be friends.

The silver-haired boy crossed his arms and scowled at the other boy; who did his best to retort with a properly smug expression himself. Needless to say, they were only seven and really had no grasp at all on how important they would end up being in each other's life.

Ezaria spoke up over dinner about how she thought they were taking things too far- dropping the temperature and the wind chill to Earth's frigid standards. Tad merely shook his head and reasoned that if they didn't have an imitation winter they'd just be complaining about the imitation summer.

The boys, Yzak and Dearka, didn't care one way or the other. They were just bored and not too happy about being forced to "be friends" with another person. As dinner finished, Ezaria led them to Yzak's room telling them to have fun as she bustled off to attend to more council paperwork. Much to Dearka's dismay, his Father left- promising to return in a few hours to pick him up.

They were trapped- together- and there wasn't much either of them could do about it. And so, their so-called friendship began…

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"Don't touch anything. I'm only letting you in this room because my Mother said so," Yzak remarked, glaring as the other boy entered his bedroom.

Dearka blinked a moment, then shrugged, "Whatever you say, momma's boy."

"What was that!"

Although he was a few inches shorter, Yzak was determined to hold his own. Perhaps- more than determined. If it came down to a fight, he was going to win it- no ifs, ands or buts about it.

But Dearka was not one to cave so easily. Quickly thinking, he eyed the white blurs outside the window with a smirk.

"Okay, if you're not a momma's boy- go outside and play in the snow."

Yzak blanched, seething inwardly that somehow Dearka had overheard his mother saying it was too cold for him to go outside today. Blue eyes darted towards his coat and then to the large window.

"Fine, but you're coming too," He snapped back, hoping that he could shift the blame to Dearka if his Mother did indeed find out about this breach in the rules.

And before Dearka could protest or take back his joking challenge- he felt Yzak's hand gripping his wrist and had his coat shoved into his hands. Whatever adventure awaited them out there, they were stuck in it together.

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After crawling out through the first-story bedroom window, the two boys couldn't help but stop and stare at the vast expanse of white that was blanketing the world around them. As cold as the temperature might be, it was as if the snow called to them and begged for someone to come and play in it. Not about to let their bravery (and rule-breaking) go to waste, Dearka and Yzak started running out into the white abyss before them.

Figuring he'd know best which ways to go since it was his backyard, Dearka followed Yzak everywhere. At first, the boy seemed a bit awkward about having a companion with him but soon he began to open up.

"So… you get bored a lot when your Dad's at meetings and stuff?"

Dearka blinked, a bit thrown at having the other boy speak to him. Stuffing his cold hands into his pockets, he quickened his pace to keep up with Yzak.

"Yah, sometimes. I don't have as many things as you do to play with though."

"What? You mean in my room?" Yzak asked, stopping to tie a shoe.

"You have five different game systems, I'm lucky to have one."

"Oh…"

They both fell silent for a moment; and Dearka began to regret commenting on that issue. It wasn't like he meant to say that aloud.

"Then again, it's not like I outright told him he's a spoiled brat," He reasoned.

But any further thought or remorse was cut off as a snowball smacked into the side of his head.

"Hey!" He yelled out, turning to see Yzak smugly grinning at him from beside a tree.

"You were thinking I'm a spoiled brat, weren't you?"

Caught off guard at having Yzak read his thoughts, Dearka left himself wide open for another snowball- this one hitting his arm.

"Who said that?" He shot back, quickly reaching down to scoop up some snow.

"Oh sure, you didn't say it, but you were thinking it. I just know- so there."

"So did you get a mind reading device for your birthday or something?" Dearka quipped back, tossing a snowball at Yzak's chest.

"No- I have this thing called a brain. You should try using yours!" Yzak retorted, sending another snowball flying back.

And so it began- snowballs and sarcastic insults flying back and forth as the dreary winter afternoon crept into the early hours of evening. Despite the tingly chill their fingers and toes felt, the two boys didn't even realize how long they'd been outside. Nor did they have any idea that their two parents were now frantically searching for them.

It wasn't until the sky started to grow dark that Yzak put a stop to the snowball fight and insisted that they return immediately.

"Let's go back."

"Giving up?"

"No- it's just- something's wrong."

Dearka caught the panic in his voice, and almost wondered if along with being a momma's boy that Yzak was afraid of the dark as well.

"I'm… I'm not sure where we are anymore," Yzak finished, and the smug expression fell from Dearka's face.

"What?"

"I wasn't paying attention, you idiot! If you hadn't kept throwing those stupid snowballs at me…"

"You were the one that started throwing snowballs!"

Dearka started to walk closer to Yzak, hoping that they wouldn't get separated in the dark. But Yzak was in a bad mood, which meant anyone nearby was an apt target for his anger.

"This is all your fault!" He exclaimed, tackling the other boy to the ground and regretting it the instant they hit the snow drift.

Something underneath them made a strange crunching noise and before they knew it, the snow caved in and they fell, landing on some muddy dirt below. Dearka's first instinct was to shove Yzak off of him, but when he noticed their odd surroundings, he froze.

"Where…are we?"

By all appearances, they seemed to be in a dug-out cellar of some sort, but Yzak couldn't remember any such location on their property.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen this place before."

Standing, they both brushed the mud and snow off their clothes before looking around. At one end of the dark passage, there was a wooden door blocked in with snow. And at the other end, there was a stockpile of wine bottles. A wine cellar, they both concluded.

"How do we get out of here?" Dearka asked; looking up at the hole they'd fallen in through.

"Stop asking me all these stupid questions. I don't know, okay!" Yzak snapped back, stomping over to one of the cellar's walls and sitting down.

"Okay… I just…" He sighed as he realized what a predicament they were in. Dearka already knew the danger, and Yzak probably did as well. They'd studied enough even in their primary schooling to know what happened to lost travelers on Earth who'd strayed into the snow and were trapped there overnight.

It was just scary, to think that no one might find them in time, but neither one of them would be the one to admit that.

Cautiously walking towards Yzak, Dearka sat down beside him and clutched his coat closer to him.

After a moment in silence, he quietly murmured to the boy beside him.

"Sorry…"

Blue eyes blinked open and glanced at him in surprise.

"For what?" He asked, trying to sound annoyed and failing.

"For daring you to come out here. If I hadn't done that then we…"

"Shut up. We aren't going to be stuck here! My mom will…well, I hope that she…"

Yzak trailed off and bit his lip. He wasn't about to say what he was thinking. Quietly, Dearka finished the sentiment.

"We can hope they'll find us in time."

There wasn't much else that could be said after that, the two just sitting and wondering what could possibly be done. Hoping that it would at least keep their minds off things, Dearka decided a change of subject might be a good idea.

"So um… Yzak, right?"

"Yah, that's my name," He replied, looking over at the other boy.

"Well, so what kind of stuff do you like beside games?"

Yzak paused for a moment, thrown off guard by the friendly manner he was being addressed in. Then, deciding that it was better than sitting in silence, he answered.

And so- they talked. Favorite color? Favorite food? All the standard questions one would ask to get to know someone better. As the temperatures grew colder, they scooted closer to one another to keep warm. Finally, they bridged the topic of the predicament they were in. It was a scary situation- they finally admitted that much, but they figured that between the two of them there had to be a way out.

But as it grew darker and darker, Yzak found it was harder to keep his eyes open. And now, as the last bit of light was starting to fade- Dearka was becoming desperate to think up an escape to save him and the boy he was starting to think of as a good friend.

"What if we took the racks the wine bottles are on and climbed on them to get out the hole?" He suggested.

Groggily rubbing his eyes, Yzak squinted in the direction of the racks, "You know- that might just work…"

Within minutes, they quickly worked together to get the bottles off the racks and move it towards the hole they'd fallen in from. Finally getting the wooden tower positioned, they began their climb up to safety.

Yzak reached the top first and was just about to start walking off towards the direction he saw lights in when he heard something fall behind him. Turning around, he noticed that the rack was starting to topple and some of the snow from around the hole's edge was falling in. Without thinking twice, he quickly reached out and grabbed Dearka's hands to pull him up to safety.

The sudden motion caused them both to lose their balance and they toppled to the ground once more. More of the snow fell into the hole and the rack became buried beneath it, but they were luckily far enough from the edge this time.

Looking at the boy laying beside him on the ground, Dearka smiled.

"Thanks. You saved me."

Yzak shrugged and looked the other direction, "Well, Mother would have been mad if I'd left you here."

Dearka shook his head, reading right through Yzak's tough-guy façade. Standing, he offered a hand down to the other boy.

Looking a bit surprised, Yzak finally reached out and Dearka helped him up. After a moment, the golden-haired boy heard a quiet, somewhat begrudging, mutter beside him.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Dearka replied, "That's what friends are for."

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And then our parents showed up with flashlights, having been searching for us for about an hour. Heh, now that I think about it- I wonder if Ezaria regrets insisting on stripping us both down and shoving us into a warm bath together the second we got back to the house. Especially after that incident when we were teens and she walked in on us in the shower. Yzak was so embarrassed after that one…

Smiling to himself at the memories, Dearka stood and stretched out his joints.

"Damn, how long was I sitting here anyways?"

"About time you came back to reality," Yzak's voice cut in.

Looking over at the couch, Dearka noticed the silver-haired man sitting with his arms crossed.

"Well, well- looks like sleeping beauty woke up. I was afraid I was going to have to play prince and kiss you to get a stir. Then we could have dressed you in a pretty pink dress."

"And what about you? Staring off into space looking for signs of Santa and his reindeer? Too bad, I already told him you've been naughty this year and you're getting coal."

The two playfully glared at each other for a moment before Dearka looked back towards the snow.

"…I was just thinking about that night we met."

He could hear Yzak standing behind him, but he didn't move from where he stood by the window.

"Oh? You mean how you were an idiot and got me stuck in some muddy old cellar?"

"Not my fault you're so damned stubborn," Dearka retorted as he felt two arms wrapping around his waist.

"I'm not a mule, Dearka."

"Could have fooled me."

"You're the ass," Yzak noted casually, resting his head on Dearka's shoulder.

Looking back over his shoulder, Dearka pressed a chaste kiss to Yzak's forehead.

"We've both done our share of riding, partner."

Yzak snorted, "Okay- that was just lame."

"Oh shut up, it was not."

"That was corny and lame and you know it, Dearka Elthman."

Laughing to himself, he leaned his head forward against the cold window, "Okay- so it was. Sue me; I'm getting too old to come up with anything better than that."

"And yet you still keep trying to be funny," Yzak remarked, pulling back and rolling his eyes.

Dearka turned and pulled the shorter man into an embrace. Ruffling his silver hair, the taller man couldn't help but grin when Yzak glared up at him.

"You love it, so there," Dearka remarked with a smirk.

"No, I just love you- idiot," He muttered back.

And finding that they didn't have much more to bicker about at the moment, they leaned in for a kiss; the snow still falling outside just like it had those many years before.

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