Author Note: Thank you for the reviews, it really makes my day!

Me: Ice, will you do the honors?

Ice: Meow mew meow mew mew, meow mew. Translation: Crowsnight doesn't own DGM or the characters, only the plot.

Me: Thanks, and here's chapter 27.

Situation

Chapter 27: A Christmas to Remember

They say that there is great responsibility when caring for a pet. Well, they never told me it would interfere with my sex life.

It's true; Ice wants to be the center of attention at all times, so we ended up closing her up in the bathroom. But even then, she wouldn't stop crying, not that it mattered after a while. Though, I found it amusing that every time Kanda threw an article of clothing across the room, Ice would get it and drag it back to the bed even though she fell several times on it because of her missing appendage. When she did get it to the bed, she would mew happily like it was a life goal of hers. The cat scares me sometimes.

When Kanda and I finally settled down, the feline decided to sleep with Kanda, not that he was thrilled with the small critter cutting off his oxygen supply. I'm serious, he actually held me in one arm with Ice draped across his neck, tail in my face.

That night, I thought that with all the joy in the day that I would have some peace, but it was too much to ask for. My eyes flash open, Kanda asleep beside me and tears streaming from my eyes. Awful things nightmares are. They just sit and laugh that hoarse, callous cackle they have while we humans huddle in fear.

I sit up and in a few seconds, I'm next to the Christmas tree with my pillow. The tears won't stop as images flash through my mind, mostly of Kanda with slashes across his wrists and blood pooled in the floor. I was too late, his body already losing its heat.

"Meow?"

I turn at the small cry from behind me, and Ice is limping across the floor to me. I whisper, "It's okay. I'm okay."

I could almost swear I saw her shake her head as she crawled onto my lap. I was sitting cross-legged, so the she-cat easily placed her front paw on my chest as she stretched up toward me on her hind-paws. Not sure what she was trying to do, I leaned closer to her, and our noses touch. The wetness and coolness coming from her muzzle was somewhat soothing as she purred, pulling away and settling beside me.

Ice gazed at me, sitting and staring into my eyes. There was something oddly familiar in her eyes, something almost haunting. As I tried to pinpoint what that something was, her eyes seemed to flash, and I saw it.

It wasn't her eyes that were familiar, it was mine. Two-faces were represented by the colors, blood red and pure silver. The silver eye was what others saw me as. They thought I was innocent and unharmed, not a scar on me, but the red showed a totally different side, the broken side. I could see the look of not being to find a place to belong, not reaching out to anyone. The red of the blood I had caused myself to shed.

She mewed to me, as if saying finally. I could nearly swear she was human, the way she reacted to me and seemed to respond. I felt like I was staring at the person that was supposed to save me.

I ask, "Are you going to help me with the nightmares?"

"Meow," she replied, and I know I saw it this time. She nodded.

"Why do you seem so human?" I wonder aloud, not sure if there was something more going on. Maybe the vitamins did this? Does talking to a cat count as altering DNA? Ice mewed again, and I switched to lying on my stomach with my arms under my chin, my pillow under my arms.

I mutter, "If you start talking, I'm going to Komui, just saying." Again, the kit nodded, and lay down on her stomach like I was, her one paw under her fuzzy chin as she waited for me to begin. I started, "Well, since I got in this fight with Kanda, I've been getting these awful nightmares."

Seeming confused, Ice looked at the bluenette asleep on the bed and back to me. I say, "Yeah, that's Kanda."

She nodded, and I continue, "Anyways, I keep getting these nightmares about him cutting or committing suicide. It keeps getting worse, and I'm afraid to sleep."

The she-cat stood up, and nosed the different scars on my arms before looking back up at me. I say, "I was a cutter."

She licks the scars and rubbed her cheek against mine lovingly. Before I could say anything, I hear a deep voice from the bed, "Allen, are you talking to the cat?"

"First, I'm not crazy. She actually understands me," I explain.

Kanda replies, "Okay, sure. Please, get some sleep so you don't lose it."

"No, Kanda, I'm serious. If you don't believe me, come see for yourself," I try to convince him. I know I seemed crazy, but I wasn't. Ice could understand me! Hearing a rustle from the bed, I watch Kanda walk over to where I was laying, not bothering to cover his nether regions as he sits. I say, "Ask her a yes or no question."

"I feel so stupid. Ice, are you white?" he asks, looking at me when she doesn't do anything. I say, "She does understand! Believe me!"

"Fine, you try it."

I looked at Ice and ask, "Ice, can you understand me?"

She nods and mews happily. My boyfriend manages to jump a few inches off the ground, even when he was sitting, "The heck?!"

"See, I'm not crazy," I stick my tongue out at him. He rolls his eyes, "Okay, I was wrong, but how are you talking to a cat?"

I shrug, "The pills?"

He nods, "Okay, we assume the pills. I'm going to sleep while I'm still sane. Goodnight."

With that, he climbed back into the bed quickly. I mutter, "Goodnight." I glance at the kit in front of me, "Do you know why you can understand me?"

Unfortunately, Ice shakes her head, looking down. Oh well, it has to be the pills, and as weird as it is to talk to a cat, it made me happy that I could talk to someone that wouldn't judge me or constantly try to protect me.

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

I spent the rest of the night talking to Ice about the nightmares I've had, and it calmed me to let them out. Around dawn, I had to let her out on the balcony, and she did as Kanda had said. Good, because I wasn't fond of litter boxes.

Once Ice had done her business, Kanda was sitting on the bed stretching. I say, "You missed Santa. He said you were naughty this year."

"Figures, when I was younger, Tiedoll took the whole thing seriously, and so Daisya and Marie would always get candy and other things in their stockings, but all I ever got was a lump of coal." He stood up and moved to his dresser, opening the drawer and finding his clothes. I hardly saw the white flash before Ice was nosing around in his underwear drawer. Laughing, I fall to my side, "Ice, what are you doing?"

"Mew," she replies, popping her head over the side of his drawer. Kanda bops her hind legs, and she leaps out, not stumbling or pausing a second before she darts to me. I was laying on my side and I couldn't tell if she meant to or not, but when she tried to make the jump over my waist, her back legs caught and she was left dangling over me.

I glance at her as she cries in defeat loudly, and Kanda mutters, "It's not as cute when you can't breathe."

I giggle, "She says that it's your fault for not rewarding her when she kept bringing the clothes back."

"Wait, she said that?" he gives me a worried look. I sigh, "No, have you heard of joking? Just because she understands me doesn't mean I can hear her talk."

"Whatever. The Christmas party is at five, so we have plenty of time to do something, if you want," he says, beginning to put on his clothes. About that time is when I remember that I was laying naked in the floor, and after putting Ice to the side, I sit up and cover myself with my pillow. Kanda rolls his eyes, "Well, I know one pastime is out."

I puff out my chest, "Just because we're dating doesn't mean that I have to be immodest."

"I don't consider it immodest. Why is it immodest even though I haven't taken a shower by myself in weeks, and we have sex relatively often?"

I growl, "Because it makes me feel like a porn star or something."

"Sure, whatever you say," the bluenette says, tossing some clothes to me. I smile gratefully, slipping on the turtleneck and pulling out my agate necklace from the confining fabric. Half the time, I totally forget I'm wearing it, but it never bothers me. Looking at it, I say, "If Mana was here, he would know the charm to use to make the nightmares go away."

"I can't help you there," Kanda says, getting on his knees in front of me. Ice mews sorrowfully from where she was beside me and, after hopping onto the pillow on my lap, begins nuzzling against me in an attempt to comfort me. My boyfriend leans close to me and gently presses our lips together.

I was grateful for the comfort and, once Ice was on the floor, I wrap my arms around his neck, bringing him closer. He doesn't hesitate to follow the request, slowly pushing me down to the floor before pulling away when he was on his elbows above me. I say, "Don't stop."

He smirks, and our lips meet again, his large hands tenderly caressing my hair and face. I freeze when I feel two fingers trace the star on my forehead and the rest of my scar, and he breaks away long enough to kiss my left eye, my cursed eye.

I look up at him, "I thought you thought my eye was cursed."

"I needed a reason to hate you, didn't I?" he replied before kissing lovingly down my jaw. It was rare for him to be this gentle with me, and when he was, I cherished every second of it. It's not that I don't like his rough side because I do, I really do, but that's something that most would expect from the samurai. Very few people would suspect that he could be as careful as he is with me.

I quietly ask, "Why are you so gentle with me?"

He stops and meets my gaze, his midnight eyes showing only love, "Why would I not be? As much as people seem to disagree with it, I do have a heart."

I smile and push up to make our lips meet again. As he's preoccupied with that, I roll us over, pinning him down.

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

I don't really need to explain what we did the rest of the day before the Christmas party, but I actually managed to sleep for a few hours without the nightmares. Kanda promised that he would stay awake and watch over me like a guardian angel, and he did. Four hours he held me in one arm and the book I got him in the other, and Ice stayed curled up in my arm, the one that wasn't clutching my boyfriend's shirt.

Now, I was walking beside Kanda on the way to the cafeteria for the party, our fingers intertwined. He even willingly put on a tattoo on his upper right arm where everyone can see the skull with a black snake winding through the eye sockets. It was the size of five quarters placed together, and most people noticed it since they were already staring at him for wearing no sleeves in late December and holding my hand. I can tell from most of their expressions that the thought going across their minds was: Oh. My. Gosh. Yu Kanda is showing emotion!

If it had been me looking at Kanda holding someone's hand that would have been my first thought. Okay, so that's a lie since my first thought would be several cuss words and a death threat to the attached person, but after that.

I smile and giggle at the idea. No one's dumb enough to hold my man's hand. Only people with a death wish would do that. We turn into the cafeteria, and immediately I hear, "YU!"

Three, two, one. Mugen was pressed to Lavi's throat, and Kanda growled, "What did you call me?"

"K-Kanda," the rabbit squeaks, probably not breathing. My boyfriend sheathes his katana swiftly, and I see Lenalee walk over to us, "Hey, how have you guys been?"

I reply, "Great, I absolutely loved my Christmas present!"

"Good," she said. "Most everybody's already eating. Come on."

We followed her to a huge buffet table where I happily piled high several plates. As we sat down, I wondered if Something Mana Walker would have a parasitic-type Innocence. I know Jerry would love that, but Kanda would probably have nightmares. I quickly finished eating, waiting for a while before the others finished, too.

"Champagne?" a finder dressed in red asked, tall, skinny glasses with a sparkling ginger-colored liquid in them on a tray she held. I shake my head, and I'm slightly taken off guard when Lavi and Kanda both take one. Lenalee gives me a scared look, and I return it. None of us were old enough to drink! Both of them still needed two more years, I needed four, and Lenalee five. What if they got drunk?

"Um, Kanda, are you sure you should drink that?" I ask hesitantly. He raises an eyebrow at me before taking a sip. When he set the glass back down, he replies, "I've drank before, and I don't plan on getting drunk again. Tiedoll told me that the Order allows drinking at eighteen, not twenty-one."

"It's true, but I still don't think it's right," Lenalee said, watching Lavi set down his glass, now only half full. "I remember full well the night when these two both got drunk, and I ended up taking care of their hung over butts."

"Exactly, which is why I said I don't plan on getting drunk again," Kanda said, eyeing the champagne like it was poison. I say, "I don't remember that happening."

"That was because you were on a mission. What was it? The ghost ship?" Lavi explained. I nod and ask, "What happened?"

"Five too many shots," Kanda muttered. "Baka Usagi here challenged me to a drinking contest. I really wish I hadn't won."

Lenalee continued, "Yes, Lavi wouldn't stop trying to make-out with-"

"Shut up," Kanda interrupted, death glaring the girl. I gave him a horrified look and glanced between him and Lavi, "No, Kanda, you didn't."

"And he was fine with it!" Lenalee exclaimed. "If it wasn't for me, I'm afraid of what would have happened on that table. Evil samurai, running his hands all over my man."

I put my hands over my face, "Oh gosh. I didn't need that image."

"As I said, I'm never getting drunk again," the bluenette repeated, taking another drink.

I say, "Good."

"I was scared that night. It's not every day that you make-out with Yu Kanda, and then watch him play hide-and-seek with Lenalee," the rabbit said despite the obvious death glare Kanda was giving him. The surly teen threatens, "Do you have a death wish?"

It was going to be a long night.

Author Note: Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, and Happy Birthday Allen! Tell me what you think and please, Please, PLEASE R/R!