Title: Desolate Snow
Fandom: Xiaolin Showdown
Characters: Rai, Kim, Clay, Omi
Prompt: 061:Winter
Word Count: 1,364
Rating: G
Summary: No snow leads to a heart to heart between two dragons.
Author's Notes: A lot is said in this one.

---

It was the first day of Winter. The air was bitter, the ground was cold, but not a single drop of snow came down. It was very unusual. It was as if autumn had never left. The dead leaves that shriveled into the decayed grass. Trees showing no life. Everything pretty much looked dead. And the monks were tired of it.

They sat in front of the meditation hall looking very unexcited. It was like the life had drained from them along with the leaves. But they still had on their winter clothing because of the cold atmosphere. Then Clay took it upon himself to get up.

"I think I'm gonna go on off and meditate," he said.

"And what, miss all this fun?" Raimundo said sarcastically.

"It's better than sittin' out here waitin' fer nothin'," Clay said as he went inside.

"Perhaps, our friend, Clay, is right. Maybe we should go inside and make ourselves some hot milk," Omi suggested.

"You go on ahead, I'll be staying out here," Kimiko responded.

"Same here."

Omi went inside to do what he had suggested. Kimiko and Raimundo were now alone. In complete silence.

"So, what are you thinking about?" Rai asked.

"Oh nothing. Just using all my will power to make it snow," she sighed.

"You should let Omi do that. It's his element after all." She laughed. "Just grab the Orb of Tornami and bam! Instant snow."

"You know we can't do that, it would just upset him."

"Yeah, and a downer is the last thing we need."

They were swept with silence again. Hearing the rustling of the dead leaves against the wind. A thought came across her mind.

"Hey Rai?"

"Yeah?"

"What would you do if it snowed?"

"First off, have a snowball fight, and maybe rolling around in it, you know that's always fun, what about you?"

"Well, I'd probably make a snow angel, and maybe a snowman that doesn't have the Heart of Jong, and... no."

"What?"

"Forget it."

"Tell me."

"It's stupid."

"Who says?"

"Me."

"Just tell me."

"No."

"I'll tickle you."

"You wouldn't"

"You wanna bet?"

"Just try."

"Suit yourself" And so, Raimundo launched himself at her and started tickling her below her rib cage. That's where he knew where she was ticklish. She was laughing until tears came out of her eyes.

"OK! OK! I'll tell you!" she yelled through the tickle attack. He finally stopped and looked at her as she started to relax. She leaned against his shoulder and stared out into the abyss.

"The first thing I'd do when it starts snowing is to catch the flakes on my tongue."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"What's so stupid about that?"

"Don't you think that's kinda childish?"

"No way, who hasn't done that at least once in their life?"

"But, Raimundo, I thought you lived in Brazil."

"I did, and I told you that I grew up in a traveling circus, so I pretty much saw all of South America. Especially the cold parts."

"Wow, you must've had a lot of fun."

"Yeah, what about you, miss city girl? What have you seen?" She didn't know if she should hit him for that name. But decided to let it slide.

"Like you said, before the temple, I pretty much grew up in one place. I've lived in Tokyo my whole life, and with my dad's business booming, I was always under lock and key. You know, just to make sure I never got kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?"

"Yeah, there were a few attempts but nothing was thorough."

"Geez, no wonder you're so angry all the time." For that, he got hit on his arm. "What? I'm just saying that all that seclusion is enough to make anybody nuts. Not that you're nuts or anything."

Kimiko sighed.

"I suppose you're right. Ever since my mom died, my dad has always been over protective of me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I was only two when she got sick. I can barely remember her anymore."

"It sucks, doesn't it. Not having the slightest clue of what they were like or even how they sound."

"Yeah. Wait, how would you know that?"

"Because, my grandpa died when I was one and a half. Everybody always told me how lively he was and what a great guy he had been. And whenever he held me, he would smile. No reason. Just a smile."

"Maybe he knew how great you were going to be."

"Maybe. Wait, did you just say I was great?" Kimiko straightened up while managing to blush a little.

"I... uh... meant training wise."

"Uh huh, sure."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nah I just thought that maybe, there's a little part of you that actually likes me," he said giving his cocky smile. She grunted in response.

"What? What's the matter with that?" he asked.

She sighed.

"It's not what you think, if I said I like you, I wouldn't be so obvious about it."

"Like you are now?"

"Exactly." Kimiko's eyes widen and suddenly realized what she had said. She fell for his stupid trap. For that, she turned to see his cocky grin and hit his arm.

"You know you like me."

"Lets just change the subject."

He sighed.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know, the weather, anything."

"Uh... Kim?" He didn't need to finish his question because Kimiko looked out into the desolate wasteland that lay before them.

"OK, forget about the weather, how about... your family?"

"What about them?"

"You did say that you grew up in a traveling circus, did your family travel with you?" Raimundo looked away from her and down at the ground. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No. I just don't like talking about my family."

"Why?"

"Because..." He sighed. "Because I ran away."

"You? Ran away? Why?"

"You should know, Kimiko, I'm like my element. I go where the wind takes me."

"So, you ran away to join a circus?"

"Pretty much."

"Wow, so do they know about you being here?"

"Of course, Fung man went to them before he found me. You should have seen the look on my parent's faces. They were really surprised to see me."

"Especially now, right?"

"Yeah. They said they were really proud of me."

"They should be. You're a great guy, Raimundo, sure you can be a little arrogant sometimes, but your heart is also in the right place." To demonstrate her point, she placed her hand at the center of his chest where his heart was. He looked at her with a smile, she smiled back at him. He placed his hand over hers.

"Thanks, Kim," he whispered.

Suddenly, a snow flake fell down. Then another, then another, then another, and then another. It started out small then it started to grow. The two looked at the scene with awe. It was a beautiful sight. The tiny flakes falling down onto the dead heap. The amazing thing was that the flakes didn't melt. It was sticking to the ground. It was as if a miracle had happened.

The two had really big smiles on their faces and let a gasp of air. It was absolutely magnificent. Raimundo got up and grabbed Kimiko's hand and lead her to the center of it all. Marveling at nature's wonder.

"Raimundo, it's beautiful," she sighed.

"Yeah, it is," he said while looking at her. She caught what he meant and blushed immediately. He placed a finger below her chin and brought it up to his face. He closed the gap between them and whispered, "You called me great again."

Kimiko gave him another punch to the arm. But he smiled as she did. Then they heard footsteps approaching them. They turned and saw their friends coming up the path to them.

"Kimiko! Raimundo! It is snowing!" Omi shouted.

"Clever observation, Omi!" Raimundo shouted back. They soon started running around, absorbing the falling flakes.