Ruki couldn't remember when she had last felt this way. She was confused, troubled and unsure of what she had dreamed. 'It felt so real. Is something about to occur in the digital world?' she asked herself.

"Ruki, are you alright?" enquired her partner, in concern. "You look pale."

"I'm okay, Renamon. I just had a bad dream, that's all," she lied. She didn't want to worry her partner unnecessarily.

"Are you sure? Because you called my name and were tossing around," continued Renamon.

"Did I?" Ruki paused contemplating as to whether or not she should share what happened with her partner. In the end, she decided to keep it to herself for she felt it was possibly just a weird dream. She assured Renamon that it was nothing but a bad dream.

Stretching, she slowly got up and put her futon (Japanese mattress) away before going to freshen herself. She changed into a blue turtleneck top with black denim jeans. As it was cold, she threw on her royal blue fleece and scarf that matched her top along with a muffler and a pair of yellow gloves.

Once she was ready, she proceeded to eat her breakfast in silence while her mother Rumiko, ranted on about her latest photoshoot. When she was done, Ruki slipped into her sneakers at the entranceway. She had been about to leave when a buzz from her pocket stopped her. She took out her mobile phone which had a Renamon strap on it. The strap had been a gift from Jian on her birthday. The message was also from him.

'Hey, Ruki. Merry Christmas! Are you free today or do you have plans?'

Ruki thought for a while before replying. 'Merry Christmas to you and your family, Jian. Oh and Ryo too. As for plans, I'm going out for dinner with my mother and grandmother, so I'm free till then.'

She received his reply in a matter of a few minutes. 'Cool. Ryo and I were planning to head to Shinjuku Park. Get your skates. We'll see you in 10 mins?'

'Ok.'

With her skates in hand, Ruki and Renamon made their way to the park. The entire town was filled with snow that sparkled under the sun. A few children could be seen having snowball fights while some got on their sledges. As she was passing by Ai and Mako's house, she felt something cold fall on her head. She looked up to see Impmon laughing his head off yelling, "I gotcha, I gotcha!"

Ruki narrowed her eyes, as she quickly made a snowball and aimed it straight at Impmon. The purple digimon tumbled backwards in shock. Smirking in triumph, Ruki said, "Now, we're even." Renamon couldn't help but feel happy upon seeing this fun side of her partner, a rare side that she almost never showed. When they reached Shinjuku park, Terriermon and Monodramon were building a very digimon like snowman. In fact they were making Yukidarumon (Fridgmon) out of the snow. Ryo and Jian were standing side by side, watching their digimon play. Jian wore a light green jacket on an orange T-shirt with black jeans and a pair of brown boots. Ryo, on the other hand, wore a cloudy grey quilted parka with the sun symbol on the left sleeve. The colour of his jeans matched Ruki's and he wore brown half boots. Terriermon and Monodramon had scarves on them which made Ruki wonder whether she should have given Renamon one as well.

'Oh well, Renamon would have told me if she needed one. Besides, she is accustomed to this kind of weather for years now.'

As if sensing her approach, Ryo turned in her direction and smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Ruki, Renamon," he greeted in his usual 'perfect' gentlemanly way.

"Merry Christmas. So, where are we skating?" she asked.

"The lake over there froze up pretty well, so we'll skate there," answered Jian.

Together the trio and their digimon went to the lake. An eerie shadow followed them. Renamon turned back to catch a glimpse of it but it had already disappeared.

"What's wrong, Renamon?" asked Monodramon.

"It's...nothing..." she said before casting a final glance at the spot where the shadow had been.

The lake in front of them never looked more beautiful. It reflected the sun above and greenery around them. Ruki gracefully slid onto the ice, like a skater entering the rink. She glided with one foot and stretching her free leg behind. Then she slide up and down as if she was a ballerina. Behind her, Ryo and Jian followed. The legendary tamer caught the digimon queen off guard by overtaking her and then grabbing her hand. The latter nearly tripped but managed to balance herself.

"What gives Ryo?" she asked, crossly.

"Nothing. Hey, Ruki let's dance!" he suggested. Before she could answer, Ryo pulled her close to him and placed one hand on her waist and the other grasped her left hand. Ruki looked like she would protest when he gently swayed with her. It was like they were dancing on their feet and not on skates. Ruki couldn't remember the last time she felt this light on her feet. It was like an icy ballroom just for the two of them. Ruki felt herself flush red and quickly tried to suppress it. Ryo, on the other hand, seemed completely calm and wasn't in the least fazed about it.

The violet-eyed girl couldn't help but wonder if hero-boy had any feelings for her. He always teased and annoyed her, yet he was the first one to be around if she was up to anything dangerous like the time she decided to head down the cliff and look for Culumon in the digital world. She couldn't understand him in the same way as the strange feeling that was budding inside of her.

'Is...this what they call love? The same way Takato feels about Juri? I don't know...Stop it, Ruki. This isn't like you.' Of all the people to feel for this way, it just had to the most annoying tamer on Earth...and Digital World. She did her best not to meet the cerulean eyes in fear of blushing again.

Jian and the other digimon watched from afar, the former feeling happy for his two friends. He was mostly watching Ruki since his best friend, as she was blossomed to be open to lot of people. Though, he and Takato remained as her best friends, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards Ryo since the older boy was able to bring out different sides of Ruki, which unexpectedly surprised him. Jian had known Ruki for a longer time than Ryo, but whenever the latter was around, Ruki seemed more annoyed than usual and at the same time she seemed more cheery. He would sometimes catch glimpses of Ruki smiling and laughing when she was with Ryo and felt a warm feeling inside. He, too, wanted to see her smile...no he wanted to make her smile as well. So, he quietly skated towards them.

Initially he had trouble getting close to the two tamers as Terriermon was trying to tripping him every now and then while attempting to glide on the slippery ice. Renamon chose to watch from a withered tree whilst Monodramon made snow angels on the ground. Once, he was tired, Terriermon decided to join the dragon digimon on the snow, giving his tamer a chance to finally catch up to his friends.

"Don't leave me out you two!" cried Jian. Then he stretched his hand out towards Ruki. She slowly let go off Ryo and took Jian's hand. Soon she and Jian were dancing away. Though not as good as Ryo, the blue-haired martial artist proved to be quite the gentleman on the ice. Ruki felt a sense of warmth and comfort as she danced with him. Jian was her best friend and voice of reason. He was the only person who could calm her down when she fought with anyone, specifically Ryo. She felt strangely peaceful when she was with Jian. He was like an aromatic freshener and smelled like one too. She felt complete when she was around both Takato and Jian. They were like the A team when working together.

"If only Takato and Juri were here too," blurted Ruki, upon thinking of her missing best friend.

"Yeah... But he and Juri are on a date and Hirokazu and Kenta had Christmas plans for the whole day with their family," replied Jian.

"The latter two, I can do without," she said, just as Jian spun her. He smiled. 'Typical Ruki.'

"So, how come you didn't bring Shaochung with you?" asked Ruki, surprising him.

"Well...Let's just say she had plans with Ai and Mako."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Say, Ruki can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"It's...It's about Ryo..." But before Jian could continue, the ground around them shook violently, causing the two to topple on the ice. Ryo was by their side instantly and helped them up.

"What was that? An earthquake?" asked Ruki.

"It was but it didn't seem norm-" Before Jian could finish, another tremor shook the ground. The Terriermon and Monodramon tried to get to their respective partners only to trip and slide on the slippery ice. Renamon, however, gracefully materialized before Ruki. Suddenly the ice in the middle cracked open and out came an Ogremon, except it wasn't the usual green but an icy blue.

A/N - There you have it, Chapter 3. Although I ship Ryuki, I want to work on Ruki's relationship with others. I'll probably be re-working on a lot of chapters. As for any improvements, do let me know what you feel could make this fanfic better. If it coincides with what I feel or if I feel that you have some good pointers, then I'll work on them.

Do review and let me know.