The lights of the city twinkled all around him, her.

The two were in a private limo driving through the city full of such life and vibrancy.

Calloway only watched it all from his side of the limo, his window tinted black so no passer-by could look in and see it was him. He knew that wherever he went, if the general public knew, he'd be swarmed by eager fans.

He just couldn't handle that anymore. He had not the strength to write his name on paper, and really mean it at this time in his life. And he was sorry inside about this reason, he had just been secluded and beaten up inside for so long.

Ash was sitting on the other side of the limo, and turned her eyes nervously over to him, smiling shyly and a little awkward as she remarked, "It almost looks like night from how dark these windows are."

"Yeah, I suppose," He uttered back, sighing heavily as he rested his large lion head on the window in sorrow and deep tiredness. Tiredness about everything.

Ash still looked at him, biting her bottom lip nervously before saying the words, "You'll be alright,"

He huffed a small lying laugh at that, mocking her in a sense and she screwed her lips up one side coyly, as she added.

"You're not calling me a liar, are you?"

"No, never." He replied, still with a small patronizing grin on him. She smirked a little back, and slowly slid down her window a little, letting in the cold crispy air and the chill of the snow.

"Ash-"

"Just letting in the Christmas air,"

"Hmpth," He huffed again, shaking his head in disbelief, but something in his heart, cried for him to do the same.

So he obeyed.

He nervously slid down his own window just a crack, and gazed out to the colourful bright city full of so much noise and cheer.

Ash turned her eyes away from her own window, back nervously over at Calloway, and said, "Where we're going... it's gonna be buried deep in snow."

"But aren't you city girl?" Clay asked and Ash shook her head quickly, her blush skimming her cheeks as she said in a small soft voice.

"N-no," a giggle being hidden in her speech, "I come from a suburb just outside my city, a very big suburb with forests and lakes and-"

"In other words," Calloway interrupted her, with a grin, "The countryside, like where I was."

"Not exactly as secluded as you were, Clay," She replied, still laughing nervously and the two startled back suddenly when firecrackers were heard being lit just outside the limo.

The two quickly rushed to each one of their windows, peeking out instantly, and could see there were young teenage animals lighting the crackers and letting them pop off in the parks across the way.

"Teenagers..." Calloway said with a roll of his eyes, and Ash looked at him, surprised by his words.

"I'm still technically a teenager." She said, her hands thumping to her waist, as she glared at Calloway offended.

"Don't worry," He said back to her, winking weakly, "You're nearly out of it."

"Ha!" She laughed back at him bitterly, shaking her head as she chuckled, "Next, the roaring twenties..."

"It just keeps getting better and better till you reach my age," Calloway said, his cheery voice now lowering to one of sad pity for himself. He tilted his head down, his eyes falling to the ground, feeling as pathetic as ever.

Ash watched him silently, and gulped afraid, not knowing what she could say.

You're not as broken as you think, Clay.

She wanted to yell this at him, but for a second halted completely in herself as she came to her own epiphany at that moment as well.

He had lived so much of life, more than double the amounts of years to her own. This world and all its obstacles were still very new to her, and she was only now getting the hang of adult life.

She finally uttered the only words she could think of, but she felt so bitter inside that this was her response.

"You're as young as you feel..."

He turned his eyes up from the ground, glancing at her and seeing her own descent in mood.

He smiled warmly, an almost hidden smile, and placed his paw gently on her shoulder, directing her gaze to his as he said quietly back.

"I know,"

She felt her heart speed up as he said this to her, her eyes quaking as they held his gaze.

"And so are you."

A small relieved grin started to slide up her own mouth, and the limo suddenly bumped up and down, knocking the two out of the moment as the vehicle went over speed bumps.

The two went back over their own sides, and Calloway only stared back through the gap of his tinted window, the cheers of kids and families filling his ears and taking him out of himself for the few moments that passed.

Soon his window wound up and closed off all that was of the outside world that was beyond him on the other side. Ash hadn't noticed the sudden quietness, but when she finally caught on, she looked and saw the old lion had fallen asleep. He was pressed gently to the cushioned chair and she just looked at him quietly, her eyes shining with small happy tears, and a small shy smile on her lips.

"Cal-"

She was about to shake him on the arm to wake him, but something told her to let him be. They would be another couple of hours driving till they reached her family home.

Ash only slowly directed her sight back out the window, the chill of the breeze nipping at her face, the closest part of her to the glass of the limo window.

"Can,"

She nervously tapped the driver's window that blocked them from the chauffeur and he slid it down just a bit, looking at her in his rearview mirror.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Can you put on the radio? Play some tunes?"

His eyes reflected at her from the mirror and he nodded his head very formally, cracking on the radio and letting the music play softly around the vehicle.

Ash slowly slid closed her window, and shut her eyes, listening to the beats of festive songs that had been created from all the years passed.

I don't want a lot for Christmas, There is just one thing I need.

Ash froze up the second she heard these lyrics being sung, and she looked timidly over to the sleeping lion who was still having his deep rest.

I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree.

Ash gulped again, feeling so very awkward and embarrassed as the song played on.

I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know

Make my wish come true!

She closed her eyes sadly, smiling in pain as she opened them once again, a small tear slipping down her cheek.

All I want for Christmas-

"Is you..." She said in almost a completely broken whisper.

She sighed heavily then and turned her body around, her head leaning back against the tinted window glass as well.

Clay slowly opened up one of his eyes, looking at her for a bare second, before giving a soft smile and closing both his eyes completely again, but his heart was beating in warm joy.

It wasn't long later, well, in the grand scheme of things, that the limo was pushing through the heavy snow in the direction of Ash's family home. The windshield blinds were busily swiping left to right at the front, as snow covered the top of it, and the limo was only just making its way through.

Some congestion could be heard from its trunk, and the two of them, Clay and Ash, had been awoken from the noise.

"Is everything okay?" Calloway asked the driver and the driver just nodded back quickly.

"Yep, we've just done a lot of mileage, that's all."

"Calloway!" Ash suddenly called to him, excited in herself and he rolled his eyes, looking over to the porcupine.

"What?"

"We're here!"

"Huh?"

"WE'RE HERE!" She screeched in delight and came over to him, shaking him in excitement.

"We're... really?"

"Yes!" She said, bobbing her head in pure joy.

She pushed open her door, and in that minute, snow poured in and covered nearly half the back seat.

"Ma'am!" The driver called quickly to her, "Please stay in the vehicle -" He looked at her as she climbed out the door in haste, "-and she's gone." He then looked Calloway's direction and added, "You aren't going to follow her?"

"Um...?"

"Seize the moment, man!

"Oh..." Calloway peeped, and nodded his head weakly, getting out the door, the driver calling.

"I'll park while you go introduce yourself."

"Right," The old lion replied and the limo drove on, the doors whacking back and forth before closing once the snow had dropped out of the sides.

"Introduce myself..." Calloway repeated to himself, as he followed the tracks Ash had left in the snow.

He reached her door pretty soon, though, and slowly began to knock on it, when it was suddenly pulled open by an elderly porcupine female, and he smiled wide, showing all his white glistening teeth.

"Hello, I'm-"

"CALLOWAY!" Everyone in the house yelled.

"Y-yeah," He said back quickly, feeling an embarrassed blush rising in his cheeks, "That's... that's me."