Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, and I'm not making any money off writing this… ahh I probably wouldn't make very much anyway.

Ranma's Author's Notes: Okay second part. Argh it's so late for Christmas… anyway I decided to only put VERY minor hints of Tala/Hilary, if any at all. This is turning out to be a bit longer than I planned and another pairing would make it even longer!! Hope nobody's sad about that, but there's plenty of warm and fuzzy TyKa!

Merry Christmas, I Love You

Sunlight filtered through the wooden blinds of Tyson's bedroom, brightening the atmosphere and signifying morning was here. The sunlight hit Tyson's face, and the pony-tailed teen groaned, rolling over and stuffing his head underneath the pillow to try and escape.

"Tyson!! Psst!! Tyson!!"

A weird voice reached Tyson's sleep fogged state, and he felt someone shaking his shoulder. "Wuh?" The world champion mumbled thickly, screwing his eyes shut tighter to try and block out whoever was trying to wake him up.

"Tyson… psst… please…!" Kenny said louder, continuing to shake his friend's shoulder. "You have to get up already, you promised you'd come shopping today!"

The midnight haired teen just snorted and pulled the covers over his head.

"Oooh noo!" The Chief exclaimed frantically. "Hilary's going to-"

"I'm going to what, Chie-" Hilary asked appearing in the doorway, and then abruptly cut herself off when she saw her friend still in bed. "Kenny!! You mean he hasn't gotten up yet!?"

"Um well…?" Kenny explained uselessly, and the girl sighed loudly. Hilary stalked over to Tyson's window and violently opened the blinds sending a wave of bright early morning sunlight directly onto the bed.

"Nooooo…!" Could feebly be heard from underneath the blankets, and the brunette pointed her finger to the sky with determination.

"Rise and shine! Bright and early, you guys!!" Hilary cheered, and Kenny put a hand on his forehead. "Because today we're going shopping!"

"Oh man…!!" Tyson groaned and made a sound like a dying seagull as he fell off his bed.

A short while later, the three team members of BBA Revolutions were walking down the sidewalk in the crisp chilly winter air. There was a thin layer of snow covering the buildings and ground from when it had snowed the night before. Tyson, Kenny and Hilary were headed to the large indoor mall that was a fair walk away to start scoping out gifts for their Secret Santa presents and for their families and friends as well.

Daichi had returned to his home in the mountains for the next little while, so the three of them were in for a little more peace and quiet than there normally was. But, surveying the black cloud of being-up-too-early-to-shop hanging over Tyson, which Hilary hadn't noticed yet, there wouldn't be very much anyway.

"I'm so relieved it's a nice day today. We're going to be out for at least a couple of hours…" Hilary chimed out pleasantly, on Kenny's left.

Tyson's eye twitched. "A couple….of hours?....." He muttered dangerously, his hands shoving deeper into his red winter jacket's pockets, on Kenny's right.

In the middle, Kenny sweatdropped heavily knowing he would be in for war-like shopping determination from Hilary and rebellion-induced complaining from Tyson, unless he did something to stop the nuclear conflict before it happened.

'I've got it! And who knows, maybe this will help me get my shopping done too…' The Chief thought with a wide smile, before it turned anxious. 'Oooh please let me get out of this alive…'

"Hey I've got an idea you guys." The bespectacled teen spoke up, making his taller companions stop and look down at him.

"What's that, Kenny??" Hilary asked, blinking.

The Chief pointed to the street sign they had stopped at. "Well, we're not far from where Kai lives. Why don't we ask him if he'd like to come along??"

The black cloud around Tyson instantly evaporated as the baseball-capped teen perked up.

Hilary raised her eyebrows.

The short teen adjusted his glasses and raised a finger in a logical way. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't think he would have bought his gifts yet and he might need an excuse like this to actually buy them."

"Do you really so?" Hilary asked.

"Hmmm." The Chief nodded sagely.

"YEAH!" Tyson sprang out of nowhere and slapped a hand onto Kenny's shoulder, making the shorter teen freak out. "That's the best idea I've heard all day, Chief!"

"Ahhh Tyson!" Kenny sounded as his friend jumped up and punched the cold morning air.

"Last one to Kai's is a rotten egg-nog!" The pony-tailed teen singsonged and took off down the shoveled sidewalk.

"Tyson!! Ooooh YOU!! Wait up!!" Hilary shrieked and chased her laughing friend who had kicked snow on her new boots as he ran by.

"Tyson!!" Kenny yelled too, running to keep up, though he smiled secretly to himself. 'Now all we need is Kai to say yes!' The brunet's smile widened. 'With Tyson doing the asking, I don't think that'll be much of a problem.'

"Alright! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Hilary cheered with a devilish grin as she stomped through the doors to the shopping center.

"Aahh, shouldn't that have been 'shop, shop, shop'!?" Kenny groaned as he followed close behind.

Tyson grinned as he too opened one of the mall's heavy glass doors. He looked to the taller boy beside him. "I can't believe you're actually here with us."

Kai returned the look, his breath visible in the cold air as he sighed and strode through the door Tyson held open. "Don't read too much into it." Kai replied.

The world champion just smiled, his eyes closed with renewed holiday cheer, swaggering into the mall foyer after the others. "Hey would I do tha-AAaaAAT WHAT??"

Tyson's eyes bugged out at the massive amount of Christmas decorations and busy shoppers walking up and down the stairs and crowding the stores. Christmas songs played over the din of noise and there was even a Santa display set up a little further down.

"Whoa." Tyson said his eyes wide.

"They've really gone all out this year." Kenny smiled at the bustling scene before them.

Hilary's eyes were filled with sparkles. "It's… wonderful!!"

Tyson came out of his awed stupor and coughed, giving her a weird look. "If you say so."

Hilary punched the air. "Alright! Follow me you guys!"

"Excuse me?" Tyson blurted incredulously.

Hilary's enthusiasm plummeted and she narrowed her eyes. "You're protesting?"

"I've got an idea-" Tyson shook his finger in a 'no-no' manner, and turned Hilary and Kenny in a random direction. "You two can attack that side of the mall, and me and Kai can take the other, and we'll meet up back here in an hour!"

"Tyson!!" Hilary whirled around. "You're joking right!? You want to split up in a crowded mall!?" The brunette gave Tyson, Kenny and to a lesser extent, Kai, dooming looks. "For once, you guys will have to follow me!" She exclaimed and posed. "Shopping guru!"

"She just wants us to carry her bags…aah." Kenny muttered almost inaudibly.

"What was that?" Hilary turned on him.

"That's our cue!" Tyson laughed and started to run off when Kai caught the long-haired boy by the back of his jacket. Tyson blinked and looked up at his capture. "Kai?"

The taller blader's lips were set in a half smile, before a serious look descended on Kai's features. "I think it's a better idea to stick together, Tyson." He said, still looking at the shorter teen.

Tyson stared back at Kai, a bit of colour coming to his face before he sighed dramatically and put his hands on his hips. "Oh alright already!! Lead the way Hil!"

"Move out troops!!" Hilary yelled like a megaphone, and the three others followed her, weaving through the throngs of people shopping in the only indoor mall in Bay City.

Under Hilary's command they hit the stores top to bottom and braved the treacherous seas of people. It really had been a good idea to stick together, because at that time of day the mall was packed to the brim. Finding a table to sit at for lunch had been torture – heck even getting the food itself was a war.

After hours of combing the shopping center Hilary had a few bags on her arms – the spoils of the victories – and was in a bad mood after fighting tooth and nail for some of the last on-sale items in her favourite stores. Tyson had almost as many bags as Hilary, but he was in a much better mood despite almost losing his baseball cap when it got knocked off in a particularly crowded store. Kenny looked like he had been through a fight with a Dragoon, Dranzer, Draciel and Driger put together, and he was carrying a single bag in his arm. They were all very looking worse for wear when they took a break to rest, although some old senior citizens had chased them off the bench they had been sitting on. Kai hadn't bought anything at all yet.

The four former Bladebreakers leaned against the railing of the second floor out of the flow of the crowds.

"We've been here all DAY!" Tyson groaned, his feet inside his red sneakers aching.

"We can't leave yet! Not until I've got my Secret Santa gift!" Hilary replied.

"Aaaahhh…" Kenny garbled from where he sat rubbing his feet. "Maybe you should tell us who you got Hilary, if it's so much trouble!"

Tyson straightened up against the railing and a sharky grin plastered on his face. "Yeah spill it."

The brunette wore a disgruntled look as she debated on whether to tell who it was she had chosen to be Secret Santa for or not. "It's… Tala." Hilary finally said.

"Oh… is that it?" Tyson questioned, and then muttered. "So now you tell us."

"Well I would have kept it a secret y'know!" Hilary explained haughtily, and then shook her head wildly side to side. "But it's really difficult to think of what to get him!"

Taking in Tyson and Kenny's blank looks on the subject, Hilary turned to Kai. "What about you Kai? Do you know what Tala might like for Christmas?"

Kai's expression totally said 'And you're asking me, why?'

"Maybe a new attack ring? I saw an interesting one being sold in that hobby shop on the first floor." The Chief put out, scratching his frazzled head in thought.

Hilary jumped up with determination. "That could work!! Come on Kenny! We have to check it out!!" The girl grabbed her shorter friend by the arm and started to drag him off, oblivious to his cries. "Wha-Hey! Aaahh!!!"

Tyson let out a breath that stirred his long bangs, leaning back against the railing next to Kai casually. The dual-haired teen looked at him, recognizing the gestures and habits in Tyson's movements outside of the beydish.

"Oh man…We must have gone around the whole mall twenty times!" Tyson exaggerated.

"More like three and a half." Kai replied with a slight smirk at Tyson's antics, relaxing more against the railing as well.

"Same thing." Tyson waved it off and then grinned at Kai. "It would've been a whole lot worse if you hadn't been here for it though."

Kai stared at Tyson for a moment before he trained his gaze on some distant softly glowing Christmas lights. "…Don't get used to it…" He stated.

The familiar flood of that… something… that Tyson always managed to invoke inside of him was beginning to makes its presence known again, and the dual-haired blader wondered about his own secret dilemma. 'What can I give to the one person who doesn't need anything from me?'

When Tyson had shown up at his home with the others asking him if he'd like to come Christmas shopping with them, he'd hid his muted surprise. Despite his greatest efforts to take his mind off of the BBA Christmas party and the Secret Santa drawing of the days before, that name inscribed on that paper was stuck in his head.

More so than usual, anyway.

Kai had initially thought that going along with Tyson and the others to the mall would help him get some idea of what to give the world champion, but in truth he didn't feel any closer to that 'knowing' than he had since he pulled the slip of paper from that red and white hat.

So lost in his thoughts and the comfortable silence among the thinning crowd, Kai suddenly felt a tiny hand slip into his and grab his fingers. Jerking his gaze down sharply his eyes widened in shock as they met the big confused ones of a small child's. The child, realizing his mistake quickly let go of Kai's hand and looked around wildly, spotting his mother waving for him. The child dashed off and Kai stared after it, somewhat shell-shocked.

"Hmfnff…!!"

Kai's head whipped around to see Tyson trying desperately to keep his laughing quiet, holding his hand over his mouth, but the mirth in his smiling eyes couldn't be hidden, and the taller blader's cheeks involuntarily tinged pink.

Taking his hand away from his mouth to reveal a wide grin, Tyson ran his fingers through his thick midnight blue bangs and cleared his throat. "Ahem… I guess that kid must have been really confused."

Kai lowered his eyebrows and crossed his arms tightly, giving Tyson a look daring him to say anything more.

"Hehe, poor kid, grabbed the wrong mommy's hand." Tyson laughed, sliding closer to Kai against the railing. "That's just too cute."

"Can it." Kai bit out sourly, a dark glare aimed in Tyson's direction.

The baseball-capped teen bumped his shoulder against Kai's lightly and gave the older teen a warm, amused smile. "Aw come on, you know I'm kidding."

Tyson's expression made something flutter in Kai's stomach, and he felt the distinct uncomfortable feeling of his face heating up even further.

"Whatever...." Kai ground out, frowning deeply as he turned and stalked away from the amused world champion, trying to get his embarrassment at Tyson's teasing to disappear.

The former team captain had made it to the shopping center's elevator when his unease started to run out. 'Secret Santa? Get to know each other? Its things like that I tried to avoid… and it just had to be Tyson…' Kai sighed inaudibly. He knew Tyson, and what was worse, he knew his own reactions to Tyson even better – they were the only reactions he could never explain. 'What does Tyson want?' The dual-haired teen thought.

A hand slid into Kai's tense one much like before, although this one was larger and slim. Kai looked over his shoulder to the owner of the hand, which squeezed his own, replacing the tenseness with that same fluttery feeling in his fingertips.

"I'm lost," Tyson said playfully in a baby voice, his smile wide. "And I'm reeeally scared in this big bad mall, Mr. Kai-Kai." The pony-tailed teen joked, his eyes big and watery as he gripped the dual-haired teen's hand in his own, and leaned into Kai's side.

Kai's cheeks instantly began to feel hot, and he scowled. "Tyson, you are such a clown." The holder of Dranzer ground out, watching as the elevator dinged and opened, a few people getting out of the now empty car.

Tyson winked and tugged Kai by the hand he still held after him into the elevator. "But you love me anyway, Kai!" The baseball-capped teen laughed, smiling that same dazzling smile.

The elevator doors shut and the shorter teen didn't let go of his hand right away. Kai's heart beat faster. 'Tyson, sometimes I think I can read your mind, but now… you only confuse me…Why am I…? Am I…'

The former Bladebreakers met up outside the hobby shop where Hilary had made her last purchase and they decided to take the bus back to their neighborhood. Not everyone had been shopped for though, so another outing would be happening with the four of them again soon.

But, for Kai, the events of that day wouldn't leave his mind. And he was beginning to think; maybe Mr. Dickinson was right – maybe there was more to that slip of paper, than a good match.

End Part 2

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