AN/Once again a thank-you here to Loki's Son who suggested that I watch this particular film, best film I've seen in a long while :) Oh and this is another long chapter. Also a big thanks to everyone who has read this story so far and also to those who have given me feedback, it is appreciated no end :D

Twelve Days of Comfort and Joy

Chapter Nine

It really is a Wonderful Life

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me

Nine Ladies Dancing.

The lights from the Christmas tree cast an interesting fluctuation of colours around the room and walls, bouncing off of reflective surfaces and making Shayera feel very slightly festive, although she wasn't sure if it was the tree or something else. Perhaps it was the wonderful evening she had spent with John yesterday and she chuckled to herself as she remembered John entering the apartment and going straight to bed falling asleep almost instantly. She hadn't been long behind him.

Holding in a yawn she continued with her current project. Having specifically woken early so that she could take care of a number of things before John woke; Shayera tore off a strip of sticky tape and fastened it to the package she was wrapping. Around her lay a few small shoe boxes filled with photographs and having hand selected some she had carefully placed them inside the photo album she had purchased John a few days ago. Satisfied that her gift wrapping was completed she tucked them under the tree and started to gather up the materials she had been using, also ensuring that she returned the boxes to their rightful place to dissuade suspicion.

As she walked into the kitchen area to make herself a drink, Shayera spotted a pile of books in one corner and recognised them as cookbooks, a sudden idea struck her. Memories served to remind her of some of the mornings when John had brought her breakfast in bed and she remembered how caring it felt, it wasn't a second later when Shayera decided to do the same. After everything he had done for her yesterday she had to do something in return. At random she pulled out one of the books and examined the list of contents and slowly debated what to make and hoping in the mean time that John had enough ingredients in the cupboards.

John Stewart felt sore and stiff, evidence enough that he had been involved in an intergalactic bar brawl. In spite of his aching body, John rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling feeling that nothing could be better. Everything was perfect or at least close to it, even down to his chilled toes that weren't covered by the pile of blankets on the bed. Better yet he felt a deep sense of peace and contentment...he was happy.

Happier than he had felt in a long time.

This sense of peace and happiness however was short lived as a distinct smell wafted into the bedroom and into his nostrils, his muscles tensed with alarm as he recognised the scent as smoke. With lightening reflexes crafted from years as a Marine and a Green Lantern, John launched out of the bed and glanced frantically around for Shayera, discovering that she was nowhere nearby he rushed to the bedroom door and yanked it open. Indeed he hadn't been wrong about the smoke, but he had been wrong for the need of alarm.

Standing in his kitchen was Shayera looking frustrated and rather ill tempered while glaring at an open book lying in front of her. The kitchen generally was a mess, various kitchen tools and ingredients were strewn everywhere, not only that but there appeared to be a thin coating of flour over every surface. Whilst still examining the scene before him John spotted the oven and discovered that the scent of smoke and the curling tendrils emanating from the oven were indeed...connected.

"Shayera...what are you-"

"John!" Shayera jumped startled, "You're not supposed to be up yet." It sounded like an accusation.

John gingerly peered around at the kitchen carnage grimacing in discomfort from aches as well as internally at the amount of mess that lay before him, but then Shayera had never been particularly tidy.

"What are you doing?...and that oven better not be on fire." It took a lot of his will not to launch at it and throw it open to see for himself.

"Oh, no it's fine," John breathed a sigh of relief "I already put it out."

"What?"

Shayera pursed her lips into a thin line "I said I already put it out...it wasn't even that bad." She sounded indignant now.

"If you wanted something to eat, you could have just woken me up." John reasoned as he finally gave in and approached the oven, tentatively opening it and discovering that it was now burnt inside. It was going to take some effort to get it clean again. Sighing to himself he turned to Shayera only to discover that she was tearful, not crying but obviously upset.

"Shayera...what's wrong?"

She roughly pushed him away and slammed the book shut, slinging it across the worktop before hefting herself up onto the island table and folding her arms.

"Nothing."

"This looks like nothing." John remarked, rolling his eyes.

When she didn't answer but continued to glare at nothing in particular, John approached where she was sat and craned his head to interrupt her line of vision.

"What's going on?"

Her glare wavered before she relented and stared at him instead "I wanted to cook you breakfast."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to!" She replied shortly before unfolding her arms and gripping the edge of the table "I wanted to do something nice for you...turns out I can't." A sigh passed her lips as she mumbled "If it were Coishen Oysters there wouldn't be a problem...Earth food is so...odd."

John chuckled but quickly stopped when she looked at him dangerously. Clearing his throat he reached up a hand and swiped some flour from her cheek with his thumb "I would have thought that you would have learned how to cook by now."

She shook her head and shrugged him off.

Looking up at her he smiled brightly "I'll teach you, the basics aren't hard...I'm sure we can whip something up here." Their faces were close because he had leant forward and just as John moved away again to begin trying to recover his kitchen, Shayera leant forward, almost touching his face but stopping midway and awkwardly looking away. John hadn't missed it.

A few months ago when they had first agreed to start seeing each other again, they had hardly touched. They didn't hold hands nor did they stand too close together, but over time they had slowly began to touch each other more and more. A hand on the shoulder here, a brush of fingers, a wing, eventually they were holding hands and progressing further. There was however one particular form of touching they hadn't breached again yet and although he had rubbed noses with her on a few occasions, Shayera herself hadn't yet made any attempt herself to touch his face, an intimate Thanagarian gesture.

Taking the initiative John reached his hand back up to her face letting his fingers slide over her angled jaw towards her ear before returning to her chin. He repeated the motion but this time continued past her ear and up to her eyes, eyebrows, nose, cheek and lastly her lips. Shayera herself didn't move, she was hardly daring to breathe. Gently he pushed his hand up into her hair, forcing back her more prominent red bangs and revealing her forehead, leaning in he touched his nose to the area before brushing his lips there. When he removed his hand her red locks stubbornly returned to their previous places.

Looking at her closely John mentioned what had occurred to him the previous night. "You're quieter than you used to be."

Shayera shrugged a little "I learned to think more...irrationality isn't the only way to work." She had spent long enough in her own company to develop thinking as a new if alien habit. "Don't you...like it?"

John smiled as he continued to run his fingers through her hair "Just takes some getting used to."

Nodding she leant forward a little, indication enough that the next step to the gesture was welcome. In recognising the quiet message John himself leaned closer too until his face was a few centimetres away "Been a long time since we've done this." John observed.

She smiled but only a little before she closed the distance and touched her face to his, sliding her cheek over his even as her hands came up to keep his face close to hers. John had missed this interaction with her; it had even stuck with him when he had started dating Mari although not for long. Once he had tried to nuzzle Mari affectionately but like he had with Shayera once, she kissed him rather than what he had expected. At the time he couldn't understand why it bothered him as much as it had when it had occurred, but he guessed he had picked up a lot of Thanagarian habits. Face touching was one; starting intergalactic brawls another, his shoulders chose that moment to twinge uncomfortably.

"Are you still sore?" Shayera whispered against his cheek.

"A bit yeah, I'll be fine."

She moved her face slightly although taking special care to remain touching "I'm sorry about the mess."

John smiled as Shayera let out an unimpressed sound in her throat when his beard rubbed against her cheek, "It's okay, won't take long to clean up...and you know you like the beard really."

"I'll help...and, I don't"

"After we've tidied up you can make breakfast." He decided to let the beard comment slide.

"I thought we decided against that?" Shayera was looking at him now, twinkling green eyes looking into his.

"No...We decided I was going to teach you."

"Gently."

Shayera let out an annoyed breath as she brought the egg closer to the edge of the bowl she was holding, John was stood right behind her between her wings holding the bowl steady. Just as Shayera was about to tap the egg against the side of the bowl she paused.

"Maybe I should put this in a different bowl."

"It's fine Shayera, just be gentle." She focused on the egg but John was distracting her, dotting little kisses on her neck "I know you can be gentle when you want to be." He murmured teasingly.

"John, I'm trying to concentrate."

He laughed against her skin making her wings tense in surprise before she relaxed again. Slowly his hand came around to hold hers as he guided her and helped her break the egg, his other hand holding the bowl still.

"There we go, that was great. Grab that wisk there."

Shayera, mildly proud of her egg cracking skills reached out and selected the wisk, dipping it into the bowl and beginning to wisk the contents. John seemed to be letting her get on with making the pancake batter but soon enough she felt his hand against her abdomen, sliding up under her loose night shirt and travelling over her firm stomach. While she continued with her batter making she felt John's hand stop and slow down, his fingers examining the area just above her navel. Shayera knew what he had found and knew the moment when he realised too, his breath catching.

"Shayera...is...is that...?"

"Yes." She let the wisk sit in the bowl as she turned to face John, lifting her top in the process to look at where his hand had been. There in the centre was a very faint scar, hard to see unless you either knew exactly where it was or were looking for it. The scar was irregular and slightly lighter than the rest of her skin, tendrils reaching out and extending further than the centre of the mark. Shayera let her hand trail over it before she pulled her shirt down. It was a reminder of everything that had happened; all the pain she had caused her people, her family, John and herself, it was funny how much an electrical burn from an Nth Metal axe could symbolise.

John seemed lost for words, maybe the reminder of Hro had just thrown their relationship into reverse again, maybe it had just reminded him of all the pain she had given him.

"I've got one too." He said at last, voice quietly subdued. Without hesitation he pulled his USMC shirt over his head and gestured to his own scar reaching from one pectoral to the other. Instinctively Shayera reached out and touched the mark, trailing her finger from one end to the other flashing her mind with unwanted memories.

She wanted to say something but all she could think was that he had nearly died, Hro had nearly killed him and the Earth had nearly been destroyed...all because of her. Rather than say anything she moved to hug him, arms around his waist as she leant her head against his shoulder, if she had never come to Earth she would never have been able to hurt him and everyone else as much as she had.

"I'm so sorry, John."

"Don't worry..." He kissed the top of her head "Let's just finish breakfast, I don't know about you but I don't want to do anything today."

"We could watch a movie."

"Sounds like a plan."

After selecting a movie for them to watch John settled down on the couch and waited for Shayera to return, she had disappeared off to the kitchen to get some snacks. A plate appeared on the small table beside him full of chips as well as a carton of eggnog and glasses on John's request.

"You picked a movie yet?"

John opened his mouth to answer but groaned instead when Shayera's hands rubbed his neck and shoulders, kneading the muscles. Shrugging his shoulders upward he tilted his head to give her better access.

"Yeah," He grunted again.

"You're really tense you know."

"I know." John wriggled beneath her hands as his shoulders spiked with a little pain at her work, although he was a little disappointed when she stopped and slid her hands over his chest before withdrawing completely. Taking a seat beside him Shayera wriggled close as John turned the movie on.

"So what are we watching?"

John poured her some eggnog into a glass and handed it to her "It's a Wonderful Life."

Shayera watched the movie attentively throughout, watching the life of George Bailey as he was continually stopped at every turn for getting his wish to travel. She watched as he later had a family but struggled to keep his Father's business aloft against the might of Mr Potter's bank. She empathised with him when everything seemed to come crashing down around him and he wished that he had never been born.

It was at this point that she watched even closer, watching as George Bailey saw how different everything was if he hadn't lived. All those lives he had been a part of were strikingly different, and none of them for the better either. Shayera was so absorbed by this point that she hadn't notice John watching her, not even as George Bailey charged back to the bridge desperate to live again.

"Please! I want to live again...I want to live! Please Clarence!"

Hastily Shayera wiped her eye with the back of her hand, she understood because she had had an epiphany like George Bailey, coming so close to wanting to disappear off the face of existence but at the last minute realising that she wasn't ready.

"Are you okay?" John asked her quietly as he put his drink down on the table and leaned close to her.

"Fine..."

John stayed close and continued to watch, both of them smiling as George ran through town yelling 'Merry Christmas' to anything that would stand still, and lastly watching all of the people he had affected helping him in the end with his troubles.

The movie finished and Shayera sighed. "Do you think that someone has that much impact on the people around them?"

John looked towards her and smiled "Of course they do."

Shayera pondered for a short while "If I hadn't come to Earth..."

"It probably wouldn't still be here, I wouldn't be here, the others wouldn't be here..." He paused and smiled wider "That Mother and child you saved the night you came back wouldn't be here...Wally wouldn't be dating Fire-"

"Okay, okay...I get the point." Shayera laughed.

"Good," John agreed "Because regardless of anything, Shayera Hol...the Earth wouldn't be the same without you, just like it wasn't without George Bailey."

"John...I..." The words were almost out, she was going to tell him how much he meant to her, how much his words meant to her. How suddenly secure her existence felt now that she knew she had purpose, that her life had meaning and value. Maybe she had always known but many times she had been forced to question it all.

"Shhh..." John murmured softly before leaning back towards his end of the couch but bringing her with him so that they were lying back against the arm rest.

Settle down with me.

Cover me up, cuddle me in.

Lie down with me and hold me in your arms.

Shayera shifted closer to him until she was lying on her stomach on his chest, her face close to his as he tilted his head to brush his nose against her jaw.

And your heart's against my chest, lips pressed to my neck,

I'm falling for your eyes but they don't know me yet,

A feeling I won't forget...I'm in love now.

His arms came around her to hold her, Shayera's wings relaxing until they were open loosely and covering them both up like a large feathery blanket. Slowly she moved until she was looking down into his eyes drawing her nearer like an invisible magnet until John closed the gap and kissed her softly.

Kiss me like you wanna be loved,

You wanna be loved...You wanna be loved.

This feels like I'm falling in love,

Falling in love...falling in love.

She parted from him and smiled at him the unspoken words still there but clear enough in their eyes, the emotions long ago denied but finally once again gaining clarity, and when John smiled back she felt her heart melting all over again.

Yeah I've been feeling everything,

From hate to love,

From love to lust,

From lust to truth,

The Christmas lights continued to flash while the film returned to the DVD menu, John's arms still holding her tightly as she did him. Both falling asleep again, reassured by the safety and comfort that they felt in the others embrace.

But I guess that's how I know you...

An/ The lyrics at the end there belong to Ed Sheeran's -Kiss Me. I was just playing around with format, the intention of the lyrics is to boost the emotions I'm trying to convey at that point, I'm not sure how well it worked though and I'd appreciate any feedback on that so I can figure out if its something that might work in future pieces.

Of course the film was 'It's a Wonderful Life' which also doesn't belong to me and if you haven't seen it, then go watch it :)