Chapter 1 - Tis The Season

Yukiko absolutely loved this time of year. Everything was decorated, and it felt like joy and cheer floated through the air like a contagious disease that everyone wanted. And since she was part of The Council now and lived in the castle, the beauty of the snow had increased 10 fold. The best part though, was that after a long day out in the snow with Rin, she could always go to the hot springs.

‘Tomorrow! It’s tomorrow!’ she thought happily, getting out of bed. She walked with bare feet across the wooden floor, to her drawer filled with her most beautiful kimonos. “Aha! Here it is!” She pulled out her favorite Christmas kimono. It was red silk with green silk trim, and was embroidered with different swirls of silver, gold, and white. The under-robe was silver with a red trim, and the obi was green brocade with a red crosshatching pattern. She then walked over to her mahogany bedside-table and picked up the small red-velvet box that was sitting on it. Opening it, she pulled out a silver bell with a red ribbon going through the small loop at the top. She tied it around her tail, and started to wag it, loving the little bell. It was a little childish, but she loved the tradition she had made of it. She then slipped on her wicker sandals and headed out of her room into the corridor.


Yukiko watched as the castle’s servants hustled about putting up some of the last decorations for the glorious holiday, while others carried around plates of various sweets for the passerby in the castle, and still others walked around jingling bells to spread cheer around. As one of them walked by, she quickly grabbed a warm, fresh sugar cookie, and rang the bell on her tail.
Walking farther down the corridor, she went through one of the elegant stone arches, where another servant was hanging a kissing ball. ‘Better side-step that.’ she thought. Passing through to the stairs, she walked down them to the main hall, working her way towards the source of the wonderful smells wafting through the estate, the kitchen.

“Hello Yukiko-san!” she heard a high voice call from behind. Turning around, she saw Rin running across the tiled floor towards her. She had a Christmas yukata on herself, with a red and green cross-hatch pattern.

“Hello Rin!” said Yukiko, kneeling down to be at eye-level with the child.

“Yukiko-san, have you seen Sesshomaru-sama yet today?”

“No, I don’t believe I have.” she replied, with a slight smile. “I’m actually trying to avoid him today. I’d rather have a more joyous holiday season. Why do you ask, Rin?”

“Uh-um, no reason! No reason at all Yukiko-san! Rin just wanted to know!”

Giving her a weird look, she answered, “Alright, then Rin. Would you like to come to the kitchen with me?”

“No thank-you Yukiko-san. R-Rin has something she needs to do!”

“Okay then, Rin.” she smiled. Watching the little girl run back up the stairs, she thought to herself, ‘What is she up to? Oh well, it’s not really my problem, now is it?’

Walking into the kitchen, she whiffed the air, dozens of wonderful smells filling her nostrils. What caught her eye, though, was a giant ginger-bread house. She sneaked over to it all soopah-sneaky-ninja-like, and broke of one of the little ginger-bread-men from the cookie front yard. ‘Now all I have to do is get myself out of here as fast as possible, so I won’t get eaten out by Cook!’ she thought. Dodging as many of the chefs and chef-hands as she could, Yukiko rushed back out as quickly as she had come in.

Almost as soon as she reached the foot of the stairs, she heard a very loud yell. “WHO BROKE MY GINGER-BREAD-HOUSE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” Now in a flat-out run, Yukiko decided that she should explore the decorations on the other side if the castle.

Nibbling on the last bit of leg from the still freshly-stolen cookie, she gazed in awe at the garden. It had been completely re-vamped, just overnight. Everything was covered in holly and garlands, and candy-decorations were spread out everywhere.

Walking down the path, she turned right, heading for the hot-springs. In never hurt to take a little dip too early. Going into the small shed, she pulled out a jar of bubble-beads and a starch white towel. Going back out, she poured the bubble-beads into the spring, then went behind the changing screen and pulled off her kimono. Wrapping the towel around herself, she laid the kimono out on a warm rock, then made sure that no one was around. Walking over to the deeper side of the springs, she dropped her towel, and jumped into the warm water.

Swimming back up to the top, she made her way back to the shallower end of the springs. She leaned on another one of the warm rocks in the springs, and submerging herself in the water up to about her shoulders, she closed her eyes.

~~~~~~

Sesshomaru walked through one of the many corridors in the castle. Coincidentally, it was the exact same one that Yukiko had walked down earlier. He would never admit it, but he actually preferred this season to the other holidays. Looking around at the magnificent holiday decor, he had to fight back a small smile.

“Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru!”

Oh, how he dreaded that voice. Especially on the holidays. I mean, for Kami’s sake, can’t he get at least one day of rest from that little eye sore? “Yes, Jaken?” he sighed.

“The decorations are set in the garden m’lord! Please come and see them!”

“I’ll look at them later Jaken, now please, leave me to my business.”

“Yes m’lord…” Jaken ran off down the hallway, occasionally yelling at some of the servants that he passed. As soon as her was out of sight, Sesshomaru turned in the direction of… well, the gardens.

~~~~~

As he walked through the gardens, he heard a splash from the direction of the springs. Not breaking his normal slow walk, he turned towards the source of the sound. When he got there, he saw Yukiko leaning against one of the rocks in the steaming waters. It looked like she was almost asleep, the way her chest moved up and down in a slow motion. (A/N: Okay… um… FTW!? WHY WAS HE LOOKING THERE!?!?!?!?!?)

Holy Kami… this was perfect! The way his face shifted, if he had seen himself… well, let’ just say he would gag himself at how Inuyasha-ish he looked. He leaned down, and dipped his hand into the water. He slowly brought back his hand and then…SPLASH!!

“What the-!?” she said as she sat straight forward. But she didn’t see anything when she looked around. Little to her knowledge, Sesshomaru had already used his speed to side-step out of her vision. Looking through a window, she saw that it was starting to get dark, and decided to get out of the springs.

Grabbing her towel, she stood up and wrapped it around herself, then walked over to her kimono and went behind the changing screen. You could see her silhouette against the beautifully built screen, shaking to dry herself (mostly her tail and hair) off, and slip back into her kimono.

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Sesshomaru had long since made his way back to the main parts of the garden. As Yukiko walked back to the gardens, she turned and headed in the exact opposite direction of Sesshomaru. As she headed towards the base of the stairs, Rin saw her pass. Quickly putting her little plan into action, she headed in the direction of Sesshomaru, running as fast as she could through the decorated corridor that lead towards the gardens.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lord Sesshomaru!”

Now that little voice he could stand. Just another thing that made him a tad bit happier during this season. Rin always seemed so happy. “Yes, Rin?” he replied.

“Lord Sesshomaru, could you follow Rin? Please?” With that, she gave him that look. NO ONE could resist the look. How could you not just fall for those big brown eyes looking all innocent!?

“Alright Rin.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, towards the opposite side of the castle from which Yukiko was. If her plan worked out, they would both have a better Christmas Eve.

As they reached the top of the stairs at the end of the corridor, Rin let go of his hand. “Rin has to go and do something right now, Lord Sesshomaru! Just keep walking that way, okay Lord Sesshomaru?”

She didn’t give him time to answer. She had already made her way half-way back down the stairs. Sighing, he walked down the hallway in which the little girl had directed. After all, it was Rin. How evil could that be?

~~~~~~~~~

Yukiko was tired by now. Cook had passed her many times, and with her nose, she would be able to sniff out even the faintest trace of gingerbread on Yukiko’s breath. And that would most likely end up in her being eat out. And that would be very bad. You have NO IDEA how bad Cook’s temper was. Heading towards her room, she saw Sesshomaru walking towards her from the opposite end of the hall. ‘Oh crap.’ she thought. She had really wanted to avoid him, at least until tomorrow.

To tired to realize what she was walking under at the exact same time as Sesshomaru, she was shocked when she saw it. They were under the arch. The exact same arch that she had passed under earlier. The one with the kissing ball under it. ‘Why me?’ she thought, even though she was clearly blushing. “S-Sesshomaru…”

He looked at her with a weird look, then at what she was looking up at. ‘Oh hell.’

Sighing, Yukiko stood up strait; she may as well do this with dignity. She closed her eyes, and waited. “Just get it over with.” she sighed.

From his point of view, Yukiko actually did look beautiful in her Christmas kimono, along with the fact that it was now very dark outside, and the only light was coming in firelight coming from the torches in the corridor. Sesshomaru cupped her chin with his index finger and thumb, then leaned down and kissed her.

To Yukiko’s surprise, the kiss actually lasted a lot longer than the little peck she was expecting. She leaned against his firm body and deepened the kiss. (A/N: CORNEY MOVIE TIME!!!) Her leg slowly lifted, ending up in the classic ‘kissing pose’.



Above the castle, a jingling of bells could be heard, along with the deep voice of a jolly old man ringing through the skies. “Merry Christmas Japan! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”






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I don't want a lot for Christmas
There's just one thing I need
I don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true...
All I want for Christmas
Is you...

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas day
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you...
You

I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you...
You


All the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere
And the sound of children's
Laughter fills the air
And everyone is singing
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need
Won't you please bring my baby to me

I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see baby
Standing right outside my door
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Baby all I want for Christmas is
You
and you and you and you and you

All I want for Christmas is you

~All I want for Christmas
By: Olivia Olsen

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