Me: * sings in the tune of Deck the Halls*
'Tis the season for Takumi
Falalalala lalalala
Let's all write Takumi stories
Falalalala lalalala
Let's support Tacky and Zoe
Falala lalala lalala
They're the best couple in Frontier
Falalalala lalalala!!!!!

Takuya: On that disturbing note… let's start this one-shot…

A Frontier Holiday 1: You Are My Fire

The frontier gang decided to go on a ski trip during their holidays this year. They planned everything to be just the six of them for a whole week. It's been three days since they arrived in their home for the holiday and everything has been going great…that is, until a snow storm blew in.

Before I tell you about what is currently happening to our heroes, let's begin by narrating what happened in the morning…

The cold air awakened the gang's goggle-head leader earlier than he would have been in normal days. It just seems like he works the exact opposite way as the molecules. They become active in warm days and become dormant during cold days while Takuya becomes active and always wakes up early when it's colder.

Of course, being the hyper leader he is, he woke his best friends up a bit too early just to ski again.

Koji yawned and rubbed his eyes with his gloved hand to remove the weariness that he still felt, "Why did you wake up so early, Takuya?" he asked irritably, "We could've all slept in. Besides, we still have four days left to ski our hearts out."

Takuya gave him a huge grin, "C'mon, Koji, it's such a great morning! You wouldn't want to miss this chance to ski, would you?"

"Actually, I would rather sleep in my warm cozy bed than ski in this oversized freezer," JP interrupted as he wrapped his arms around himself to keep warm.

"Hey, it's not that bad," Takuya defended.

"Maybe not to you because you're the Warrior of Flame," Zoe stated next, "We, on the other hand, have no power to keep warm in this weather."

"Well, Tommy's doing fine," Takuya looked at the younger warrior who was Indian-seated on the snow covered ground, "Ain't ya, buddy?"

Tommy just replied with a tired yawn as he fought his eyelids from closing.

"Takuya, he's the Warrior of Ice," Koichi pointed out, "Do you really think cold weather would affect him much?"

"Oh c'mon guys!" Takuya whined, "Just one slope, pleeeaaaase?" he pleaded that made him sound like Chowder.

Koji sighed, "Alright, alright, just go already so we can get back to sleep,"

"Oh yeah!" Takuya said as he pumped his fist to the air, "C'mon, who wants to go with me?" he looked around his friends expectantly.

"Not me," Koji quickly turned him down.

"Sorry," Koichi said next.

"No thanks," JP then stated.

He then glanced at Tommy who was half asleep lying on the snow. It's obvious he's out too. He then glanced at Zoe who didn't seem to have heard what he said. She was farther away from the group than anyone else, and she as hugging herself tightly to keep warm. Just then, an idea came to Takuya's mind.

"Okay, thanks a lot for volunteering, Zoe!" he exclaimed as he walked towards her.

Zoe looked at Takuya upon hearing her name, "Huh?"

"Let's go, Zoe!" he began pulling her towards the slope that they will ride.

"What in the world, Takuya?!" Zoe who has no idea of his plan for her tried to fight Takuya. But to no avail, Takuya was too strong.

"C'mon, Zoe, it'll be fun!" he smiled at her, "It'll be just the two of us!"

Zoe blushed slightly at what he said—only slightly, "Wait, we're skiing?" she cautiously asked.

"Actually, I'm snowboarding," he answered, "You're the one who's skiing!"

"Wait, Takuya! I-I'm not good with this!" she nervously stated.

Takuya stopped when they reached the edge of the slope, "Don't worry, Zoe," he looked at her with a reassuring smile, "I'll protect you. I won't let anything happen to you." Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she nodded slowly. He smiled at her response. "Let's go," he said as they started to descend the big slope.

While the others got back to their beds to go back to sleep, the other two decided to stay for a little while more. They were having so much fun the whole morning… until the storm blew in.

When the snow started to become stronger, they decided to go back to the cabin where they were staying at. Unfortunately, when they decided that, they were too far away to reach the place in time before the storm really starts. Right now, they were trying their best to walk through the storm that was blowing against them.

"This is so not good," Zoe stated.

"Yeah, I know," Takuya replied, "This storm is really starting to get stronger."

"Do you think we'll make it to the cabin?" Zoe asked in a worried tone.

He gave her a reassuring smile, "I'm sure we will, but if we don't, I won't let anything happen to you,"

She once again blushed at what he said but thanks to the storm, he didn't even notice. They walked in the storm for a few more minutes before Takuya spoke again.

"I think we should look for shelter," he suggested, "it would be safer if we let the storm pass for a while."

Zoe nodded in agreement and they started to look around for a small cave or anything that could protect them from the harsh weather.

--

As the two were stranded in the middle of the storm, the others were beginning to worry for both of them. JP was sitting on a chair with him facing the backrest and resting his chin in his arms that was on of the backrest. The chair was on the side of the room near the terrace. Koji was in front of the fire place, staring intently at the fire. Tommy was on the couch aligned with the fireplace, separating it was a small table. Koichi was in front of the closed glass doors that lead to the terrace.

"I wonder if they're both all right," Koichi said as he gazed at the storm through the glass doors from the terrace of the cabin they were staying at.

"Pretty nasty storm there, eh?" JP stated, also looking at the storm, "I hope those two weren't caught in it."

"It's becoming really strong," Tommy looked worriedly at Koji who was doing the same thing as Koichi and JP, "Do you think they'll both be okay?"

Koji looked back at the younger warrior, "I'm not sure, Tommy," he answered with a frown, "But what I'm certain of is that Takuya would never let anything harm Zoe. He cares too much about her,"

"But will he take care of himself?" Koichi suddenly asked his brother which caused all of them to look at him, "You guys know how he is. He'll get himself killed of it meant saving one of us."

"I know," Koji said, "Let's just hope he won't act that stupid,"

--

Takuya and Zoe were still walking to find any sort of shelter with the storm blowing harder every minute. Any longer in the snow and they would die of hypothermia.

"This is hopeless!" Zoe fell down on her knees while hugging herself, "We'll never find a shelter. We're gonna die here!"

"No we won't," Takuya said somewhat softly to her as her ran towards her side, "We won't die here. I promise you that." He said firmly. He noticed she was shivering crazy because of the low temperature and immediately thought of something, "Give me your hands." He ordered as he pulled Zoe closer to his side.

"Huh?"

"Just do it," she gave him her freezing hands as he instructed and he held them with his own. He then began blowing onto it, and every blow, a small fire was created, warming Zoe's hands a bit.

"I… almost forgot about our abilities," she said in a whisper. Then, she closed her eyes and focused on lightening the wind that was blowing against them. At first, it didn't seem to work, but after a few moments, less snow was falling on them.

"Nice work," he grinned at her briefly before continuing on warming up Zoe.

"I think we should go now," she said as she stood up, unwillingly pulling away her hands from Takuya's warm touch, "We still have to find shelter,"

Takuya nodded and also stood up, "You're right,"

Just then, they heard a huge roar. It didn't sound like anything they have ever heard before. It wasn't a bear, or any other animal. They didn't know what it was… until it got close to them.

"Dang it! An Avalanche!" Takuya shouted as he quickly pulled Zoe to try and outrun it. He knew they wouldn't be fast enough, so thinking fast, he got on his snowboard and carried Zoe on his back.

"We can't outrun it, Takuya!" Zoe screamed in terror.

"That doesn't stop me from trying!" he yelled back with a determined voice.

But no matter how determined Takuya was, the raging snow was still too fast. It caught onto them and buried Takuya and Zoe under tons of snow.

--

"What was that?" Tommy abruptly stood up when he heard a loud roar from afar.

"I think..." Koichi answered hesitantly, "I think it's an avalanche."

"Oh no," JP muttered, "I sure hope Tacky and Zoe aren't caught in that thing."

"Should we go look for them?" Tommy asked.

"No," Koichi stated, "If we do, we'll just endanger ourselves as well. It would be wiser to wait for the storm to stop to look for them."

Meanwhile, Koji was just frowning in worry, now also gazing at the storm.

--

When the avalanche finally settled down, there was no sign of life. There was nothing except the thick layer of snow from the avalanche and the strong storm, still blowing hard. That is until a hand shot out from the snow. Slowly, the owner of the hand dug his way out of the snow revealing an auburn haired boy. He was successful in climbing out of the snowy death trap and began to look around.

"Zoe!" he called as loud as he could. He searched frantically everywhere for any sign of the girl. He continued to shout her name, hoping that she would answer back.

Takuya was starting to panic. He knew he had about five minutes to find Zoe or else she would suffocate because of the snow if she wasn't able to dig her way out, and if she was able to escape the thick layer of snow, she might freeze to death without him keeping her warm every now and then.

Trying to think calmly but quickly, he thought of a way to find her fast. As he tried to think of how to do that, he kept searching for her. His body was looking for her, if he's lucky, she wouldn't be too deep under the snow, while his mind tried to think of a way to search for her if things were at the worst.

Before anxiety could take over him, he saw a small piece of cloth, sticking out from the snow. Takuya immediately recognized that it was Zoe's scarf. He quickly ran towards it, praying that Zoe was near it, if she wasn't wearing it anymore.

He dug through the snow as quickly as he could, hoping that Zoe was there. Luck was with him because after digging about two feet of snow, he found her lying there, unconscious. But he wasn't completely lucky. He noticed that she wasn't breathing, probably for being under the snow for too long. Fear quickly embedded him as he thought of the worst. He put his finger on her wrist, trying to feel if her heart was still beating.

He sighed for a moment when he felt a pulse. Immediately, he figured he had to do CPR if he wanted to save Zoe. He began CPR as he remembered in his class in health. He straightened her body, lifted her chin, and pushed her chest with the heels of his hands. When he reached 30, he pinched her nose and began to breathe air into it. After his fourth rescue breathing, Zoe began coughing.

"Zoe, can you hear me?" Takuya asked as he caressed her cheek, trying to get her attention, "Zoe, are you all right?"

"Ta…kuya…" she was able to mutter before slipping away from consciousness once again.

Takuya, who was feeling edgier by the second, looked around for anything they could use for a shelter. Luckily, there was a cave within his sight. He carried Zoe on his back towards the cave that would serve as their temporary protection from the storm.

When he reached the cave, he laid Zoe down on the farthest corner from the entrance and put his thick jacket around her to give her more warmth. He also tried to close the opening of the cave enough to block the falling snow from getting in. after he did that, he checked on Zoe who was still unconscious. He put his scarf around her and almost anything he was currently wearing at the moment, just to keep Zoe from freezing in her sleep.

He was now only wearing his t-shirt on his upper body. He already wrapped every thick clothing he was wearing to Zoe. He was now more certain that she would be fine. The only problem now was how he could survive in this cold weather.

He maybe the Warrior of Flame, but he still feels cold every now and then. He just has a slightly stronger resistance to it.

He started to gather materials that were in the cave that he could use to build a fire. When he gathered enough that could give them at least an hour of fire, he quickly lit it using his ability that he got after returning from the digital world. He settled it near Zoe to give her extra warmth.

He tried to use the fire to keep warm but it wasn't enough. Remembering the survival technique he saw in a TV show, he began doing military squats. He kept doing it until he reached a hundred, and then did jumping jacks. After that, he did push ups without resting to catch his breath. He knew it was the only way he could stay warm in those clothes and in this weather—by making your own body hot.

He was already on the 37th push up after three round of doing military squats, jumping jacks, and push ups non-stop, when Zoe began to stir. She blinked a couple of times when her vision was blurred. The first thing she saw was the fire in front of her. Her brows slightly furrowed on confusion to where she was. Then, through the fire, she saw Takuya doing push ups and looking really red. He also looked very tired to her, and she wondered why he was working out in that place.

She then remembered where they were and that he wasn't wearing any thick clothing to keep him warm. She realized that most of his warm clothes were around her, and that they were the ones keeping her warm. She figured it was Takuya's doing.

"T-Takuya?" she said in a barely audible whisper.

He immediately turned to look at her, "Zoe?" when he saw that she was awake, he ran towards her side and began checking if she was okay, "How do you feel? Are you hurt anywhere? Do you still feel cold?" he threw a barrage of questions at her in worry.

"I'm fine, Takuya," she told him reassuringly, "What I'm worried about is you. Aren't you cold in those clothes?"

"Not much," he grinned sheepishly, "I've been excercising to keep warm for a while now." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why would you do that, Takuya?!" she scolded him, "You could've died in hypothermia or something! Why'd you have to give me these?" she pointed at his clothes.

"Well…I was so worried that you might freeze in your sleep so I had to keep you warm as much as I could," he explained.

"That's no excuse for endangering your life like that!" she retorted, "This fire you made would've been enough to keep me from freezing, you know."

He sighed, partially at his defeat and to regain his breath after all the exercises he did. He knew she had a point, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was just worried and all."

"Very well then," she removed the clothing he gave her and gave it back to him, "Now take this back on before you freeze to death."

He rolled his eyes at her playfully, "I'm the Warrior of Flame. Don't I get any credit from that?" he said as he put on his jacket and other warm clothes.

"Right now, you don't for being too careless."

He smirked at her answer and then settled himself beside her. For some time, they were just sitting there with a comfortable silence while trying to get as much heat from the fire as they can. No one talked for a while until Takuya noticed Zoe shivering.

"Are you cold?" he asked worriedly.

"J-Just a little," she quickly lied to prevent her voice from shaking too much because of the cold temperature.

He frowned slightly at her answer. He knew she was lying so he started to remove his thick jacket to give her.

Zoe noticed this and immediately raised her hand to stop him, "D-Don't you dare t-take that off…" she said with the best glare she could manage in this weather.

"Fine," Takuya unwillingly agreed. He knew she was just as stubborn as he was and won't accept his jacket anyway, so instead of his jacket, he offered something else. "Come here," he instructed as he stretched out his arms towards her.

"W-What?" she questioned.

"If you don't want to take my jacket, then we should stay close to each other. You know, share body heat so neither of us would be cold." He explained.

A slight blush crept up on Zoe's cheek as she answered, "Uh…okay…" She moved closer to Takuya until he had his arms completely around her. She laid back on his chest to get more comfortable as she slowly felt herself becoming tired.

"Hey, Takuya?"

"Hm?"

"Do you mind if I sleep here?" Zoe asked quietly.

"As long as you promise me you're not cold anymore," he answered back.

She smiled at his concern for her, "I promise I'm not cold anymore, and I won't freeze in my sleep as long as I'm with you."

Takuya blushed slightly at her statement but was still able to smile nonetheless. "Okay, you can sleep."

"Thanks, Takuya," she said before leaning more comfortable in his embrace and closing her eyes to a peaceful sleep.

Takuya watched the fire that he made as he stayed comfortable in his position with Zoe sleeping in his arms. For a moment, he looked down to see her peaceful face. He smiled when he noticed that she had a small smile on her face. She must be dreaming, he thought. For the first time today, he noticed how much concern he had been showing towards her. He had been too caught up in thinking of a way to survive that he barely noticed that he really cared so much about Zoe to the extent of risking his own life. Right at that moment, he knew what he felt for her was something a lot more than friendship, and he would like them to be more than that.

He then sighed. That's if we ever get out of here, he told himself. It just made him worry more about their situation. Then he looked at the entrance of the cave which was probably at least ten feet away from them. The storm completely closed the small openings he made so that they could go out easily when the storm stopped. Now he didn't even know if the storm was finished or if it's still blowing hard.

He tried to think of a positive side in things. His friends would definitely look for them after the storm. He knew that, and somehow, the thought made him relaxed enough to notice that his eyelids were becoming heavy. He looked at the sleeping beauty—that's right, he thought she was a sleeping beauty—before closing his eyes to get the much needed sleep after a tiring day.

--

It's been almost an hour since Takuya fell asleep when Zoe woke up. She saw that the fire in front them was already running out of fuel, and that it probably only had a few more minutes before it completely goes out. She knew that without a fire, they might not survive in this cold weather.

She turned to try and tell Takuya. When she saw that he was asleep, she smiled. She knew how tired he must be after saving her and himself from the avalanche and the freezing weather.

Immediately when she saw his face, she was no longer worried about the fire going out. The fire that he made may go out but she doesn't need it anymore, as long as she was with Takuya. He had saved her countless of times, in their time in the digital world and after they got back.

He was her best friend that she could count on to help her anytime…

"Zoe? Takuya?" a voice that came from somewhere outside the cave said.

Zoe's head shot up towards the cave entrance that was currently blocked by tons of ice.

"Koji? Koichi?" she called back.

He was her shoulder that she could cry on when she's sad…

"Zoe? Is that you?" the voice called back.

"We're in here!" she shouted. She began to lightly shake Takuya awake, "Takuya, wake up. The others are her to save us!" she told him with a smile.

"What?" Takuya groggily asked as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"The others are here!" she repeated, "So c'mon, get up!"

He was her shelter when she needed protection from anything that would harm her…

"Guys, we're coming!" the voice who sounded like it belonged to Koichi said.

"Hang in there!" Another said who sounded like JP.

"Why don't you guys just leave this to the Warrior of Ice, namely me!" another voice which was Tommy's ordered more than asked.

Just then, the snow that was blocking the cave entrance started to shake.

And today…

The snow blocking the cave entrance slowly crumbled down which created a large enough hole for them to get out.

"Are you two all right?" Koji asked as he peered through the hole.

"Never been better, buddy," Takuya answered with a grin while doing a thumbs-up.

Koji chuckled once at his answer, "You're unbelievable," he said before pulling both of them out of the cave with Koichi and JP helping him, "And here we were, worried sick about you two all day long."

Takuya just gave back a grin, "Well, we're safe now," he then smiled at Zoe, "Right?"

She smiled back at him and answered, "Right,"

He was her fire that kept her warm and alive through out the worst storm that passed her. And she would never be cold again as long as he was by her side.

Me: Okay! This was the one-shot I promised you guys but I'm planning on writing at least two more during the holidays. And now to the point, during holidays like these, it's not unusual for some people to encounter this situation as well. We're her to tell you some survival skills!

Situation 1: You were stuck in the middle of a storm.

Takuya: The first thing you have to do is try to look for a shelter to protect yourself from the storm. If you can't find any, this is what you should do…

Zoe: You need to look for a slope with a thick but stable layer of snow. Then, try to dig a small hole big enough for you to fit comfortably.

Koji: After you did that, block the entrance with big chunks of snow but not completely to allow air to circulate in your small shelter. Once the storm has passed, you can continue with your journey to find your way back.

Situation 2: You were caught in an avalanche and have only a few minutes before you suffocate from the snow.

JP: First thing you should always do is to calm yourself. You need to clear your mind so you could think straight or else you might do something that could cost your life.

Koichi: When you're under the snow, you wouldn't be able to tell which is up or down, or any other direction to dig yourself out because of tons of snow around you. In this case, you need to know which way is up.

Tommy: You should thank physics for this because it would be the thing that would save your life. All you have to do is spit. Your spit would always head down because of gravity. Once you know which way is down, you could easily determine which is up and dig yourself out of the snowy death trap.

Situation 3: You have no fire that could keep you warm and you would freeze to death in a matter of minutes.

Takuya: Well, the best way to keep warm and alive is through body heat.

Zoe: Like what Takuya did in this story, he did some military squats, jumping jacks, and push-ups to keep himself warm because he wasn't wearing anything warm that time.

Koji: So basically, you have to exercise to warm your own body up without needing a fire.

Koichi: But don't be as careless as Takuya. Even with the cold weather, you still get dehydrated and need to drink water.

JP: Since snow is easily frozen water, you could drink it to prevent yourself from being dehydrated.

Tommy: But be careful! Don't eat the snow directly. Let it melt first into water before you drink it or you'll risk getting hypothermia with it!

Me: And that consists all of the survival skills that was needed to survive in the situations in this story! Tune up for another one-shot after this in maybe after two days or so…