-Ducks- I know! You want to throw stuff at me because it took me so long to update! And Krad and Dark aren't even in this chapter... -sad-blinks-ducks again from angry krad/darkfans- Just bear with me! My writing bunny ran away a bit after January... and only came back for a random Legal Drug fic and Dragon Knight Snipets... oh, and a Heero/Duo shounen-ai fic and that's it-laughs- But I have been totally dead when it comes to all my other fics, this included. So sorry... At least I have the general plot for the next chapter, which will be all Krad and Dark, by the way...

Ugh... well, I hope you enjoy the fluff in this chapter... and angst, let's not forget the angst...

Christmas Warmth: Chapter—3

"Okaa-san! I need help!"

"Dai-chan? What's wrong, honey?" Emiko Niwa called out, wiping her flour-covered hands on her apron, heading to the front door, and paused as she saw her son and the half-conscious blue-haired stranger leaning against him. Wiz 'kyuu'-ed and clambered off, running into the kitchen past her.

"Daisuke… what happened?"

Ruby eyes flickered for a moment towards the sapphire ones of the boy besides him, who turned them away out of embarrassment. He didn't want to be helped, but he'd had little choice in the matter.

"He slipped, and twisted his ankle. Could you…?" the small, red-haired boy's voice trailed off, blinking pleadingly at his mother.

"Of course! You boys make yourself comfortable in the living room, I'll be there in a second with the first-aid kit!" she commanded them in that authoritative, almost obsessively driven style that was so Emiko's, and shooed them gently into the living room, before bustling off to the kitchen to find the presumed first-aid box.

"Now, dear, you have to keep your leg raised, so get a pillow for him, Dai-chan, and keep his foot raised," she instructed from the kitchen, finally finding the kit and hurrying back to the living room.

"Thank you, okaasan," Daisuke muttered happily, sitting next to Satoshi. He looked at the pale sapphire-eyed boy, "This is my mother, Hiwatari-kun. Okaasan, this is Hiwatari Satoshi-kun."

"It's so nice to meet you dear, now, come, lift up that leg…" to Satoshi's prideful embarrassment, he was forced to endure ten minutes of close proximity with people that he'd never met before, in this… shameful, weak state, being treated as casually as if he'd been a lifelong family friend. It was completely odd for him, to be suddenly thrust into this warm home, being gazed at so indiscriminately by ruby eyes, being taken care of.

Trying to avoid the piercing gaze of the smaller boy besides him, Satoshi decided to keep his gaze firmly on his ankle as Emiko gently wrapped it with cold gauze.

"Well, it's not too bad, but you'll definitely have to keep off it for a while, dear," she was saying cheerfully, "I'm so glad we could help you. I'll try to hurry since I know you have to go home for Christmas Eve and all, lucky thing Daisuke had to go out, hm?"

"It's alright, you don't have to hurry for me," the tall police commander muttered awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable at all the motherly attention he was getting. Something he hadn't experienced at all from the time he was seven. Much less from someone else's mother, and it brought about conflicting feelings of nostalgia and longing. Had his mother still been alive… would she have been taking care of him as diligently? He couldn't understand why Daisuke's mother was treating him so kindly… he wasn't her son, he was a complete stranger…

They were definitely mother and son, though, he thought. Both sporting the bright, flame-tinted red hair, both with the same kind ruby jeweled eyes, eyes that didn't criticize…

Finishing up, Emiko suddenly blinked, "Oh dear, we should call your parents! Dai-chan, the phone, please?"

"There's no need," he interjected quickly.

"Of course there is! I bet your mother's worried sick!"

"I don't have a mother," Satoshi muttered quietly.

"Ah…" Emiko trailed off, blinking, before smiling sadly. Daisuke, about to get up to retrieve the phone, sat back down and bit his lip lightly, unsure of what to say. Emiko sighed, "I'm sorry, dear… But we should call your father, at least?"

"He's not home."

"Is he at work, then?" The normally exuberant red-haired mother was confused at the boy's reluctance to call his home.

"He lives somewhere else…"

"But then… who do you live with?" Emiko was thoroughly confused. And Daisuke couldn't help but note the despairing look in the taller, sea-haired boy's eyes as he spoke, gazing down at the floor, ankle still propped up delicately on the table.

"No one. I live alone. I have for a while, so it's alright."

That hardly makes it alright, Daisuke thought through the shock, feeling his heart going out to the sad sapphire-eyes police commander.

"I'm so sorry, darling," Emiko murmured and dove down to embrace the young boy in a motherly hug. Satoshi stiffened tensely, unused to feeling physical warmth like this, and felt heat rising in his face. What was she doing…?

Strangely, he found himself relaxing in the hold, and for a moment, could imagine it was his own mother, hugging him tightly after he'd fallen down and scraped his knee, telling him he could eat ice-cream if he stopped crying and acted like a big boy.

Daisuke watched how the ice in the other's eyes melted, a bittersweet look replacing the almost despairing one, and with a twinge of amusement noticed the steady blush on Satoshi's face. Emiko often had that effect on people, especially someone who was so unused to physical touch, as it was clear Satoshi was.

Emiko withdrew, smiling at the blue-haired boy, "Hiwatari-kun, do you have any plans for tonight?" she glanced at Daisuke.

Daisuke knew where this was going and brightened, grinning widely at Satoshi, "Yeah! If you're not doing anything, you can spend Christmas Eve with us!"

The young police commander looked dumbfounded for a couple seconds before speaking, "A-Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be a burden… and I'm not part of your family…"

"No one minds," the strawberry-haired boy smiled.

"Any one in this house can consider themselves part of the family," Emiko said firmly, winking at Satoshi, "Stay, it'll be fun! We can play games, and have a big dinner and you can even spend the night!"

"Please?"

Daisuke's pleading tone and sparkling ruby jewels made a distinct impression on him, and Satoshi suddenly understood what 'puppy eyes' were. The tall boy nodded before he had any idea what was going on. Daisuke cheered and Emiko clapped her hands together, squealing and hugging Satoshi briefly before going back to the kitchen, waving at them.

"I have to finish cooking dinner, it'll be ready in an hour or two! Make yourself at home, dear."

Both boys nodded, before being left in silence. Satoshi fidgeted uncomfortably; unaware of the curious look he was receiving from the red-haired boy next to him.

"Does it hurt a lot still?" Daisuke asked. Satoshi shook his head.

"Not that much…"

"You know, you can sleep until dinner's ready if you're tired. You look it," the smaller boy pointed out as Satoshi began to protest that he was fine, "I have to finish wrapping okaa-san's present anyway, so you can take a nap meanwhile."

Daisuke stood, "I'll be back in a sec, I just have to finish wrapping it."

So saying, he took off, running up the stairs, leaving Satoshi sitting on the couch.

Now that he was alone, he could let the weariness of the past couple days show, although apparently he hadn't hidden it well enough in the first place. Laying his head back, he let himself study the cozy living room in more detail.

The fireplace was burning merrily, the longs glowing as fire licked them clean of their existence and showered the bright living room in warmth. Though they apparently didn't make much of it, the Niwa's were clearly well off, what with the large house and lavish decorations. Cozy couches with fluffed pillows and burnished wood tables decorated the stylish living room, dotted with green and red ribbons and garlands and gold bells. The Christmas tree towered in the tallest corner of the room, laden with presents and decorations, looking like the kind that appeared in photos of the perfect Christmas. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Picture frames littered the room, and the one nearest caught his attention.

A small 'kyuu' made him turn his head around to face a furry white animal and he jumped back, startled.

"Oh… it's you… Wiz, was it?" he muttered, lifting an eyebrow as the bunny-like pet made another happy noise, leaping into Satoshi's lap and snuggling itself against the taller boy. Satoshi blinked out of surprised before tentatively petting its head. A small, continuous squeak came from Wiz as it leaned into the petting.

"They seem like a really nice family," he murmured to the pleased animal in his lap. He leaned his head against the couch, feeling oddly at comfort, and realized that he really was quite tired. He studied the picture frame nearest to him with interest, and not without a visible amount of wistfulness. It was incredible how homesick he could feel for a family he barely remembered.

Daisuke's family apparently consisted of himself, Emiko, and a dark-haired man, placing a hand on his son's shoulder as he was squeezed tightly by his exuberant wife in the picture. Next to them also, was an old man, white hair and beard making it impossible to tell whose father he was, until you looked at the bright red eyes, and it was then clear he was Daisuke's grandfather from his mother's side. All four were smiling, and even Wiz, sitting atop the crimson-eyed boy's head, looked content. The perfect family, Satoshi thought almost enviously. A nice warm family…

ÒoÕoÒoÕ

Daisuke finished wrapping his present with a snip of his scissors and gazed at his work happily. Placing his father's, ojii-chan's and Wiz's presents atop the box that held the carefully folded blue dress, he picked the four packets up and balanced them out of his room and down the stairs.

Laying them under the tree, he turned with a smile to look at the blue-haired boy on his couch.

"Sorry I took so— Eh?" he blinked. A moment later, a soft smile spread over his face as he saw that the young police commander had fallen asleep, head falling limply to the side, azure hair sprawled messily over his worn face. His smile widened again as he noted Wiz taking his nap as well on the boy's lap.

On impulse, he reached out and touched the taller's boy's cheek briefly, withdrawing it as he realized what he was doing and blushing a bit.

This was going to be a different Christmas… for the both of them, Daisuke was sure.

You won't kill me too bad, will you?

Anyway... the next chapter ... will be... kida odd. A whole lot of angst, and some of you might be a bit freaked out... but there'll be fluff to balance it out. It'll be all Krad and Dark for those who missed them this chapter.

Oh, and a lot of you guys asked about having all of them meet each other, and I think i'll take that advice and do that eventually. No reviewer responses cause there were WAY too many reviews... -happy about that-

Oh, by the way, yeah, I had just read Legal Drug when I wrote this... so i think the idea of Krad beign picked up by Dark kinda filtered in like that... -laughs- And Krad's job... well, I wanted to imply he was kind of a ... prostitute type thing... not willingly, of course, but living in the streets, and him beign as gorgeous as he is, you'd kinda expect that to happen anyway... Oh, and I decided that Dark is now... 18 and Krad is 17. Dai and Sato are 14. That'll come into play later, the age thing...

Review! Hope you liked-thinks- this is hardly a Xmas anymore...