A/N: Merry Christmas to my fans! A little AU one shot to make you feel warm and fuzzy on this Christmas Eve. May the magic of the season follow you all year round! Peace, Love and InuYasha. Enjoy!

"We heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Kagome finished with a flourish and closed the book. It was a rare time of peace for the group. Heavy snow had been blanketing the whole of Japan for a few days and they had barely made it back to the village before being snowed in. Not even Naraku would venture out in this storm and even she would have had a hard time making it to the well if not for the hanyou that sat against the wall.

Jumping up, Shippo clapped his hands excitedly. "Wow! That was so neat! Thanks, Kagome!"

"Yes, it was very entertaining. I'm grateful for the pictures." Sango murmured from her place beside Kaede's fire.

"As am I." Agreed Miroku. "It made it easier to understand what a reindeer is."

"Feh." InuYasha huffed from his position against the side of the hut. He would never admit that he, too, had enjoyed Kagome's story.

Smiling at all those gathered within the warmth of Kaede's home, Kagome tucked the book back in her bag. "I'm glad you all liked it."

"You know, there's one thing I noticed." Shippo smirked a sly grin. "Does anyone else think that InuYasha looks like Santa?"

A pregnant pause hung over the hut as all eyes turned to the hanyou leaning against the wall.

"You know…" Kagome murmured.

"The white hair," Miroku grinned.

"The red suit." Sango snickered.

"Yah right," InuYasha snorted his disgust.

"No, no. Now, I think Shippo's on to something." Kagome giggled and smiled at her friends. It was just the six of them, Kaede having been called away to tend to a sick child, and they were huddled down around the warmth of a bright and crackling fire while fat, heavy snowflakes fell outside. "If only you weren't so grumpy."

"Wench…" He muttered beneath his breath, scoffing at her teasing and turning his head away. "Stupid Christmas. What a joke."

"It's not a joke! It's fun!" Kagome huffed. "If you think it's such a waste then I will just take your present home with me."

"Present?" The half demon's ears perked up in interest. He'd never gotten a present before Kagome came into his life.

"Presents!?" Shippo squealed excitedly as Kagome pulled a red hat with a white ball on the end out of her bag. When she perched it jauntily on her head he giggled realizing it was a hat just like Santa's.

"Yup! Presents!" Chuckling, Kagome handed a red and white stripped package to Shippo, a green one with gold bows to Miroku, and a white one with silver bells to Sango. For Kirara she placed a dish full of kitty treats in front of the little neko and tucked a bright blue package to the side for Kaede. "Merry Christmas you guys!" It was Christmas Eve and she wanted to give them their gifts before she went home for a few days. She watched, delighted, as the boys tore into the wrapping while Sango carefully peeled back the tape, and scratched Kirara's ear when she mewed her thanks.

"Wow!" Shippo grinned so excited. "A new coloring book and crayons!"

"Kagome…" Miroku murmured, stunned at the thick, sturdy paper stock and writing stick with the refillable ink containers. "This is too much."

"Oh, Kagome. Thank you!" Sango exclaimed, holding the bottles of special shampoo and scented soaps tight to her chest. "But you shouldn't have. We have nothing for you."

Shrugging, Kagome shook her head. "It's not about the receiving, but the giving. Besides, it's not like you guys knew anything about Christmas before this week, so don't worry about it. I wanted to give these things to you." It made her happy to make them happy.

Turning to InuYasha, she reached into her bag a final time, pulled out another package wrapped in red and gold, and pushed to her feet to take it to him. "Here, InuYasha. This one is for you."

Taking the package, he passed it under his nose but smelled only the scent of paper. "What is it?"

"Open it and find out!" She gave a nervous laugh before shrugging into her puffy white coat. The fur lined hood tickled her cheeks when it fell over her head as she bent to retrieve her bag and she shoved it back as she stood up. "I really should get going! Everyone will be waiting for me. I'll be back in a few days. Love you guys!" Without looking back, she practically ran out the door.

Frowning, Shippo muttered to Miroku, "Well, she left in a hurry."

"Didn't even wait to see how InuYasha liked his gift." Miroku nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps you should open it and find out why that is."

With all eyes watching, the hanyou tore the package open only to have a cloth fall into his lap. The fabric was a heavy weight but exceptionally soft, and he lifted it gingerly from his knees to shake it open. It unfolded to reveal an under kosode that was stitched to have Inu-youkai around the sleeves and at the collar. It was, without a doubt, the nicest piece of clothing he'd ever owned. "I…" He was at a loss for words.

"Oh!" Sango gasped, hand flying to her lips. "That's what she was making."

"Making?" InuYasha muttered unable to stop staring at the under shirt.

"Kagome, she made that for you." Sango answered. "I thought it was for her grandfather. She asked me about the stitching once. I think she's been working on it since just after obon."

Reverently, InuYasha traced the lifted muzzle of the howling Inu at the collar. "I've never seen…" It was wonderful and it stunned him. To know that she had made this for him, something so different from what she'd done for the others, filled his heart with an emotion he had a hard time defining. "Why would she…?"

"She must really like you to make something so special." Miroku commented, earning himself a smack from Sango. "What!? I'm just saying." He grumbled.

"I think you should keep your just sayings to yourself." Sango glared at the monk in warning. They all knew exactly how Kagome felt about InuYasha. It was the hanyou whose feelings were still conflicted.

"Feh. She shouldn't have gone to all that trouble." And also shouldn't have left without him. Folding the garment carefully, InuYasha placed it on its packaging before darting into the snow after Kagome.

"Do you think he'll ever figure it out?" Shippo grumble, eyeing the door that the half demon had just passed through.

"The future remains unclear." Muttered the monk before leaning closer to where Sango was smelling her new soaps. "Ah, Sango, how lovely you will soon smell."

"Are you saying I currently stink, Houshi?" She narrowed her eyes and watched the monk sweat.

"Ha ha! No, not at all!" Miroku was swift to clarify, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Hmm. A likely story." Shippo huffed, coloring in his new book. "I think Sango smells great all the time. 'Sept if she's covered in guts. No one smells good covered in guts."

Sango couldn't fault his logic and giggled softly in response before scooting over to color in his book with him.

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Kagome trudge through the knee deep snow towards the well, flipping the white fuzzy ball on her hat back when it swung forwards and banged her in the cheek. Her jeans were soaked through but right now she could care less. "I can't believe I did it."

For weeks now, since she'd finished the kosode, she had been waffling back and forth about whether or not to give it to him. It was a very, to her mind, intimate gesture giving a gift that was not only handmade but something that would be worn against the skin. Plus there was the fact that it was so much more than what she had given the others. To be honest, she had put in less thought to the others gifts simply because they were easier. Paper for Miroku, bath stuff for Sango, coloring for Shippo, treats for Kirara, and medicine for Kaede. They all made her life easy when it came to giving them things, but InuYasha was a whole nother ball of trouble.

What did you get for a hanyou that had never shown an interest in anything besides fighting and complaining? It had been so frustrating until one day in the late summer she had been home, using the washing machine to clean up his fire rat, when she'd noticed how ratty his under kosode was. Shortly after that, Yuri had been commenting on how she and her family were going on some exotic trip at Christmas and were already making plans even though it was months away yet.

A lightbulb had gone off for Kagome and she had excitedly asked for her mom's help surreptitiously measuring and creating this new, slightly more formal under kosode. There were times that the group of them were invited to a gathering or happened upon a festival, and she hoped it would help InuYasha feel a little less underdressed. Still, it had been nerve racking giving it to him and she had bolted, afraid he would berate her for it, call it a waste, or worse simply hate it. 'Maybe he would have preferred a case of ramen.' It was too late to go back now.

Pausing in her hike to the well just a few yards away, Kagome looked up at the sky and sighed. Big flakes of snow fell down around her, cocooning her in silence broken only by her slightly laboured breathing, the darkness illuminated by only the flashlight in her hand. Though it was exceptionally dark and very quiet she wasn't afraid. The entire night was peaceful. The snow on the trees was beautiful, exactly what a white Christmas called for. It had been snowing a little when she left the future, but nothing like this. This was majestic. Right up to the point when the wet, slushy ball smacked her in the back of her head. "Hey!"

Snickering, InuYasha squinted when the light from her flashlight hit him in the face. "Serves yah right, standing there staring at the sky like some weirdo." Truthfully, he'd found her mesmerising. Lit only by the hand light, the snow that was falling around her had made her look mysterious. Her legs looked long and sleek in the dark jeans, her coat of white helping her blend in, while the red hat with its white fluffy ball was being coated in the flakes. The snow was building up on her bangs and even catching on her eyelashes and he thought how pretty she looked. Like a snow youkai, come to tempt him into following her into the blizzard. Not for the first time did he find himself willing to do just that.

"I'm not weird! You're weird!" Kagome huffed, crossing her arms.

"Feh. You're the one staring at nothing." He bent to pick up more snow. It wasn't quite wet enough but the heat from his hands was working to pack it together.

"I was looking at the snow! It's not doing this at home. It's pretty!" She grumbled crossly, a little embarrassed by his assumption. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like, Ka-go-me?" He snickered, tossing the new ball of snow up in the air and catching it.

"InuYasha, I'm warning you." Kagome took a hesitant step in retreat. "Don't–" She never got to finish for the snowball hit her square in the chest.

The flashlight went flying to land handle down in the snow lighting up the space before the bone eaters well. Her bag tumble to the ground with her stumble, and Kagome landed on her butt in the powder. "Sit!" she bellowed and watched him face plant in the stuff.

A whole lot of muffled muttering could be heard as she picked herself up and dusted off her jeans with a miffed slapping motion. "Serves you right." She huffed, waiting for the kotodama to release him.

Popping up out of the snow crater he'd made, InuYasha wiped the excess from his face, "Dammit, woman!" Clearing his eyes, he opened them just in time to take a snowball straight to the nose.

"And now we're even." Kagome snickered, shaking the cold substance from her fingers.

Scrubbing his hands over his face, InuYasha growled out, "How the hell does that make us even? I didn't plant your face in the snow!"

"No, just my butt!" She stuck her tongue out at him before turning to head for her bag only to take another snowball to the back of her head. "Oh it's so on!"

Balls of snow flew fast and furious, neither willing to concede defeat. When they couldn't make the snow pack any longer, the temperature dropping without their notice, they simply threw handfuls of the fluffy white stuff at each other. High pitched squeals blended with deep growls, bellows and teasing insults flew from their lips when cold ice managed to find its way beneath layers of clothing, until with a final lunge, InuYasha caught Kagome around the waist and tackled them both down into a thick pile of snow.

"I win!" He crowed. A handful of snow hit him in the face. "Oi!"

"It's a tie!" Kagome barked only to shriek when snow skated over her low back.

Pining his ears, InuYasha snarled, "Enough with the screaming already!"

"It's cold, dammit!" Wiggling beneath him, she tried in vain to dig the snow out from under her coat. Arching up to escape the freezing drizzle, she froze when his breath suddenly caught and his body became tense. "InuYasha?"

They were nearly nose to nose, stretched out together, legs intertwined with his arms wrapped around her. It was, he thought, the most intimate position he'd ever found himself entangled in with her. Beneath the dim light of her flashlight, her eyes were like deep dark pools above exertion flushed cheeks nearly as red as the hat that remained on her head. The little white ball lay against her face and pulling one of his hands from behind her, he gently flicked it. "Christmas, huh?"

"Ye-yeah." She stuttered, finding his closeness intimidating where before it had not been. Something in his eyes had changed and set her stomach fluttering.

"Yah know, I ain't got nothing to me but my sword and my name. I'm no good at presents." He murmured, fingers lingering at her cheek.

"I-I-I don't expect anything back!" Kagome finally managed to get out. He was so warm that she no longer felt the cold snow beneath her.

"I ain't never gotten gifts till I met you." The words were nearly a whisper when he shifted to cup her cheek. For some reason, here, now, tonight, he didn't feel the shyness or embarrassment that came when he was around her. Tonight, it was just the two of them, blanketed in snow, lost in a moment and each other's eyes. "Thank you, Kagome. The kosode is the best thing I've ever gotten besides the fire rat or Tetsusaiga."

High praise indeed to rank up there with his protection and his weapon. Blushing, she swallowed before whispering, "You… you're welcome, InuYasha."

"I can't get you a present but… I'd like to give you something. It ain't much but…" He shrugged, casting his eyes down and away in case she refused.

Smiling at how he coloured across his nose, Kagome placed a cold hand against his cheek, turning his eyes back to hers. "If it's from you, InuYasha, I'm sure to love it."

"Keh," He chuffed, flushing fully red. "Uh… but yah got to close your eyes first."

Frowning a little, Kagome nodded before letting them pop back open. "Oh! But if you're going to play Santa…" She plucked the hat from her head and plopped it down between his ears. "There you go. Got to look the part, right?"

Her cheeky grin set him smirking but he didn't take the hat off. "Close your eyes, woman!"

"Fine!" Huffing, she did as told and waited. "Well?"

"Don't rush me!" He growled before taking a deep breath and leaning closer.

She could feel his body weight shift, pressing her further into the snow pile and frowned a little for she didn't understand what kind of gift this was. That was until warm, slightly rough lips pressed ever so gently to her own. Shocked, she wasn't sure what to do or how to respond before the pressure lifted and he was sitting back on his knees staring at her. "InuYasha?"

Flushed and flustered, InuYasha murmured, "Merry Christmas, Kagome. I hope that was an ok gift."

She smiled gently at his embarrassment, "It was the best gift and a perfect fit." She would cherish the memory forever.

"Keh," He huffed, jumping to his feet. "You should go home. You'll catch your death in those wet clothes and I can't lose my shard detector."

His face was still red, hers felt flushed as well, so she didn't say too much of anything before retrieving her flash light and bag. The well was only a few feet away and when she reached its edge, she turned to smile at InuYasha. "Thanks for letting me go home. I really appreciate it." It was Christmas Eve and she couldn't have asked for a better start to her holiday.

"You'd best be back in two days or I'm coming to get you." She smiled wide and full at him before swinging her legs over the well's edge and falling into the bright blue light.

When he was certain she was gone, he lifted his fingers to his lips and pressed them there. "I can't believe I did it." He murmured, shocked at his own boldness. Silly grin plastered to his face, he returned to Kaede's without really paying attention and pushed through the door.

Looking up, Shippo burst out laughing and was soon joined by the others.

"What's so funny?" InuYasha growled irately.

"Now you really do look like Santa!" The kit giggled uncontrollably, pointing to Kagome's hat perched jauntily between the two white ears on InuYasha's head.

A/N: Merry Christmas to my wonderful fans! Thanks for sticking with me through the years! I hope you enjoyed your present!