Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur

"We choose to love; we do not choose to cease loving."

Christmas in Tombstone; double the whores, double the drinks, and double the gunfire.

Nola, as she rode into town with Sherman, was in the best mood she'd been in a long time. Everyone seemed…cheerful. Though it could be because of the lowered liquor prices, she chose to ignore that.

The weather didn't even seem to bother her. And she did have to admit it was quite chilly out. But nope, that would not dampen her spirits.

As soon as they had put their horses up at the O.K. Corral and booked their hotel rooms from Newt, McMasters ushered Nola out into the street, telling her over and over that she just had to meet Cora.

"I said okay! I want to meet her!" Nola laughed. Sherman shook his head.

"You have to meet her now."

Down Allen Street they went until they reached the Grand Hotel. Once inside, Sherman ushered her to door number 14 and knocked loudly. Nola smirked at his jolly face.

"Who is it?" a woman asked; her voice very high in octave.

"It's me, Cora!"

Immediately the door was pushed open, revealing a quite attractive young woman, maybe in her mid 20s, with curly brown hair. She smiled widely and wrapped her arms around Sherman.

"Sherman! You're back…just in time for the holidays!"

"Yep, sure am. And there's someone I want you to meet."

Nola, who had stood back at the sudden affectionate moment (and during that whole time she was imagining it being her and Ringo…though she would never admit that!), was pushed forward by McMasters.

"Hello, I'm Cora." she introduced herself, presenting a gloved hand for Nola to shake. Nola shook it, and couldn't help but grimace. Damn, she was still in her "work" clothes!

"It's a pleasure, I'm Nola."

"Sherman's told me so much about you." she added quickly, to which Cora nodded happily. "Isn't he sweet?"

The two laughed a moment before said man placed his hands on Cora's shoulders.

"Well, I gotta go, but hey, I don't think Nola has a dress for the Christmas Eve Celebration."

Cora gasped as she stared at Nola. "You don't?"

"Christmas Eve Celebration?" Nola asked just as confused as Cora. She hadn't heard of this...

"Ya, it's just a party kinda deal…drinks, dancing, the whole bit."

Nola nodded numbly and Cora beamed.

"Well then, you go along, Sherman, Nola and I have some shopping to do!"

"Shopping?"

"Duncan's is the best place in town for dresses, trust me! That's where I bought mine and oh, Nola, it's beautiful!"

Nola smiled at her companion as the strolled down the boardwalk, each receiving the oddest of glances. It wasn't everyday you saw a nicely dressed lady walking down the street with a woman trying to be a man...

"I haven't been shopping for a dress in years, I'm honestly excited!"

Nola had to admit that Cora reminded her an awful lot of Ginnie. She had the same bubbly attitude, the same wide smile, and the same air of grace. Not only that, but being around another woman felt quite nice, after all…men had surrounded her for the longest time now.

"Well, here we are! Come on!" Cora exclaimed as the two of them entered the open door. Nola's mouth hung open.

The dresses that were displayed about the room were simply gorgeous. Immediately, she began drifting through the sea of manikins, her fingers gently gliding over the silk and lace. Cora followed, smiling at her new friend's reaction.

"Hello ladies!"

Nola jumped at the cheerful voice as a stout man came from behind one of the wooden models, tailing him a middle-aged woman.

"Good afternoon, sir, my friend and I are looking for a dress..."

Without another word the man was already grabbing Nola by the arm and pulling her through the maze, the whole time chattering to his assistant.

She found herself in the back room, standing in front of a full sized mirror.

"Her eyes are blue; we need a blue dress to accent those. And her hair…I think it's blonde...good Lord you just can't tell through all that dust!"

"And my, Walter, look at her clothes now! She's dressed like one of those...oh...oh my Lord..."

Nola cocked her head to the side in confusion, but she gasped when the woman grasped onto her red sash.

"She's one of them!"

"Please, it's nothing really, I swear..." Nola began, but she was cut off by the Walter's frantic waves.

"It's n-not a problem, ma'am. I know the perfect dress for you, and I'll even knock the price off, honest!"

She smiled crookedly as the pair ran into the other room. Cora stood beside Nola, her mouth slightly agape.

"Can I borrow that sash for my next shopping trip?"

If Nola thought that the dresses she'd seen in the show room were stunning, then this one was the icing on the most delicious cake in the entire world.

It was a radiant royal blue silk dress with an intricate flower-patterned black lace overlay. Around the shoulders, the blue silk had been sewn into rosebuds, all of them tied together to make straps, with about a five inch laced sleeve. To complete the outfit, the female assistant presented a matching black hat with lace trimming, a pair of black-laced gloves, and a necklace, with a shining blue stone in the center and a tassel of silver hanging off the end.

Nola could do nothing but stare.

"Oh my word..." Cora said, breaking Nola's trance.

"There's a fitting room over there, you can try it on if you like."

Nola accepted and carefully carried the dress and fittings to the changing room, and began putting it on.

Moments later, she exited, and her audience all gasped loudly.

"Nola, you look simply...beautiful!" Cora laughed as she walked up to inspect the dress. "Though your hair defiantly needs some work, there."

After paying for the dress and having it packaged, the two women dropped it off at Nola's room and once again hit the town.

"You know the party's tomorrow night, right?"

"No…I didn't."

"Well, don't worry, I'll come over and help you get ready, there has to be someone out of all those Cowboys who you want to look good for."

Nola secretly smiled to herself. Yes, there was one...

"Now hold still, I'm almost done!"

Nola made a slight "phew" noise with her lips and Cora, who was already dressed and ready to go to the party, finished tying Nola's blonde hair (which had been washed earlier and now actually looked alive) into a fashionable style. Patience was not one of her strong points...

"There! Voila!"

Cora, who smiled widely, handed her patient a hand mirror.

"That can't be me..." Nola whispered as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

The person looking back at her, with that heavenly dress on, makeup, and her hair done perfectly...just couldn't be her.

"Oh, quit gawking at yourself! We have a party to attend."

Nola shook herself and set the mirror down and stood up, running her hands along the long skirts of the dress. Only one thought ran through her whole mind...

"Did you see that?"

"That can't be her!"

"I swear…that's a different damn woman!"

"Nope, it's her, by God!"

"See boys, she is a pretty whore!"

Cat-call

Nola's face turned redder and redder underneath the coating of powder as each comment released itself to her ears. Cora, seeing her obvious distress, walked faster.

"Don't mind them, they're just hogs."

"There you two are! I've been..."

Sherman stopped in his tracks at the sight of his girlfriend and adopted sister.

"Nola?"

"See, I told you I could fix her up!" Cora giggled as she pushed Nola slightly.

"Well, then...let's go!"

She had to admit, she felt like a third cartwheel. Sherman had his armed laced around Cora's waist, and the two were happily chatting. Nola, on the other hand, stood slightly away from them, self-conscience biting her in the ass. She was beginning to hate the way every one of the Cowboys kept looking at her. She wished she still had her trousers on.

"Well if pig's ass ain't pork..."

Nola turned around and smiled at that familiar voice.

Curly Bill.

"Well, looks like you're a girl after all!"

Nola smiled at him as she waved farewell to Sherman and Cora. Brocious offered her his arm and the two went down the street together.

"So, where are we going?" she asked after a few moments, feeling her confidence return slightly.

"Oh, how bout the Alhambra? Ever been there?"

She shook her head and he led the way, smiling down at her everyone once in awhile.

Inside, it was much warmer, due mostly to the large amount of people behind closed doors. Warm enough for Nola to slip off her jacket, revealing her pale arms. After sitting in the seat Curly Bill had pulled up for her she ordered, of course, a whiskey, with a glass of water to chase it down.

"So, what else are we going to do tonight other than drink?" she asked before she swallowed her whiskey and then, just to be a "lady", took a large sip of the water.

Brocious shrugged and smiled.

"That's all I was planning on doing!"

-Time elapses -

Nola, after becoming bored with talking to Brocious and glared at by the whores who thought she was trying to steal their business, strolled outside onto the barren boardwalk for a breath of fresh air. To her amazement, something even more exciting was waiting for her.

Snow!

A thin coating of it covered the dirt street and she couldn't help but smile. She hadn't seen snow forever! Even though she knew it would melt as soon as the sun rose over that horizon, it still made her feel...happy.

And that's when she saw him.

Standing not twenty paces away was Johnny Ringo. Their eyes locked; Nola refusing to blink just in case he wasn't there, John trying to keep her eyes with his and look at her at the same time.

She gulped visibly and her sweaty hands gripped together. This was it.

Ringo could do nothing but rake his eyes over her again and again. He knew it was her, but he'd never thought in a million years that it could be her.

Very slowly he approached, and step-by-step, the loud voices and piano music drifted away into another world. Right then and there, on that Christmas Eve, it was just a man and a woman.

Before she had time to think he was right there in front of her, her head slightly tilted to meet his gaze while he looked down on her with those unreadable eyes.

Without a word, an argument, or even a compliment, he gently placed his trail rough hands on her waist and dipped his head to carefully touch his lips with hers. Such a simple act, really, and it made her shiver.

She kissed him back, her eyes closed for probably the first in public. She didn't have to worry about looking for anything that could harm her, she felt safe.

Just as she was about to reach up and wrap her arms around his neck to deepen this innocent kiss, he stepped back, keeping his hands protectively on her.

She stared into his eyes as though every answer to all her questions could be found there. He stared into her eyes as though her presence could fill something he'd missed for so long...

And at that moment, each had a decision to make.

Nola's mind raced with a million thoughts. What should she do? Should she go with him, make everything right? Or should she just walk away, leave it as it was, and continue with her life before things got messy? Did he really feel the same way about her as she, somewhere under the denial, felt about him?

John wasn't exactly sure what was going on. Did he actually care for her? Why did he just do that?! Would it even work? Did she even feel the same for him?

"What do we do?" she whispered, and for the first time in a long time, she let all her uncertainty cover her words.

"I don't know." he murmured back.

Suddenly, an idea rushed into Nola's head. It was so stupid, honestly, but why did she feel she just needed to do this? What would he do? Should she even try it?

At that moment she threw caution to the wind and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. Gently, she set her head onto his chest and prayed that he wouldn't push her away...

What was she doing? Ringo felt himself stiffen as she gracefully looped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She was hugging him! His arms remained raised in mid air in confusion. What should he do?

To Nola's disbelief, she felt his arms encircle her, dissolving any space between them and his chin rest gently on the top of her head.

Nola bit her lip as a tear of joy slipped down cheek, making a line through the powder on her face. Everything felt right.

But was what felt right...right?

Well it only took me 4 months to update this! I swear I'm going to finish it before the summer ends if it kills me! Thanks for all the reviews, hope no one has lost interest

Thanks Betherz!!