The Twelve Dilemmas of Christmas

The holiday season comes with good times and bad. It's important to overlook the dilemmas and enjoy the good times. Multiple shippings.

I figure I should make a note about the ages of the characters for this chapter since they are still teens in this one while they've been in their twenties for the past few. I'd say Ash is the youngest at sixteen, and Tracey is the oldest at about eighteen, with Gary and Misty in the middle at seventeen.

x … x … x

Dilemma Six: Snow (Egoshipping)

It was not uncommon to have a bit of snow in Pallet on Christmas, usually only an inch or so on the ground, occasionally a bit more. This year, however, had been different. The weather had been absolutely crazy all year: spring was usually the longest season but had been cut short, summer was hotter than hell when it was usually fairly mild, autumn didn't even exist, and winter appeared early with a vengeance. The first snow fall had occurred a mere week into November and a blizzard had struck in the week prior to Christmas. The little town in southern Kanto was positively blanketed in snow this year.

It was actually kind of nice to have a white Christmas for once, once you got over having to shovel snow and bundle up in layers every time you took a step outside. The actual snowstorms and the blizzard in particular, were boring. Watching swirling snowflakes from a window lost its appeal after the first hour or so, and being stuck inside for days grated on everyone's nerves.

Now the weather had cleared and the snow was in asymmetric heaps around the town. The few teenagers in the town were all aching to be outside.

Slipping on his gloves, Gary grinned at Tracey, who stuck his tongue out in response. "You're going down," he teased the pokemon watcher.

"In your dreams, maybe," Tracey replied, wrapping a thick scarf about his neck. "Are you sure you're not going to be too cold?" He glanced over his friend's attire, sincerely doubting the hooded sweatshirt, no matter how thick it was, would help Gary much. Granted, he did have two shirts layered underneath, but the temperature outside was simply frigid.

"I'm fine," Gary retorted, irritably tugging on a hat to wear under the hood of his sweatshirt.

Behind him, the door opened suddenly, revealing Ash and Misty, both appropriately dressed for the weather. A gust of wind blew through the open front door and Gary shivered, feeling a bit underdressed for the occasion all of a sudden. He ignored the sensation, he would be fine once they were outside and running around. Hell, he was starting to feel warmer already as he looked at Misty.

Even totally bundled up, her athletic body hidden from view, his girlfriend looked gorgeous. Her long hair was down and contrasted brilliantly with the dark blue fabric of her coat. The hood and edges of the coat were lined with a bright blue faux fur that matched her eyes. Snug-fitting black jeans encased her long legs, making it difficult for Gary to pull his eyes away from her. Furry, lace-up boots that matched the coat completed the ensemble and Gary smiled when he saw them. They were her 'Viking boots,' as he often called them.

With her cheeks pink from the cold, she looked positively adorable. Noticing the way Gary was looking at her, Misty blushed and gave a small giggle as she slipped her hand into his. It had taken time to get used to, but she now enjoyed it when Gary's eyes roved over her form. It made her feel girly, sexy, and wanted – not at all the feelings that her former tomboy self had achieved.

As if to confirm that those feeling were warranted, Gary squeezed her hand and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. Ash made a gagging noise with a roll of his eyes and Tracey hastily covered up a laugh when Gary shot him a glare.

"Let's go!" Ash suggested cheerfully, hyper as ever and eager to release some of his pent up energy.

Gary and Misty both rolled their eyes at Ash's enthusiasm but followed Tracey and the younger trainer outside anyways. Ash ran ahead, scooping up a handful of snow in each hand as he went. He turned suddenly and threw one handful of snow at Gary and the other at Tracey.

"Snowball fight!"

Tracey laughed and kneeled down, quickly forming his own snowball while Misty chased Ash across the lawn. He was about to throw the ball as Ash ran past when a handful of snow hit him in the back of the head hard enough to knock him off-balance. Behind him, Gary laughed.

"I told you you were going down, Trace," Gary reminded him, already working on his next snowball, which went whizzing in Ash's direction a moment later.

Tracey hurled his ball at Gary, who ducked out the way at last minute. The ball sailed past Gary and hit Misty directly in the face, causing her boyfriend to laugh as he eyed the snowball that was in Misty's hand.

"Trying to sneak up on me, babe? I thought relationships required teamwork," he teased.

Misty grinned, "They do." He didn't know that Ash was currently sneaking up behind him. A second later, Gary was face down in the snow after Ash tackled him playfully. Misty ran forward, pouncing on her boyfriend and slipping her hands under his sweatshirt to tickle him relentlessly. Ash was quickly back on his feet, off chasing Tracey – he knew there would be hell to pay once Gary got back to his feet.

Sure enough, the moment Gary squirmed away from Misty, the simple snowball fight escalated into a full-blown war on Professor Oak's front lawn. The teens scrambled to develop their ammunition while simultaneous struggling to create barriers of some sort. In a matter of moments, Tracey had fashioned a low wall of snow while Ash hurled snowball after snowball in Gary and Misty's direction. In response, the young couple had worked together to fashion a primitive fort while dodging the snow being sent their way.

It didn't take long for Ash and Tracey to turn on each other – Gary and Misty had both known this would happen, thus they had teamed up against the other two boys. As the two boys sprayed each other with friendly fire, Gary crawled out of the fort and gestured for Misty to follow him. They ducked behind the shoddy fort and ran along to the side of the house, following it to the back yard and the ranch beyond. Misty was a bit confused as Gary led her to a small wooden building on one edge of the preserve.

Gary pushed the door to the building open and they were greeted with the sight of several Ponyta and Rapidash spread out in different pens. Misty smiled at the sight of the barn; she had never been in here before but liked it already. It wasn't as cold in here as the walls were insulated from the outside weather by stacks of hay. In the middle of the barn was a large open space with a small fire pit in the middle. A few bales of hay served as seats around the pit and Misty immediately made her way to one while Gary approached the Rapidash closest to the door. He opened the door to the pen and entered, speaking softly to the pokemon as he did so. After a moment, the horse stepped out of it's pen and walked over to the fire pit. A weak Flamethrower was all that was needed to have a small fire going.

Misty smiled again as the pokemon nudged her shoulder with it's snout, nuzzling her momentarily before heading back to the pen where it did the same thing with Gary. After a moment, Gary joined Misty in front of the fire. He took one of her hands and pressed a gentle kiss to it, making his girlfriend blush a bit.

"It's nice in here," Misty said after a moment. Gary only nodded in response, causing her to glance at him nervously; it was unusual for Gary to not respond verbally. The glance quickly revealed why he hadn't replied. Seeing how violently he was shivering, Misty sighed and slipped an arm about his waist, pulling him closer and leaning against him to share some of her warmth. "You should have worn a jacket," she chastised lightly, laughing softly as Gary rolled his eyes.

Though he inwardly regretted not actually wearing a jacket, Gary didn't complain about the cold. The fire felt nice, and being hidden in here with his girlfriend was a wonderful way to wrap up a snowball fight with his closest friends. Having Misty so close was enough to start warming him up as his heart beat a bit faster. Even so, this wasn't enough to warm him and Misty noticed that he was still shivering harshly. She wondered what she could do to make it better and an idea came to her after a moment.

She stood suddenly and positioned herself in Gary's lap, straddling his thighs. The surprise on Gary's face was evident and Misty couldn't help but laugh. "Trust me," she said quietly. Quickly kissing Gary's cheek, Misty pushed back the hood to his sweatshirt and unzipped it slightly. Leaning forward, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder, gently breathing warm air on his neck.

Gary barely suppressed a groan at the sudden action and shifted Misty in his lap so that she couldn't feel how hard he was quickly growing. Unsure of the reason behind his action, Misty frowned and pulled away slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Gary replied truthfully. "It feels good… In more ways than one," he admitted, making Misty laugh again.

Suddenly, her laughter faded and she realized something. Over the course of their three-month relationship, this was the first time they had ever been in a position like this. Sure they had kissed and hugged and even had several make-out sessions, but this was different. This was much closer. As she met Gary's eyes, she felt an overwhelming desire to kiss him, so she did. Ignoring the fact that Gary had purposely shifted her, she moved her body closer as she leaned in, straddling his waist and pressing her body against his and she kissed him. She didn't care how cold his lips felt or that she could feel exactly how much his teenage body loved this position, all that mattered right now was that they were close and their lips were working frantically against each other.

With teenage hormones running rampant, it was easy to get caught up in the kiss, the passion, and the closeness. Gary wrapped his arms around her and curled his fingers into her hair, dragging her, if possible, even closer. After a few moments, Misty broke the kiss with a mischievous grin and rested her head on Gary's shoulder, slowly moving her hands along his chest. Taking inspiration from his reaction to her breath on his neck, she dipped her head forward and dragged her tongue along his throat, eliciting a low moan as Gary tightened his grip on her. Misty giggled softly at the reaction.

From her position, she could see the door to the barn open and Ash and Tracey stop in the doorway when they saw the couple's position. Ash's normally sweet eyes narrowed at the sight but Tracey simply suppressed a laugh – he had figured that Gary and Misty had slipped off for a make-out session. Discreetly, Misty raised a hand and placed a finger to her lips to keep the boys quiet. She gave them a wink and Ash's eyes widened with glee as he caught on to her idea. He nodded and ignored the way Misty kissed Gary again while he slipped back into the yard to scoop up some more snow.

Misty pulled away from Gary slightly, smirking a bit as Ash quietly entered the barn. "You liked it out there in the snow, hon?" she asked, adding a sultry note to her voice.

Gary nodded slightly and pressed another kiss to her lips. "I like what happens after the snow a bit more."

He froze when he heard Ash's voice just behind him. "Really now?"

Suddenly, he was covered in snow. Misty laughed as she brushed the excess snow off herself – the sight of a shocked Gary covered in snow was simultaneously adorable and hilarious. "You've got to learn to watch your back when you're with me," she smiled.

Gary shook his head and leered at Ash. "No kidding."