A Christmas tragedy

"Aidou really likes Christmas doesn't he?" Yuuki said as she looked back at their Christmas Eve.

Cross sat next to her in the backseat of Kaname´s car and nodded in agreement. Zero didn´t say anything as usual and Kaname just smiled behind the steering wheel. They had been at Aidous house the whole day celebrating Christmas. Aidou had decorated his house beautifully in any way you could imagine, the best thing that made Yuuki´s day had been the large tree that stood in the living room. It was just perfect. Cross thought about all the food that they had been offered. It had been dozens of different dishes so that it would suit everyone's taste. Aidou had been smiling the whole evening like they all had.

The only thing Kaname could think of where when he and Zero had sat in front of the fireplace in each other's arms silent, just watching the dancing hot flames. How they had snuggled closer and closer before they had shared a kiss. He really loved Zero with all his heart and he knew that his lover feels the same way it´s just that he doesn´t show it to anyone. He let go of the road with his eyes for one second and turned his head against Zero´s sitting form in the passenger's seat. He mimed 'I love you' to Zero who got all read in his face and turned his head to stare out into the dark. He reached out his hand and laid it on Kaname´s thigh still not looking at him. He dragged it back and forth in a soothing movement, showing that he felt the same. Both Cross and Yuuki saw this and smiled. This Christmas couldn´t have been more perfect.

"I think that he was glad to be able to celebrate with his loved ones. I don´t think that he has ever done that before." Kaname answered Yuuki.

"Oohh,.."

The weather had gone bad the last hours before they had left Aidou´s mansion and he had begged them to stay over until the heavy snowfall stopped but they had left anyway. Kaname turned on the radio to hear the latest report so that he would know if there would be any traffic jam ahead of them. It was quite hard to see well in the dark as the snow continued to fall down as the world´s future depended on it. There were many cars that over hauled them in an attempt to be able to get home quicker. The road was like ice and Kaname did his best to stay on the road as other cars drove past them. The still accelerating wind made it much more difficult.

"Kaname doesn´t that truck behave strange to you?" Zero suddenly asked.

Kaname watched as the big truck drove over to the wrong side of the road and in full speed heading at their direction. It didn´t seem to slow down and had neither any plans on driving on its own traffic lane. The driver in the truck flashed with his lights signaling that something was wrong but Kaname couldn´t drive the car to the side. Not in this speed and not with all the ice. He saw how the truck came closer and closer. It started to turn more to the ditch on their side but that didn´t make Kaname calm at all.

"Cross! Yuuki! You have to take hold on something because this will get-"

Kaname didn´t have the time to say anything more as the truck his them with full force. It sent their smashed car flying in the air, making a 360 turn before it landed upside down on the road. The cars that had been behind them stopped and couldn´t do other than to look as the truck mangled the small car.

Silence.

Darkness.

Smoke.

Gasoline.

Zero´s eyes where blurry and couldn´t focus. His body ached and his head hurt like hell. It was if he had been in a huge fight with a couple of level E´s but he wasn´t that fortunate this time.

"Yuuki? Cross? K-kaname?" Came like a whisper from his lips but no one answered.

He had trouble breathing and he felt that the safety belt pressed on his bruised rib cage. He clicked it open and tried to get down. He heard someone moaning in the backseat and he turned directly to the sounds. Cross had shielded Yuuki with his body, both of them where a bit sore but they looked okay. He crawled inside the wreck to help them get down to the ground. They seemed to be able to walk on their own and Zero crawled backwards to the front again. The gasoline smell went stronger and stronger by the minute, they had to get out and that´s fast.

"Kaname? Can you hear me?" Zero called.

No reaction.

"Kaname?..." He effortlessly tried again.

Still no answer.

Zero climbed to what should have been the driver´s seat. The driver´s seat was completely gone and there he saw his lover´s unconscious, lifeless body smeared in blood. His eyes widened in horror. In seconds he was by Kaname´s side. He shook him, he slapped his cheek and he did anything to get him to wake up. But he didn´t. He wasn´t even breathing. Zero´s life was torn into pieces. He started to panic more and started to break the smashed interior to be able to get some access to Kaname´s body. When Cross and Yuuki got out from the wreck Zero finally got to Kaname. He couldn´t wait anymore, they had to get out from the car. He took Kaname in his arms carefully and tried to get out from the car. He got stuck in the middle but his determination made him scratch his arm but they got out from the car. They were finally safe. But that was only until the car exploded.

Warm flames and an orange light shone up the motorway. Zero held Kaname in his arms, tightly. He could hear the sirens far away but the last thing he heard was the fading screams of Yuuki as his world once again turned black.

When Zero woke up he was lying in a hospital bed. The sound of machines beeping filled the room with noise. He had an oxygen mask on his face and he glanced to his side to see that Yuuki where sitting by his side. He patted her resting head and smiled as she looked at him. But he wasn´t met by a smile, only red, tear filled eyes.

"Zero,.. How are you feeling?" She asked.

He removed the mask to answer but winced as he tried to move.

"It hurts, Yuuki. My whole body is a total mess."

Yuuki stared intensely into Zero´s eyes. She wanted him to know.

"Zero, we couldn´t-"

"Yuuki! Let Zero get some rest!" Cross said as he saw that Zero had awoken. "I will talk to the doctors and can´t you go to the machine in the hall to get something to drink?"

He walked to Zero and lay his hand on his shoulder, sighing.

"I´m so glad that you are okay."

Zero could see sadness in his father's eyes. He couldn´t tell what it was. Then he saw blood on his hand and a flash of images went through his head. Kaname´s lifeless bloody body, lying in that car. He suddenly realized that he had forgotten about his lover´s condition.

"I must go to Kaname!" He said trying to get of the bed.

Crossed pinned him down to it. His eyes were still filled with sorrow and guilt.

"Zero, we didn´t tell you…. it´s been a week since the accident. And there was nothing that they could do." Cross looked away, afraid that Zero would blame him.

"What are you telling me, Cross!" Zero shouted.

"I´m telling you that Kaname will not be with us anymore!" He said with a weak voice.

Zero let go of his dad´s clothes as he by shock lay down again in the bed. He couldn´t move. The sudden news didn´t make sense to him. Kaname will die?

"You are lying!" He said.

"Zero, I would never ever make that kind of joke to you especially not now. I´m serious, Kaname will not survive ´til the end of the week. There was nothing that the doctors could do. There was too much damage to his body."

"K-k-kaname, he will die?" Zero stuttered.

Zero´s whole world was breaking, he didn´t know what to do. His love, his life was going to die and there was nothing that he could do about it. He clenched his fist in the sheets, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes but he tried to not cry. Kaname wouldn´t have wanted that.

"Can I… see him?" He asked.

"I spoke to the nurse but she said that they normally didn´t let people do that due to the infection risk. Then I spoke to the doctors and they said that you could stay by his side even though it´s not allowed. But they have to run some tests on you before you go to Kaname, just so see if everything is okay with your body."

Cross could see Zero´s pained expression on his face. He felt so helpless; there was nothing that he could do for his son, not this time.

The doctors came in an hour later and did many checkups on Zero to see if everything was alright. They stack him with needles, measured his heartbeats, they let him walk around for awhile so that his body got adjusted. After all those countless numbers of tests they let him see Kaname.

"Which room is it?" Zero asked.

"Kuran Kaname is occupying room 357 and it´s on the floor above this one." One doctor answered.

Zero hurried to the elevator that was in the end of the corridor. He waited impatiently for it to open and ran in and pressed the button trice. He felt how hard it was to breath and how much it hurt to take each step but he needed to get to Kaname´s side. As the elevator door opened he stepped out, looking to his right and then the left. He walked to the door that had the number 357 on it and knocked. No one answered the knock. Of course.

Zero stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He turned around and saw Kaname lying on a bed with tubes and wires attached to him. His heart cried as he saw his lover´s vulnerable lifeless form. The worst thing was; he couldn´t do anything. Just stare as Kaname´s life slipped away.

He sat down on the chair next to the bed. He took one of Kaname´s hands in his and begged for a miracle. He tried to hold back his tears, not to shake, to take calm breaths. The hand he held squeezed back and Zero looked up with a startle and looked into two brown tired eyes.

"Z-zero?" Kaname said almost hearable.

"Yes, it´s me Kaname. How are you feeling?" Zero asked with a gentle voice. He tried not to cry but his tears were not far away.

"I´m tired but otherwise fine." Kaname whispered.

Liar. You can´t be fine, not in that state.

Zero couldn´t help it, he let go and his tears welled from his eyes. He couldn´t stop, everything was so wrong. They were going to live with each other for the rest of their lives.

Kaname touched Zero´s cheek with his hand and wiped away his tears. Zero held his hand against Kaname´s while tears still came. The hand was so cold. He brought the Kaname´s hand to his lips and kissed it gently before placing it on the bed again.

"It´s my fault that this happened. If I had persuaded all of us to stay at Aidou´s until the storm had passed nothing of this would had happened. I´m so sorry."

Kaname turned his head and looked up into the ceiling and smiled.

"No, Zero it´s not your fault. If I hadn´t turned the car so that the truck had hit your side then you had been the one lying here."

Zero stared at Kaname. He couldn´t believe what he had heard. Kaname had saved him from death?

"Why?" Was all he could say.

"To save the one I love."

Zero´s tears that almost had stopped started to fall again. To hear that Kaname had done that for him was so heartbreaking. He couldn´t believe that he had done that for him. He was extremely happy but at the same time sad. Those feelings made his chest ache, he gripped his shirt and tried to clench the pain. It didn´t disappear.

"Zero, are you okay?"

Zero clenched his shirt harder and sat up. He stared at Kaname and saw that he didn´t look sad or afraid.

"How can I be okay if the one I love is going to die?" Zero whispered.

Kaname couldn´t do other than to smile. He was so blessed that he had such a kind lover as Zero. He took away Zero´s clutched hand from his chest and placed it on the bed instead. Kaname looked deeply into his lover´s eyes and felt how the pain started to make his body numb, he didn´t have much time left. He felt how his surroundings started to blur and he knew that this was his last chance…

"Zero, I lo-…" Kaname´s eyes closed and the hand on Zero´s slackened.

"Kaname?..K-k-kaname? KANAME!..."

He was gone.