Title: Quarter of Silence: Oneshots

By: EsTeLweNadia

Summary: SPOILER ALERT! Those who haven't watch the movie; please stay away, unless you don't mind being spoiled. This series of oneshots span from any time during the movie, and after, from different POVs about different scenarios. Also including missing scenes and some What-Ifs.

Genre: Friendship, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Angst.

Disclaimer: Anyone and anything that you recognize from Detective Conan, is/are from Detective Conan.

Author's Note: Really. Quarter of Silence is practically begging me to start this writing, and its pleas refuse to be silenced until I do something about it. There are just so many things that I just have to write about after watching the movie, and it is a darn AWESOME movie! A must-watch, and this is a must-read! ^^

As always, comments and constructive criticism are immensely appreciated.

All of my stories are not beta-ed, so all mistakes are mine, with many apologies.

Hope you'll enjoy the ride!

1. The Power of Love

Summary: How could a mere voice reach an unconscious someone buried in an avalanche?

For one terrifying moment, time froze.

It was as if the arctic temperature of the mountain itself had frozen the hands of time.

Her body.

Her breath.

Her thoughts.

Her heart.

Conan-kun had disappeared in the avalanche.

Her dearest Conan-kun. Her little brother.

No….

"No!" Ran screamed, and with that primal scream of raw pain, time jolted sharply back into action.

The mountain echoed her scream, almost mockingly.

Her hands began to shake violently as she took out her cellphone and scrolled down her phonebook to locate Conan-kun's number. The picture of Conan-kun smiling serenely at her tore at her heartstrings, and her hands shook even harder.

Please, please, please,please get through… she fervently chanted. Please, please, please…

Look out! She had yelled, and Conan-kun heard her, and he gazed right straight at her. His eyes showed surprise, then sorrow. Regret, as though he was trying to tell her the things he wanted to say but couldn't. As though he was saying a final goodbye.

Even as the avalanche crashed down on him, Ran would never forget the tender look of love on his face.

And how much he really reminded her of Shinichi.

How much he really looked like Shinichi.

She thought her heart couldn't shatter into anymore pieces. She was wrong.

The connection clicked, and everything else simply faded away.

Holding the phone close to her thundering heart, she bowed her head down and prayed; wishing with every shred of her being that Conan-kun wasn't too far away from her. That Conan-kun could still be saved.

He HAD to be saved, no matter what. Ran wouldn't and couldn't accept anything else.

Her head snapped up. It was faint, but she could hear it. The ringing of Conan-kun's cellphone.

"Conan-kun!" She yelled as she began to run in the direction of the sound. The sound of hope. "Where are you?"

She skidded and slid down the slope, scrambling up to her feet and started out again, refusing to allow the snow to stop her from getting to Conan-kun. As she neared, the ringing became clearer. Finally, she dropped down to her knees in front of a clump of snow and began to dig, sweeping the caked snow with full sweeps of her arms until she found it. Conan-kun's cellphone, buried innocently in the merciless vastness of white.

Pocketing the phone and removing her gloves, she started digging again. Conan-kun should be just nearby. He must be!

Please, please, please come out, Conan-kun!

"Conan-kun, where…" She pleaded, her voice breaking, her vision blurring with tears as she poured more effort into her digging. "Where are you? Please… please come out, Conan-kun!"

"Ran!" Sonoko's horrified gasp. Ran barely registered her best friend's sudden presence beside her. "Your fingers are bleeding!"

Ran ignored her. Her injury was nothing. Nothing else mattered. The only thing mattered was that they had to find Conan-kun. "Why… why aren't you here, Conan-kun?"

Harsh sobs escaping her, adrenaline fading and overcome by the encroaching despair, Ran fell forward on all fours, sobbing earnestly into the snowy ground.

Was it true that Conan-kun was…? No, it couldn't be. Conan-kun couldn't be… He was so kind and smart and strong… he couldn't be… Shinichi would frown at her for giving up now, for even thinking that Conan-kun was…

Shinichi…

She gasped, jerking her head up so fast it almost gave her whiplash.

Shinichi!

Hope flaring once more, Ran fished out her cellphone and located Shinichi's number.

Please, she begged as she clutched her phone close to her ear, listening intently to the ringing as she waited for the line to be connected. Please, Shinichi… if you are nearby… If you are some where close… please…

"Help us, Shinichi!"

Shinichi… Shinichi… Shinichi… Shinichi… his name echoed eerily through the mountains.

Shinichi. All of a sudden, she missed him with a fierce passion, and how she desperately wished he was really with her right there and now, because surely, without a doubt, he would know what to do in situations such as this. She could almost imagine him taking charge, his brow furrowing in deep thought as his mind contemplated endless possibilities to salvage the situation, his voice firm and confident as he gave instructions and explanations. His presence alone provided reassurance, strength, comfort, safety and hope, even when he neglected to say anything else.

To others, he was someone to be awed at, for his powerful intellect and flawless deductions.

To her, he was her everything.

Somewhere a few feet away, something exploded, rudely yanking her out of her reverie, instantly drawing her gaze to something coming to a halt on the snow.

"That's…!"

"A soccer ball!"

"Don't tell me…?"

Her handphone slipped from her nerveless fingers. Realization dawned on her as quickly as tears welling up in her eyes. "Conan-kun!"

Staggering to her feet, she hurried over to a spot ways away from the ball and dropped to her knees. For the third time that afternoon, she frantically brushed the snow aside, but this time, Conan-kun's still form greeted her from the confines of his white prison.

"Conan-kun…" she whispered brokenly. Conan-kun's eyes remained closed, his face peaceful. But his skin was cold, and his lips had a tinge of blue. It felt so wrong to see him so still and silent, because Conan-kun had always been such so energetic. It wasn't the first time she had witnessed Conan-kun in a condition like this, but it never really had gotten any easier.

"Please, Conan-kun…" Ran clutched him tightly against herself, hugging him close as if she wouldn't ever let him go. "Open your eyes… Conan-kun!"

Tears dribbled down her cheeks and dripped from her chin, creating a wet patch on Conan-kun's blue sweater. Her hold on him tightened as she sobbed earnestly.

In the midst of her grief, she almost missed a soft but very familiar groan.

Startled, she brought Conan-kun down to look at him.

His eyes flickered open, revealing orbs of brilliant blue. Upon seeing her, he smiled up at her, warm and tender, even though it was a little wobbly at the edges. "Ran… nee-chan…"

A hoarse rasp, but it was the sweetest sound Ran had ever heard.

"Thank goodness…" This time, she shed tears of immense relief. "Thank goodness, Conan-kun…"

Conan-kun had been found. He was safe now. Safe in her arms, and for a few long minutes she stayed like that, hugging him and grieving what might have been.

For a few long minutes, she refused to let him go.

- The End -

Phew! Finally done! Getting in Ran's head was harder than I thought… and my head hurt. But it was fun! ^^

Sorry for the long delay, and the emergence of new fics instead of chapters of the old ones. Long delay, because my laptop has been acting up lately – page keep scrolling down no matter what I do, and it's getting annoying and worrying and so far, the problem quieted. Let's hope it will not resurface again – and two, because all of a sudden I am being bombarded by lots of ideas until I don't know what to do with them except to churn out more fanfiction.

And trust me, when I say 'lots', I mean it. You just wait and see! ^^

Thank you so much for waiting, and reading. I will try to get another chapter out as soon as possible.

Once again, thank you! ^^